I could not get over FFVIIR's combat mish-mash of trying to have real-ish time combat aspects 'matter' in terms of positioning, dodging enemy AOE by running away, having your moves potentially miss if cast from the wrong angle, etc....but at the same time severely limiting the actual 'action' aspects like dodge-cancelling not really being a thing, having your inputs be eaten if you get hit mid-cast, having every 4th enemy have a mini-'electric stun' that locked your chosen character down that can't be blocked with materia, the wonkiness that is mid-air combat (Though apparently Yuffie/Intermission is better about that, I hear) etc...
I really hope they improve on the combat/battle system with the second game, but....who knows.
In terms of the story, though, there's definitely some missing context the game expects you to know in how it 'changes' the story somewhat, but IIRC the original doesn't really go into much more detail on WTF is happening until the equivalent of mid-disc 2 anyways - you'd get a bit more backstory just by the nature of the game being an RPG with more dialogue to sift through, and I'm sure the second remake game will also lean heavily on knowing the original, but it's....something that unfolds over time.
