While the ARR rework helps, it's still the worst part of the game. Jobs have so few skills to use, the voice work frankly sucks (at least, the English voices are terribly directed), and there's a lot of stuff set up plot-wise that doesn't pay off until an expansion or two later (or three, in the case of the Crystal Tower).

Also, some of the early dungeons are......weird, looking back. We have Copperbell, the only dungeon in the game where enemies will leash back if pulled too far; Toto-rak, where two bosses are identical except that the second has some adds, and that long tunnel full of slowing goo that serves no real purpose; Brayflox and Dzemael Darkhold, with long enemy-filled side paths for useless treasure boxes; the Sunken Temple of Qarn, with the stone pedestal puzzle; and Aurum Vale, which needs no elaboration. Plus the trio of four-player primal fights, and the mess that is the two MSQ Roulette dungeons.

Overall, ARR is just really not a great indication for how the rest of the game goes. It's a weird pile of design anachronisms.