Couldn't they just leave them out of important cutscenes? Actually, scratch that -- newer games are only cutscenes, aren't they?

I loved the sidequests in FFVII... I spent many-an hour completing them when I was a wee kid. And I loved the card game in VIII.

Hell, I even loved the Marks in FFXII, though it was disappointing that they were the only main side quest, really. The other ones bored me to tears. I guess really what we need is variety. We need more than just marks. Though they repeated the card game twice, both of the games were very different.

Also, I still think Chocobo breeding and racing is the best thing ever; if only they could somehow do that again with more options for the racing (how many times did I watch that guy go over the waterfall in his canoe...?)