Either way, we're talking about continuing to explore Midgar from its immediate outskirts, whether that be the end of the highway or the wastelands a rope ride down from the end of the highway. The crew are also just as much outlaws at both points in the story.
I think you misunderstood. In regards to backtracking, I'm not talking about the end of the escape but about anytime before the point of no return in the Shinra Building before the group gets captured.
Regarding backtracking into Midgar from outside, that's not only a problem from a storytelling perspective but also accessibility. If it was that easy to enter the Midgar slums by foot from outside, this would be a huge security and image issue for Shinra, who better shield the outside from the filth in the slums and make sure nobody can just waltz in undetected. Hence the big fence all around the slums.
Bringing this back around to Red XIII: I believe there's a lot less room to accommodate the needs of the game as a game if he's handed to us just before the credits roll on part 1.
That's why he needs to be a guest character, or maybe just an NPC who tags along during the end game, kind of like Magilou has been handled in approximately the first half of Tales of Berseria.
If part 1 ended with Jenova Life, I think Yuffie should be moved to part 2. Too little time for her development, even if she joins around the Chocobo Farm. There's only Fort Condor (minor location) and Junon (major location) for her to develop (story and gameplay) and that's too late in my opinion.
All these same points and ideas for expansion could be applied to Rufus's welcoming ceremony.
From a gameplay perspective, yes, of course. The only problem there is that the point of no return is a bit earlier compared to Midgar.
Junon: when Jumping up the mast with Mr. Dolphin.
Midgar: before being captured.
Hell, Junon arguably serves as more effective an end to the Shin-Ra-as-main-villain arc than leaving Midgar because a) Sephiroth actually makes his first appearance as an enemy of the player on the cargo ship; b) the player actually fights a main boss unrelated to Shin-Ra here; and c) it's not until after this that the party actually stops running into Shin-Ra for a good long while.
Unfortunately, I'll have to disagree with all points made here.
a) Sephiroth is nigh irrelevant to the Shinra arc from the characters' perspective. After leaving Midgar, Sephiroth is the main target, not Shinra. That's a completely new story arc. From a plot standpoint, the true Shinra arc isn't over until the end credits when Midgar is done for, because it's only then when Shinra stops sucking the life out of the planet. But from a storytelling perspective, the Shinra Arc ends when leaving Midgar, replaced by another arc: "Reunion" (Sephiroth and the Black Materia). Stopping Shinra is then relegated into the background until it resurfaces during the Meteor arc (execution in Junon, Huge Materia, and Sister Ray in Midgar)
b) And that's why the first Jenova boss is tied to the Reunion arc and doesn't have much to do with Shinra from a storytelling perspective. Furthermore, Meeting Jenova-Sephiroth and fighting Jenova for the first time is only a catalyst for the currently running arc and not some sort of resolution.
c) That's irrelevant. Cloud and friends run into Shinra in the Mythril Mines, in Junon, in Rocket Town, during the second Gold Saucer visit and briefly in the Temple of the Ancients. Keyword: run into. Those confrontations don't have much to do with the main task at hand (chasing Sephiroth) but rather coincidence, since Shinra happens to have the same goal as Cloud and company. We don't seek out Shinra and they don't seek us out. We use Shinra as a means to cross the continent and Shinra uses us as a means to get to Sephiroth first (by stealing the Keystone to the Temple of the Ancients). And how far apart those confrontations are has no relevance to the story arcs.
My main Problem with that splitting point is that we're not really working towards the Jenova Birth battle during the whole game. Our goal at that point in time is to chase down Sephiroth. Yes, we kind of manage that, but after the battle against Jenova, he disappears again. That's not a satisfying conclusion at all. At the end of Midgar, the CEO of Shinra, the main threat and enemy, sucking the life out of the planet, is killed. Main goal (sort of) achieved. And since his son is taking Shinra into another direction and Sephiroth resurfaces, Shinra become the second fiddle while Sephiroth stands front and center. Cue the new arc. Nothing like that happens on the cargo ship.
Apologies for the wall of text and gradually hijacking this thread :/
Maybe we should move this conversation to a new thread?