That's a good point, I mean they're going to make getting Yuffie and Vincent mandatory I'd imagine (not going to redo CGI and voice act/mocap characters you'll never see) so the game could pretty easily be turned into a linear path at that point.
Still tho, no world map? I can understand the logistics behind it but the moment you leave Midgar is probably the most impactful part of the original for me. I mean I'm definitely buying it day one, but I know alot of people are asking for a frame for frame remake and I don't think we're going to get anything close to that. It could just never work.