I feel like people who are complaining about the minigames are really just mad because they're struggling to complete them. Sure, I suppose it is jarring for gameplay to stop and a tutorial pops up for a new minigame when you're several dozen hours in, but it's usually just content to break up the pacing so combat doesn't get monotonous. Usually there's no real challenge to them, so even if you aren't perfect you'll still easily pass it and gain the best item. And even if you are completely retarded, you can get just the 1 star item and move on with the game.
If they cut out all the superfluous stuff, and have combat as the only part of gameplay, the game's going to be like 20 hours, and people would bytch that there's not enough content for $70. Nah, they did the right thing by telling the story, but also staying true to the original by including the minigames from it (like chocobo racing), but also adding more (run wild, pirate rampage, etc.). I had zero problem getting top scores in all these games after two or three tries, and I didn't even really have to try. And I think if the game was purely combat and no minigames, then I would get bored with it very quickly.
This is just a terrible take, not a rell one.