oh and Jenova isn't controlling Sephiroth it's the other way around. The story writer said that. Sephiroth is the one that killed Aeris not Jenova. Everytime you run into him he sends a piece of Jenova down to fight you and at the end he's the final boss not Jenova. He's the one responsible for most of the events in FFVII by his direct actions. Jenova was evil and he was influenced by her but not in the way of mind control. Sephiroth set to carry out what Jenova started not because she was controlling him but because that's what he wanted to do. Had he succeeded with his goal, he would have become a god, not Jenova.

If there is a main villain other than Sephy in the game then it's gotta be Hojo, as he has a hand in almost everything that went down in the game.

That PS1 version is *terrible* to play. The load times were inexcusable, in my opinion, and took an awesome games and totally ruined it.

It's just a prime example of how Square's work became half-assed since Final Fantasy 7.

Bookmark'd.

Wow, I didn't realize that people actually hated that game. I've played my fair share of JRPGs and FF7 was by no means the worst. Over all it was a decent experience. Some of that may be being wowed by the better graphics over previous games, but the gameplay wasn't bad for the time. I doubt I could play the game now since JRPGs don't do anything for me anymore, but when I did, FF7 ranked no where near the bottom.

I'm a closet VII fan.

I tell people my favorite FF is FFIV because they think it's cool to be underground, but my real favorite FF game is FFVIII because I love Squall Rhinoa, Zell and Quistis. I also love the draw system, and beating that game from beginning to end, is an experience that I love, right down to the Zero levels game where I maxxed my stats on the Islands of Heaven and Hell.

I also, love FFX and XII, and neither of those games are popular online.

VI was good, and had some classic characters, but the primative storytelling of the era just kept it from being as engrossing to me as the later games.

The reason VII was amazing, imo, was the atmosphere of the game, the feeling of helplessness, and some of the "Kojima" type moments, such as when you fight Sephy for the final time and the only command available to you is Omni-Slash.

My first playthrough I had yet to unlock all the limit breaks, and when I did that move, I couldn't BELIEVE how awesome it was, lol!

VIII gets a 10/10 from me, VII gets a 9.8, Tactics gets a 10/10, XII gets a 9.7, X gets a 9.5, and VI gets a 9.5 considering how much it innovated. Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana, are imo, just as good as Final Fantasy VI, and no FF game before VI, besides IV perhaps, can stack up against modern games, I don't care how much they innovated.

I think its the same reason some people hate Twilight Princess. I personally felt its the best game in the series, but some people felt it "didn't innovate". Not a criticism imo, coming from the greatest gaming series of all time.

/anonymous

 But, the fact is, you're playing with the battle system for something like 35 of your 40 hours. And ATB is the most singularly awful RPG battle system I've ever used. (Though that may just be because I've never played FFXII.) It's slow, cumbersome, and simplistic, and there's tons of better battle systems out there, in and even before the 5th generation. Games like Dragon Quest and Shin Megami Tensei resolve turn-based battles at lightning speed in comparison, without all of the waiting. The Lunar games (which came out around 1992) feature faster-paced battles, positioning effects, and could be faithfully recreated on an SNES, sans cutscenes. Even the Grandia series has combat which could basically be described as ATB with several layers of complexity added, and the first Grandia game came out around the same time as FF7. 

Point is, ATB is horrible, and I really don't know how so many FF fans can overlook that.

As for XII, most people stopped playing it about halfway through, because yes, the story sucked.

However, the battle system certainly doesn't "play itself" towards the end of the game. The end is where it truly shines, as XII has the most engrossing and time encompassing end game of any in the series. The story even picks up a little at the end as well.

I feel you must play through XII using a walkthrough your first time through, because you will miss a ton of stuff without it, including the best weapon in the game, period. You can miss the best weapon in the game in the first 15 minutes without a walkthrough.

That is a poor design choice, however, with a walkthrough, and a good knowledge of strategy, by the end of XII on a real playthrough(with a walkthrough) you will, as I found out, find it to have the most addictive combat system of the series, and that's not a fact, but it's true.

I don't like the FF series since VII because I can't stand playing as an emo.

FF IX was the exception.

I don't like 'emo culture', and FF series are quite a highlight of that

lately I've been playing more western RPGs as they are true Role Playing Games, I get to play who I want how I want.

Go Oblivion!

Man, FF III/IV for the SNES was lightyears ahead of VII in quality (though not my favorite RPG by any stretch)

I'm the opposite of some of the people in this thread. FF VII, VIII and XII were my favorites. FF 9 was not my cup of tea. Never played FF VI, but I will soon.