Cloud... the funny thing about your posts are... you keep talking up stuff in FF7, and talking down stuff in FF6....

when the stuff your talking about is the exact same thing.

If I had to guess, I'd say you played FF7 before FF6.

FF6 just did more then FF7. If the FF6 characters didn't touch you... i'm guessing you just weren't paying that close attention.

If I had to guess you probably played FF6 after people mentioned about how they liked it much better then 7... and therefore held a negative bias towards it that clouded your objectivity.

Also... go back and re-read the Kefka quote again.  It's not "Life has no meaning, destroy everything."

Nor by the way was that Exdeath's motivation by the way... I don't think you paid much attention when you played the earlier FF games... and/or maybe 7, since 7 does kinda of blatnatly try and hit you over the head with every plot point so you don't miss it.

For most hardcore FF7 fans, FF7 was the first JRPG they'd ever played.  This was due to the way it was marketed in the US.  I was in middle school/freshman high school when FF7 commercials were on.  You would not know that it was a Role Playing Game if you'd never played an FF before.  I had hardcore huntin' n' shootin' friends in HS who bought FF7 because the marketing for it was just so good.

And I don't hate FF7.  Quite the contrary.  I think it is one of the best FF games in the series, and one of the best JRPGs in general.  I'd definitly put it in the top 10.  But FF6 is a better game, for the numerous reasons already listed.

and a movie

I hypothesize it stems from FFVII as the most popular of the series and it's over exposure. when this gen started the FFVII tech demo set all the FFVII hardcore fans ablaze and those who were indifferent with the game became really annoyed at all of it's attention it was getting. Hense the reason that start spuing any FF title as better than it to bring it down a peg. 

These are what I define as "Non-Conformist Conformists". People who develop a deep disdain or hatred for something as it gains popularity with the masses. Also can be interlaced with a Hipster who I define as someone who just likes the most obscure, least appreciated things(but will turn on it in a heart beat if it becomes mainstream).

Also See these for reference...

-Call of Duty

-Halo

-WoW

The PS3 FF7 tech demo was pretty awesome.

Front Mission 3 is awesome.  Actually it's the game that made me feel better about my Playstation purchase after i was let down by FF7.  I still play through  FM3 once every year or so.

Can't really put a "hipster" tag on me, since i owned the game on release, and it's why i bought a playstation.

I just didn't like it because it seemed like a step backwords in every regard to FF6.

Even the cutscenes seemed like a negative when contrastic with the ugly block graphics of the original game.  They really should of waited one game before transitioning to 3D models. 

No I just become annoyed when people (not here but many times before else where) try to tell me I only like FFVII because it was my first and the hype around it's release years ago. This is just not true and I think FFVII's merit cannot be just chalked up to perfect timing. I will explain my experience with the FF series....

My Brother had a friend who was an avid gamer. I was like 8 at the time. He had every system and tons of games. He owned every FF game. I watched him play some of the earlier ones and it never fully interested me. Then at some point he got FFVII for PS1. I watched him do the opening scene and I was star struck, had to have it. I ended up getting a PS1 almost a year later along with FFVII. Didn't think to much of it then as my brain couldn't comprehend all the intracacies in the story. Still had fun tho. I continued on with the series up till IX. Then I saw a magazine talking about each FF game and how they were blah blah. I decided to play the earlier ones. I first stopped at IV(mind you I was playing GBA emulator versions). While I could vibe a bit with the combat I found the story poorly written(lamen speak annoys me, same with most of the early SNES games and even Legend of Dragoon). I took a break from that and then jumped to VI. This was well before the FFVII hate bandwagon started and the VI cheer squads began. I really liked the game, it was the only one even close to being relatable like the PS1 entries, it felt very basic but still a lot of fun. 

Some years later I start going through my catalog of games, I was older and now could understand them a bit better. i replayed the entire FF series several times over. This is when I came across an epiphany moment with FFVII and a spark of genius ingnited. I started doing a lot more of the side mission stuff and the story kept getting better and better to me. I have seriously played FFVII over 20times start to finish(many of those times attempting the vain save Aerith techniques -_-.....).

So you see, I had no preconceptions of any of the entries in the series. FFVII was the first to really catch my eyes but I didn't fully understand the complexities till years later, well after giving many of the earlier entries a chance. I have played almost all of them several times over and my order of favorites has yet to change as of today.

1. FFVII
2. FFX
3. FFIX
4. FFXII
5. FFVIII
6. FFVI

It's probably because you were 8.

The SNES FF games are much more complicated game then FF7.

That finally fantasy 7 was the first to catch your eye at a young age and that you hadn't played any of them  but saw them before you were old enough to appreciate them very definition of a preconception.

The fact that you think FF4 has a poorly written story is just... scary.

FF4 argueably has the most consitsent and most well written story of pretty much any Final Fantasy game because it ties them themes of redemption so well in regards to basically every main character in the game.

I'd really suggest playing it again, because it does so much on basic themes and levels it's practically literary in it's symbolism and story.

Also the "FF7 hate wagon" began as soon as it was released.  Most Final Fantasy enthusiasts from the previous generation didn't seem to like it.   Though like you said you were probably too young to notice.

Final Fantasy games before 7 were more like books or plays.  While FF7 and on, have been more like movies in terms of storytelling and how they convey things.

(With the exception of FF Tactics.)

Which is why FF7 was so popular by the way...

not because it was in the right place at the right time (though that did help).

It's because most people prefer movies to books or plays.

FF5 another good choice.  The job system is most enjoyable.

Truthfully half your post is based on assumptions. I wonder if you took the time to read my earlier response to you.

Fair enough even I have friends whose first Final Fantasy games were 8 or 9 but 7 left them with a great impact of satisfaction, and I'll quote Wada. "No Final Fantasy VII Remake Until Original Has Been Topped" -- Square Enix CEO. Wada admits that current FF games aren't up to VII's quality. Quality can mean a lot of things, so without a doubt 7 was the peak of the FF franchise before it went down hill.