I'd say go for the original. It's a classic, no doubt. Plus, with the changes that may take place to the battle system in the remake, I personally think the turn based elements of the original were well done, and feel like that would be a great way to experience the original vision for the game. You can't go wrong.

Absolutely play the original

This is Square. At this rate, it will probably be 3-5 years before we see the remake finished. They haven't even completed 15, or KH3, in that order. 7 Remake will be on the back burner. My hunch is that that cgi trailer was nothing but hype to build back their waning fanbase, and that the game won't come out for years and years to come. 

Play original VII, but be prepared to be dissappointed in the graphics department and localization. As you may have heard, VII was plagued with spelling and grammar errors. "This guy are sick." ~Aeris, FFVII. Although, it could make it more charming and enjoyable, in that sense.

The music, atmosphere, and background art will absolutely enthrall you. Nobuo's midi soundtrack, and the pre-rendered backgrounds mesh beautifully together. However, the boxy, basketball-sized tumors on character arms and legs will take you out of the fantasy. You may or may not find this annoying, or charming.

Play original VII. You could beat this game 5 times, and Remake still won't have a gameplay trailer out. Have fun with your new PS4! Add me if you want: Solid_ian.

I bought the original on pc awhile ago am haven't been able to get into it. I might give it another go at some point, as it is so loved, but time clearly hasn't been kind to it.

Don't buy into the hype, whatever you do. Honestly, the game is not some incredible gem. It's overhyped, and highly mediocre. The story is garbage, the main villain is just odd and didn't feel super menacing, the materia system is god damn awful no matter what anybody says, and the turn based system is one of the slowest I've experienced in an RPG. The fact that there is no skip button for summon sequences should have been classified as an act of terrorism.

The last great FF after FFVI was easily FFIX. FFIX didn't have some super amazing story, but the story was solid, the characters were good, the soundtrack was magnificent, and the classic JRPG elements blended well with the more modern aspects. Not to mention the pre-rendered backgrounds means the game has aged very well. It disappoints me so much that FFIX often gets passed over in order to throw blind praise at the first mediocre romp through an FF in 3D.

Also, FFVII has aged like a turd. Nothing about it has aged well, and unless you have a soft spot for old, clunky JRPG's, it probably isn't going to resonate much with you.

If you like JRPGs, complete with the old timey package of bad translation, random battles, and turn-based combat...then absolutely play the original. It will look like a primitive Lego game, and the very early prerendered backgrounds can be frustrating to navigate (especially with the random encounters).

Yet it is a very unique experience and worth playing, at least for the crazy story and amazing soundtrack. Combat itself is simple, clean and fun. Character progression is also simple, relying basically on having the best gear, gaining XP/AP, and accruing kills for each character (to learn better limit breaks). Maybe this HD port will even fix the translation a bit!

If you are fine with playing retro games or just retro looking games, go for it, what harm is it going to do? Wait for the PS4 release of the PC version. Not like the remake will be anything like the original, at this rate the only similarities will be the people and locations probably.

Play the original. Not on PS4 though, I think that's coming from the PC version.

Play the original PS1 version. The best you can play it is with the ePSXe emulator, which has various texture filters to give you a better looking image.

Despite some parts of it having aged badly, it's still one of the greatest games ever made and should definitely be experienced. The remake will likely change a lot and will be a different experience.

The thing is with the visuals is you'll soon get used to them. I replayed FFVII early this year and it only took 30mins before the visuals didn't matter, I know my opinion might be a bit biased as I was and still am a super big fan of the game since I first played it when it first released.

My suggestion is to play it and just see how you feel, if after a couple of hours your just not liking it then stop and wait for the remake. This obviously depends if your willing to waste the cash but it really doesn't cost that much now.

Also welcome to the Sony family.

I say go for it. If it's the type of game you think you'd like and you have no issues with the graphics it's a seriously entertaining experience.
It was all about the gameplay, characters and stories for me when I tried it for the first time in 2006 and I was not disappointed.