Apart from not having Rey and Finn together in TFA (I really like how they interact)
Yeah, I totally get that and I did think of that while thinking of this. The idea was to reduce the number of coincidences and the fact that Poe is so eager to take Finn back to Jakku but then just goes back to base after crashing.
Coincidences in original cut - Map and Rey are on the same planet, BB8 runs into Rey, Rey and BB8 run into Finn, the 3 run into Han, Rey Finds the lightsaber at Mazs castle where Han takes them (maybe more?).
In this version - Map and Rey are on the same planet, BB8 runs into Rey.
Far less in this version. I guess running into Finn would just be one more but then Poe just leaves without BB8. I dunno.
Not sure how you would turn the Resistence into the New Republic aside from the crawl. There must be a lot of important dialogue with “The Resistance” in it and almost no one says New Republic so there isn’t any chance of dubbing over.