Quote Originally Posted by Flying Arrow View Post
It also allows the player some nice free-roaming, since, up to this point, the game has been pretty consistently and briskly sending the player from new location to location. It's a sequence that triples as relaxing (actually it's depressing) downtime, an opportunity to re-visit areas of interest, and a throwback Crystal Quest. I used to like this scenario in my younger days, but now I think it's actually the weakest part of the game, mainly because the whole section feels a bit slapdash (obviously) - extending game time an extra 3-5 hours for its own sake.
I totally agree with this. In my latest playthrough I've found that the first disk has been my favourite by a very long shot. The following of Sephiroth from town to town just doesn't feel linear at all, every location has either something interesting or relevant to the plot, as well as being very fun to play. Places such as Junon (or when Sephiroth attacks on the boat to Costa Del Sol) I just never get bored of.
I remember when I first left Midgar and saw that I had barely scratched the surface of the game it just felt so epic.
Not to mention it has the infiltration of Shinra HQ, one of my favourite parts of any game ever.

Then again, what disk 2 lacks in plot it makes up for in cutscenes (the weapons attacking Shinra), epic moments (Rufus dying), and excellent locations (going back to Midgar, underwater reactor, Rocket launch part).