Blue mage is limited but we're getting two full jobs. Also blue mage is SB content not ShB content and wouldn't reflect on ShB anyway.

The races are mono gendered but there's also two of them to balance that out.

The equipment thing I agree on, hope they work out the technical aspects before too long so they can wear helms.

The no night cycle thing I think is a good move. This is supposed to be a realm being consumed by light with only one region left inhabitable by mortals. Having something like constant daylight is a good way to show that something is wrong and balance needs to be restored.

We don't know what's going on with the garlean story during this yet, but even if it is, that doesn't mean the story is being 'limited.' HW also didn't have much of the garleans/ascian plot. They were THERE sure but other than meeting Varis in person not a lot actually happened to move that story forward, it was all about Ishgard and the Dragons. Nothing really changed in the status quo of the garlean/ascian plot in HW other than Lahabrea and that other Ascian dying and even then the initial reveal of 'oh crap the WOL killed an ascian' happened first in HW, this was just that happening again. Yet I would not call Ishgard a limited expansion.