I replayed this recently after the update. Honestly a quarter of it could go with nothing lost.

Minfilia sends you to another ZONE to meld materia into her dagger. This might be an attempt at having a tutorial, but falls flat. First of all, while I love goblins, giving a tutorial in gobby speak is a massive waste of time. Sending people there is a waste of time. Materia is already overly complicated for people coming into the game at that level. It is so much more intelligent to have a pop-up guide at some point closer to lv 50 if there is one at all. You made materia pointless to meld at low level with how fast gear is replaced so it's just not worth hurting the pacing.

Buscarron sends you from SOUTH SHROUD to LA NOSCEA of all things to mix a drink. A massive waste of time. If you wanted to allude to their friendship, just a bit of dialogue would be fine.

Then... a whole lot of little things. Literally a dude in east Shroud who can't remember something so he sends you out to help get something to jog the memory and does nothing to enrich the writing. Again, later on people mistake what you need to gather a corrupted crystal, and then remember after you have completed a pointless step. Lapses in memory and misunderstandings can be written and can add character, but when they lead to chores for the player, it's just an arbitrary waste of time.