Well, he might not get Yuffie right away. And that would be a travesty, with out her I would rate the game quite lower XD. Really I'm a bit weird. But hmm. I bet he already knows what happens anyways... it's one of the most tallked about games ever.

In terms of locations, most of them are pretty well known, especially due to their appearance both in other FFVII Compilation games and in the Advent Children movie. As for how the story unfolds, I guess that if he's playing it for the first time, he might have avoided seeing anything regarding the story. Though, again, anything related to the FFVII compilation gives massive spoilers regarding FFVII's story itself.

Sorry, with all the fuss before, I forgot to answer your initial question. To me, the best part of FF7, story-wise, is a tie between the end of the first CD, and at the middle of the second CD, both being good plot twists. 

But if we go beyond the story, to me, the very best of FF7 is the immense sidequest that involves chocobos. It's split into several parts, one of which, it's my favourite minigame in any FF. The rewards in the end are amazing too, and it's essential if you want to get every materia in the game.

It gives your more freedom than ff13 or ff10, but those two were still better than ff7 for me.

@MANUELF

Its a very good game and one of the best FF's.

The story is the best part, let it develop and suck you in.

And no it won#t wow you like FF6, because FF6 is much better than it

Congratulations on playing a good game but slightly  overrated. It was the 3D graphics that made people go gaga over it.

FFVIII is better, and IX (for me) is the best one.

I have to agree with pretty much this whole post.

For me it starts very well in Midgar with a linear start to introduce you to the story and characters. When you get onto the world map it builds quite nicely (main story-wise) until you get to the end of disc 1 which is just superb.

Disc 2 then gives you a lot of freedom and has some brilliant stand-out moments in the story and some great cut-scenes. Towards the end of disc 2 you get access to nearly all side-quests, including the brilliant chocobo quest mentioned above.

Anyway, enjoy.

Its UNDERRATED on metacritic actually.

Back in the day, putting a side the FMV which were something new for console gaming and really impressed all of us, I recall loving some of the characters, the materia system, how the game successed by making of Sephiroth and obsesion to me and some of the tunes.  It is one of my favourite rpgs of all time, if not my favourite one, but I wouldn't know if I would feel the same way about it if I had never played it until 2010.

My favourite part of FF7 was actually the Midgar sequences. Midgar itself was an incredibly atmospheric city. The scene with the Don was just absolutely hillarious. Traveling around on the train from section to section. I wish Midgar had been expanded a little. There are many great locations through that game though. Unfortunately, there are some slow parts, but just don't quit, the game is well rewarding.

For those who said FF8 was better, I agree there. FF8 is still my favourite in the series; and I feel it is unfairly targeted by people who:

A) don't understand the gameplay  (it is a little more complex than the other FF games).
B) Spent time drawing (you should refine magic from items bought, found, or won in battle, it is easier and more effective)
C) Are insecure about the romance story (and they label the game as "emo" as a result, even though it is not really). You might want to call this immaturity =)

I think a lot of people just wanted to dislike this game because it was the hip thing to do so among diehard FF7 and diehard Nintendo fans at some point. In the end, they miss out on enjoying what I think is the best FF experience to this day.

FF9 is also a fairly good one; it is similar in formula to FF7 in how the story is laid out; but the details are vastly different. In many cases the story off FF9 is a little more matured from FF7.

Then again, I'm the guy who liked every Final Fantasy game. The later FF games I have a bit of a gripe with, and that is the increasing focus on combat; FF10 had more battles and less story than FF7, 8, or 9. FF12 had even more battles and even less story than FF10, and FF13 had still more battles and less story than FF12.

FF7 may be no less linear than FF13; but FF7 does not have a rigid pace, FF13 does; in FF7 there's lots of little side things to do along the way - in FF13 there isn't, there's one path to move forward along there are no side things to do; no card games, no mini games, no real towns, etc....

Playing FF7 for the first time.......am jealous.