Every area is massive but there is absolutely nothing of value filling them, the combat is more direct but dumbed down and the story is noticeably worse. Plus every character has their own ending. It also has some fun bonus content for people that enjoyed the Aincrad arc of the anime, like a couple of very well hidden (and completely optional) bonus characters with their own small story arcs, secret story events for taking certain characters to key hidden areas etc. It seems simple on the surface, but when you start digging into all the unlockable combat systems (from the hollow area) and manipulating partner AI to influence their stats and combat behaviour it starts to draw you in. I don't think Re: Hollow Fragment is an amazing game or anything, simply one that I enjoyed far more than I should. Visually none of them are lookers, Fragment initially was Vita exclusive hence why the PS4/PC ports look basic. Not sure what you mean VN elements, the story in between areas is just presented as talking portraits with text boxes like Neptunia and such. They tried to make it more like an MMO but failed to realise that the reason they have huge worlds is to accomodate lots of players.
I gave up after like 15 hours, but happily put over 100 into Fragment.