I suck so bad at these kinds of games but I enjoyed playing the easy mode version. Another core memory of mine is shouting "TIME AND HONOR ARE BOTH BEING WASTED" to my sleeping friend Patrick.
The lack of quick saves during combat was eventually a dealbreaker. I also kind of hated the transition from "liberate the coded Jew characters from a concentration camp" immediately to "you've earned a beach episode."
Spent so many mornings on the bus to school playing this and unlocking everything. I really liked the story, it was a surprisingly melancholic tone for a game that was oriented to children at a surface level.
Oddly enough the thing I remember the most is Fort Condor. Yuffie is basically a 2000s-era lolxd le random stereotype time capsule but the gameplay was fun.
All I remember is that I really enjoyed what I played of this. I think another game came out that I wanted to play more or something but I never went back to finish this one.