I had no intention of doing the side stuff in Rebirth, I was just gonna carve my own path through it for the most rewarding stuff but then I played the first two regions and the most gun I had with the game is the side stuff and mini games so far. Now, if you're going for the Platinums and you can't say no to every single checklisted item, avoid the game. But if you can go in, and say, hey I'm gonna do the main content, all the side content and max everything out within reason, I'd highly recommend. Thar said, going for the platinum in wither game would be a pain in the arse but in Rebirth I'd have to assume it would be a nightmare. Btw, when people talk of mini games, it's not as it sounds on the surface, it's just that most of the play time outside of combat us mini games in the same way puzzles would be a form of progression in an adventure title, Rebirth just slots in mini games and tbh, it works really well and is quite unique even when stuff like Like a Dragon is out there, it feels different in this title as a way to add content in between story bits, feels less like side content and more like it IS the game itself. Really fun stuff and none of it is difficult or anything, we'll at least not yet. They're all very well designed.  

People need to stop saying Rebirth is a mini game simulator cause that is not the right way to look ay it, it is more akin to a genre bending game like Neir Automata, just in the way they have implemented it, it feels like mini games. This is not the same as something like Yakuza and has much more in common with something like Neir automata or Dave the Diver whwre the poitn is to mix up the gameplay. Every bit of content in the game having some kind of smaller mechanic or mechanics whitin mechanics is a bit much, I would agree but that's what keeps it fresh and this game is fresh AF. I had this game pinned for something else entirely and it's reputation does not reflect the produxt at all, I'm 25 hours in and already I've gotten more out of this game than 90% of games I've tried this year and I've tried over 150, it is so much about gameplay and that's epic in this genre that can get so stale and repetitive so easily. Perhaps the issue they need to address for part 3 is tlto make everything more seamless and Shift naturally as would happen in Neir Automata, just a gentle transition from one gameplay style to another.