I'm happy with cutting many things if they get the game out sooner.
Mini-games? Fishing, cards, some hunts sure. Forget the rest. I don't want to hear about skipping, or some other weird stuff like skiing or other crap. This isn't Austria.
Open world? Reduce it a little. Cut some areas that aren't completely necessary. It's cool. It's fine. No one has to know. What you don't know can't hurt you.
Summons? Keep Bahamut, kill some of the rest. You get one big setpiece, it's more memorable than half a dozen. Less is more. Someone said this in a book somewhere I think.
Cities? Two big ones is fine. Just throw some huts and shops everywhere else and we can pretend they're small towns. It's like mental exercise, and it's good for our brains.
Airship? Too late for that now. It had its chance. Kill it now. No need to think about it.
It's time for someone to make the tough decisions. Crack that whip. Put the fear of Godzilla in their hearts. The game needs to be finished. Everybody tired of this. They're tired. They want to move on. They don't want to play a game about mutants and Apocalypse. It's everyone. They're on the line. They want to move on.
Matsuda fuck yourself!