As you can probably tell, this thread will be devoted to me telling all of YOU why this game has touched so many as one of the best games ever. I got the idea to do this after my last thread that steered into this direction with blasphemous comments (BLASPHEMY!)

First off FFVII revolutionized how a story should be told. The characters were the center of the story, something that FFXII strayed away from.  Character development was strong and fleshed out the story to get you to care for every single one of them once you think about what they really mean to the story.

Cloud: the main character with the spikey hair. Cloud is a tad cold at first and is only about the MONEY! This changes over the progression of the game when he realizes a child hood enemy has resurfaced. Cloud is cool becuz he wields a GINORMOUS SWORD YEEEEEG! not really...He has so much more to his character than that. When you delve into his back story you find that, well....Cloud was a nobody. No one liked him or even paid him any mind. The girl he adored did not even kno he existed or that he had a crush on her. He wanted to be a "Somebody" so bad he decided to enlist in the army known as "SOLDIER". After he strived so hard to get in, he finds that he simply does not have what it takes. He turns out to be nothing extraordinary. He is not as strong or as brave as his hero, Sephiroth. He feels inadequate. After a series of unfortunate events he is forced to take down his hero. He realized that all his life he dreamed of being him, yet, Sephiroth was not the man he thought he was. He also finds that within him he is actually stronger than he ever gave himself credit to be. Cloud in the end looses the only person who ever believed in him and acted as his true mentor, Zack. Zack died protecting him. Cloud promised to live both of their lives, for Zack. This translated into Cloud's warped mind as stealing his mentors identity(as well as its clothes).

Tifa: the child hood crush of cloud. Who can honestly say that she was not the perfect girl nxt door? She was tough, self sufficient, and could handle her own. Yet she retained a certain amount of beauty. Unfortunately her love life is screwed up. She never noticed Cloud's obssession with her till he had actually moved on (Sad rly). Cloud spent years loving her but when Aeris came along he no longer needed Tifa. Tifa, now aware of his extinct and her now breathing feeling for each other, persues him. Yet Cloud is too racked with grief over his now fallen love to give her any mind. Ironic twist of fate.

Aeris: the lovable flower girl. Aeris was the perfect girl for Cloud in every way. If you played the game, Cloud's mom always told him he should get an older girl to take care of him. Aeris was 23 while Cloud 22(coinkyding? or fate?) She also developed a strong enough relationship with cloud to get him to open up to her when he would to no one else. She actually got him to LIGHTEN UP! Yet all of her good doings were halted when SEPHIROTH came down with the masamune, killing her. THe scene, the moment, it was all so perfect. The sad part is, depending on how u interpret it, she knew of her death long before it happened. The green swirl in the very beginning of the game is her looking at the life stream's power saving them all in the end of the game. She was a Cetra, people who talk to the earth. She probably thought that her prayer for a miracle ewould make it to the planet faster if she actually died for it. Hence her face/voice always pops up when the lifestream is in motion.

Sephiroth: the GREATEST VILLIAN EVER! He has so much depth. And how bad ass is a serial killer who is obsessed with his mother? right? He is the epitome of what a villain should be, a driving force with actual backstory. The worlds greatest champion becomes it's largest threat. He feels utterly betrayed by society and wants to wipe away all existance so he and his mother can sale the cosmos together with that planet as their vessel.

Jenova: The calamity from the sky, the dark harbinger of doom. Well no one really knows where she came from, its all kind of a mystery. All we know is that she is an alien entity that likes to disguise itself as other creatures, in order to drain the life from it's planet. She is a living breathing disease that infects all that come into contact with her.

GAIA: the planet. A planet that lives and breathes, that actually has a soul. When the planet feels threatened it will unleash what are known as "weapons" to defend itself. Too bad the Weapons are not that bright lol.

Barret: the stereotypical black man, who swears every chance he can get. He has a very profound intelligence about him but he hides it under his rugged demeaner. Oh, and he seems to hate Cloud's non chalant attitude.

Cid: Only person in the game with a worse potty mouth than barret. In love with his assistant/wife but treats her like dirt becuz she ruined his dream, he still loves her tho.

Yuffie: energetic ninja from Wutai. She wants to earn her peoples honor back, andd she will do it by stealing materia from EVERYBODY. INCLUDING YOU!

Cait Sith: the spy from Shinra. He is actually cool becuz the entire time i was trying to geuss who he really was. I forget the guys name but I was really surprised to find out it was him. One of shinra's top officers has been secretly helping you.

