I just finished it and I'm shocked how much better this turned out than I expected. I'm probably going to jump right back into hard mode for a second playthrough which I'm not sure I've ever done with an RPG.
One of my favorite moments, and it is so stupid and minor, is when Aeris gives Cloud the flower at the beginning. When she says "lovers used to give these to each other when they're reunited", I thought it was such a cool, meta moment. I had no idea at the time that there were going to be any sort of timeline shenanigans going on. I'm really torn if I want Aeris to die or not. She sort of needs to, but I loved her character this time around which I definitely did not in the original game.
Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs were also shockingly good characters that I could've cared less about in the original. I loved this whole cast, outside of maybe Red XIII who you just don't really have enough time with. Every character in this game is so much better than the original it is crazy. And the battle system is bonkers fun too.
Right now I feel like this is one of my favorite games all time. But I'll let it sit for a bit and see how I feel in like a week.
echoing all of this post
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Advokaiser makes me feel eternal. All this pain is an illusion.