The Wutai side quest wasn't nearly as annoying as I remember, granted it took some time to find that hidden entrance, and the lack of materia made some encounters harder, but otherwise it didn't take long to complete.

Heck, even the whole reshuffling my materia shit Yuffie pulls wasn't as annoying since I'd been more conservative with gil spending this playthrough so I didn't have that many duplicates to sort through.