I actually kinda like having options to break a game in half, or challenge myself in different ways. I feel like if they nerfed the system, then optimal play would be one of the only and/or best options. I'm with DeadRinger, though it helps that there was so many materia options. You could have roles, you could dedicate types of materia and change out party members as necessary and get a taste of everything without handicapping yourself too much, and the option to handicap is always there. With broken systems it's usually possible to do crazy things like solo runs or item-only runs and stuff. That's a little harder in things like FF9