I remember rather fondly killing Ruby Weapon with that trick. Maybe it wasn't Quadra but there is a multiplier Materia that will give you the same effect. Ruby Weapon battle, purposely kill two party members, Spam KoTR with that fix and he is dead in no time.

The installation files on the PC version were above 200Mb (260 something Mbs if my memory is correct) so it definitely would not have fit on a cart without some major changing.

Sure, subsequent FFs got a lot more money spent on them than FF6, but FF7 was still the most money that was invested in a Final Fantasy  game for quite some time (I believe it only got surpassed by FFXIII). This is because of the heavy investment that Sony put on it, along with other early PS1 titles, in order to build a base. If I recall correctly, Sony gave Square advertising and publishing services in exchange for system exclusitivity. The argument on higher install base means higher sales is not an argument, but still a point that can account for additional sales.

There are possibilities in the other direction, though they seem a lot more far-fetched and desperate. I'm sure plenty of people will tell you that playing the first game in a series DOES develop a fondness for said game in the series. It's just natural that a first time in things like this can leave a big impression. It's definitely a lot better than "People only like FFVI better because they're hipsters" reasoning.

I knew you'd drag up the Materia system, because it's the only thing close to different that the game offers to it's predecessor. But the point is that all benefits from the Materia system were still evident in FF6. For example, the Offering relic in FF6 offers the same benefit as the x4 Materia. It's just a different way of showing the same thing. You cannot really say that the Materia system by itself was enough to persuade you to start playing Final Fantasy at 7, right? Besides, I'd take an unbroken ATB system over the Materia system anyday. Gameplay over gimmicks, after all...

I'm just proving my point that something cinematic does not have to be excessive in size. Ocarina of Time was a 32MB cartridge, I believe. This was due to no FMVs (used in-game cinematics), no big, bulky background images (the background was rendered much like the foreground polys) and smarter space management on secondary storage. FF7 would have been very capable of fitting on a higher-end cartridge with similar things. the problem was that FF7 was scheduled for release near the start of the N64, when those cartridge sizes were either not possible or not cost effective at the time.

@Fordy
I somehow doubt the advert budgets were all that different.

I said both are possibilities but how about we subtract them both and just look at the opinions for what they are and without assuming underlining bias.No one can disprove bias but they can't prove it either. Now take the general consensus of those vs what Critics have been saying the last few years and you will notice a disconnect. This is not to confuse the Critic's need to denounce FFVII at every turn as bias, rather than unobjective.

I didn't bring up the Esper/Materia, you did. We were never talking full on FF to Star Ocean type transformation of combat system here. All the final fantasy's suttle and not so suttle similarities in battle, Yet they all are distinctive enough to stand on their own. FFVII's system is no copy of VI's so no one can try and take from the Materia system's popularity(frequently ripped off completely in other games, Dragoneer's Aria for one). That is my only point with this.

FFVII invented the fleshed out cutscene. Without it you would not see stories conveyed the way Mass Effect and many other RPGs after FFVII do. Cinematic cut-scenes for many gamers was like a treat for making it to a certain point in the game(that's how I felt about them). N64 couldn't handle that. If FF never jumped shipped with VII, Aerith's death would have never been as impactful, nor would Sephiroth's burning down of Nibelheim. Hence why it would have been a tragedy to have made the game without the cut-scenes.

Indeed. Though #41 isn't bad per se...

Happy to see Golden Sun and Dragon Quest V. People often don't realize how important those games were back when they released.

Actually, the budgeting shot up significantly when Square moved over to Sony, partly because they saw the benefit that the advertising could do. The first set of commercials were paid by SCE. Whether to say Square set as much money on ads as Sony did is nother question, but once advertising and publishing was handed back to Square with FF8, it was most likely not held in as high of a regard as Sony's advertising department (Square's advertising department only became notable around that time) . Also keep in mind that FF7 was the first FF to be released in Europe and Australia, which would give it a little more of an advantage in sales compared to it's predecessors.

So what are these critics been saying the last few years? Going by that methodology, I had the same opinion on FF7 as when I played it in the 90s. Perhaps it hasn't stood the test of time as some keep boasting about. Perhaps they're sick of Square milking the highest seller of the franchise, because they believe it would amount to more sales compared to other titles.

You're the one who brought up that Final Fantasy 7 was the first one that drew you in, and upon asking how, you mentioned game mechanics. So far, you have only mentioned the Materia system that differs from FF6. Since you mentioned that the graphics had no sway on your opinion, what else about the FF7 mechanics do you believe persuaded you? I refuse to believe that all it took was the Materia system to convince somebody to say "Well, that's good enough to drag me in".