Vincent: Vampire like character. Very doom and gloom in personality. He is racked with guilt and inner turmoil do to his love LUCRECIA! Lucrecia is actually the carrier of sephiroth(not his mother). She technically birthed him and it caused her to see visions of the future and the disaster he would bring. Vincent also might technically be Seph's father.

Red XIII: enough said, his names Red XIII! INSTANT COOLNESS FOR THE TALKING LION!

Final Opinion:

I think people now a days have found it to be cool to not like FFVII becuz many feel it has been overly done. It is the few in the series to get sequals, spin offs, etc and the few that are jealous becuz there favorites did not get the same kind of recognition have poisoned the masses into hating this game. FACT: SE would know which one is their most popular by which one sold and continues to sell the most. FACT: FFVII still sells TODAY offline and in niche shops for unreasonable prices but ppl buy them anyway becuz they simply love the game.

FACT:Final Fantasy is the best selling RPG worldwide, many are duped into believing it is DQ but that is just balarky. Check the comparative sales, DQ SUCKS! The last DQ sold well only becuz their was a FFXII demo in it(yes I am one of the idiots who bought it just for that too, stupid I know).

So anyone who dare say that FFVII is not the best is a tad dilusional.

In my other post I also said it was a Pop Cultural Phenomenon. Becuz it is. The game has touched millions who still revel in its greatness even today (me right now for example) which you just dont see for the other games besides stuff like MARIO and HALO.

If you dissagree with my opinion, post it here and give a full detailing post on why you dissagree. Tell me which one is better than it and why you think so....

True i still hold it as best game ever.

I agree with everything except with Spehiroth, he's nothing compared to FF6's Kefka.

3: he killed alot more people
2: he ruined the world
1: he has the greatest laugh ever

FF7 is so highly regarded because it was the first mainstream cinematic JRPG.
It was released at the right time ( when cnematic trend was arising ).
Its biggest merit ihas been the presentation.

yeah i loved th magic system in the game

3. Amount of ppl killed does not make you any more heiness than the nxt person, but the manner you did it in does. Case in point.

• i killed a hundred ppl while I was in the military
• i killed a 50 ppl in slow cold deaths as i took my time in dismembering there heads

Sephi killed Clouds love right in front of him while he was helpless to do anything. He even tried to make Cloud do it.

2. Sephiroth also had the world in an uproar. If you remeber, meateor loomed over the planet, slowling creeping forward. Imagine having to stare at what was going to kill you in a few days time. You have no choice but to face your defeat.

1. Sephiroth needs no laughter, he has the beautiful bishonun smirk and eyes so you can see the insanity within them.

Kefka (Personally) was a bit of a joke, he had very little drive. Nothing stood out about him that would make me say"Oh, I would think that too if I went crazy!" He was evil for no REAL reason. Magiteck experiments is a weak backstory.

I cant disagree that FFvii could well be the greatest Rpg of all time but to say DQ sucks! DQviii rates for me but millimetres behind FFvii in it greatness!

Amen.

You cannot educate people on why one particular story is better than the rest.  It's all subjective, no matter what I still prefer others like FF6 or FF10,  and writing an essay about it won't be meaningful since we still wouldn't agree.  There are also things that will heavily skew opinions, like which FF was your first (for a vast majority it was VII).  I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the game, but you can't expect it to be everyone's favorite.

Also, don't try using popularity to back up your claim, as it isn't relevant to the point.  In terms of sales, or "Pop Cultural Phenomenon," Pokemon completely blows FF7 away.  It has spawned movies, spin-offs, cartoons, card games, etc...

I realize that many ppl like the DQ games but they are not of my personal liking.

Firstly I am at a loss with touriyama's art work. It has been done so many times now, I am sick to death of it. And the thing that gets me the most is..........IT NEVER CHANGES. Every single one of his characters looks like another character he has made previously in the DBZ series. So that equals to Art direction of the game........BAD!

Second is the Story, weak at best when you compare it to a FF game or a Shin Magami Tensei game. Damn, Even Kingdom Hearts. It is always something with an evil garlic junior wannabe taking over the world, so predictable with Touriyama's work.

Gamplay, need I say more? Who was the idiot that decided to formulate the combat system over 1st person view? That was just dumb. It irks me to no end that while I am making my attack selection I am in 1st person staring at the rediculously designed enemies that are inches away from being pokemon. Then in DQVIII the learning curve was brutal to the point I never wanted to play it again.