Fans were horrified that modern standards would convince Square Enix to cut that from the roster and were stoked to see they were still being included.
Catching and racing Chocobos to get a Golden Egg in VII should have felt like a horrible grind but players all but demanded its return, as well as the return of the Gold Saucer in the remake and the entire miniquest where players had to dress Cloud up as a girl. XII has a terrible story but there are so many fun and engaging minigames that made the game worth playing regardless. Especially if that main plot is obnoxious and boring. With modern trends falling towards more open-world settings, fans are really hoping for more opportunities for rich miniquests and fun little minigames to spend time with away from the main plot of the story. Active abilities are commands and are used when chosen as an action.
The thin line that needs to be followed with the minigames is that they need to lean more heavily on being optional rather than forced or they stop being fun. A major thank you is due to Benjamin Popp, author of the Final Fantasy 5 Advance Editor, and to Samurai Goroh, who wrote the Final Fantasy 5 Editor (which works. Abilities come in two types: active and passive.