I believe fleshed out cutscenes were out long before FF7, even ones that require FMV (hell, half of the Sega CD games were nothing but cutscenes with choices). If you believe that the N64 couldn't handle that, I'd like to hear your reasons why, since the earlier Final Fantasies pulled off cutscenes incredibly

**FF6 SPOILERS**

Aerith's death did little to move me for the basic reason that it's a common occurance in Final Fantasy ever since the second one. I was more moved by the death of Tellah in FF4 and Cid in FF6 (followed by the scenes after). To say that the N64, OR the SNES, couldn't handle cutscenes effectively is an incredible insult. The poisoning of Doma? The destruction of the world? Both of those conveyed a lot more emotion to me than the burning of Nibelheim. And the one thing that stands out to me with Aerith's death is Mr blary trumpet in the background, which makes it sound like the "sad trombone". All it did was add comedy where it shouldn't.

surprise to see DQ5 makes it. I guess there will be no other DQ games in top 40.

EDIT: And I was wrong. DQ1 at 29 and DQ8 at 27.

FFVII's over all aesthetics(not graphics) are the most appealing part to me. I like they deterriating Cityscape, the rusted pipes etc. Chrono Trigger had a similar vibe in some of the timelines, which I loved that too. That is probably the most prominant thing that caught my eye.

Open World arenas were there before GTA was invented, but it was GTA that made them popular and desired by most gamers and devs alike. FFVII made the Cinimatic Cutscene a JRPG "thing". And not many games before FF did what we now define as CC. This in particular IS a graphics thing because the competing systems in PS1 era couldn't pull them off like it could. Please name these games before FFVII that were doing FMVs like they do them and every RPG there after does them.

Aerith's death is the most well known in video game history, even people who have never played it know about it. So what if you didn't care, most others did. Personally I find the deaths in VI to be comical as I simply cannot take that gibbering idiot Kefka serious. That is just how I see it. You yet again are perpetuating people only felt remorse because it might of been the first they saw in the series. Yet if you watch one sad movie, doesn't mean you can't find another to be more sad than that. It was just more touching of a moment than the others.

Also take note. Another testament of FFVII's general quality. People generally do not rebuy a game they hate, yet FFVII is the best selling digital PS1 download on PSN, let alone the series. Do you think that all those people who played FFVII hated it and didn't play another FF after? Or...is it possible that the millions of FF's sold out there, they still desire FFVII more? If your argument is to be believed, when asking gamers to put money where their mouth is, yet again FFVII comes on top. In retrospect, if nostalgia is the deciding factor of which entry a person likes, everyone who started with FFI should like that one best.....but they don't.

So now it's the aesthetics? What happened to the game mechanics that you were talking about? FF6 has it's share of ambience too, along with other games of it's era, such as Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana or even Secret of Evermore. Aesthetics generally do come down to first-time experiences. That is why I enjoy Secret of Mana's ambience more than most people do.

Check out the AVGN's video on the Sega CD. There's at least three games that work on the basis of FMV cutscenes (in fact, the majority of the game is based off of them). I'm not saying they're any good, I'm just saying it has been done before, so it's hardly innovative. 

Really? Have you spoken to "most others" to know that? Aerith's death is only so popular because, like the series, the fanboys will not let it rest. In fact, I've seen plenty of "top 10 saddest moments" that list Celes' suicide attempt above Aerith's death. In order to make a death meaningful, you have to ave a level of empathy for the character. Cyan for example, one could tell that he was waging the great war against the empire, but he was a man of honour. That didn't stop Kefka for using dirty warfare tactics for his own personal gain. To me, Aeris was the annoying girl I'd never have in the team due to the fact that she couldn't fight. I just couldn't relate to her predicament at all. In a way, it seemed like she got herself into that situation to begin with.

Once again, you're comparing sales to quality. McDonalds serves millions a day. Are you ready to argue that it makes the best food in all of existance? 

Holy Hell the original Ogre Battle is at 40...

you may be right.  Seems REALLY odd to have the OG and not Lordly Caliber.

The origianl Ogre Battle being great and all, but Lordly Caliber more or less just being a straight improvement on everything.  Well except for a much clunkier interface.

Weird Pokemon got the "Last = Best" treatment... or seems to have.

Quest of the Avatar at 26?   Really the choices made on this list continue to impress me.  Most of the IGN staff have played a lot of great olderschool/obsucre RPGs