I've always wondered how many people who claim that FFVII is their favourite PS game have actually played the other Square offerings like Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve and Chrono Cross. I've also wondered how many people who claim that FFVII is their favourite "game ever" or "RPG" started gaming with FFVII.
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My answer to that question is why all the rediculous hate on FF7 just because it happens to be Square's finest work and people generally overreact to anyone saying that 6 wasn't the greatest, because face it that's when most long time fans were introduced to the franchise and have not been around since it's NES days even.
I've beaten EVERY Final Fantasy 1 through 12, including the god awful 2 and 3, X-2 (which wasn't bad) and 11. While it's only my opinion, I feel have some perspective on the Final Fantasy series and I can say that 7 in my opinion is the best of the series, if not the whole RPG genre. And yes, I've played Parasite Eve, Chrono Trigger and Cross, Secret of Mana and other quality non Final Fantasy titles by Square, and I've also played the dregs like Kingdom Hearts, Dirge of Cerberus and the Bouncer.
I'm guessing when you make a subtle hint at nostalgia being the key to many people's appreciation of a game, your most nostalgic moment is for FF6, am I right?
And if you want a real reason as to why I feel the way I do about it, here you go.
1.) For the time it was cutting edge graphics that were out of this world.
2.) The soundtrack still remains relevant and haunting to this day, especially Aeris' theme.
3.) The gameplay consisted of robust JRPG mechanics that offered an inmmense amount of customizability that didn't just mean having all skills, but something else. Junction materia in the right way you could have a fire spell that hits every enemy 4 times and drains life and magic each hit. Or if you want something more elegant and simple, you could junction Hades to your weapon and any thing you hit gets hit with a number of status effects.
Outside of combat, the number of mini games and extra features was astronomical, something that most games tend to suck at nowadays. Chocobo racing, arena battling for prizes, mini games galore. Final Fantasy 7 had it all.
4.) I found the story to be compelling and one of the most moving pieces of work in video game history. You might cite precedent of Palom and Porom or Tellah from previous Final Fantasy games, but none of them were slain brutally without some sort of noble sacrifice or forethought. That is why Aeris' death was so shocking.
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