I think what Square was missing in FFVI and FFVIII was the "feature filter."  The feature filter is the guy who says "uh... no" when someone suggests a new feature that won't work very well.  "Hey, how about we completely eliminate items from the game?"  "Uh... no."  "Hey, how about we allow all 14 characters (OK, except Umaro) to learn every magic spell in the game for exactly the same amount of effort?"  You get the point.  :)

I agree that FFVI's broken gameplay doesn't keep you from playing it, at least in the beginning.  But when you get to a weak point in the plot, good gameplay will keep you going until it gets good again.  The lousy gameplay is one of the reasons I rarely come back to FFVI, and even more rarely finish it if I do start a new game.  It definitely makes it less of a good game for me than IV or V.

I'm not trying to convince anyone not to like VI, it just isn't for me.  I get what they were trying to do with the character development, it just didn't reach me.

I think I'm going to dislike FFVII for having only three characters in your party at a time, and no battle rows.  It worked in Chrono Trigger, but dammit, I want more strategy!

FF7 is the best rpg ever!

Cant wait for the next show.

 twerterm, I completely agree with what you said. I do think that Square is each time more focusing on beautiful graphics and forgetting about the story. Since VIII, the story (for me) keeps getting worst and worst (and I really dont care about the characters at all) and XII was the first one I didnt finish because I simply couldnt care anymore.

I am going to buy XIII though, because Square has given me a lot of quality games and I will give them another chance and I hope that they will provide a good game with a good story and characters that will satisfy me.

Well I certainly respect your right to that opinion, and I agree with you that IV is great. I wasn't a fan of V, but again, we all have our own opinions about the FF series. 

Anyone know the name of the song in the first 5 seconds after the GT logo? (0:05-0:10) when they show the montage clip? I think it's the intro to FF1 but I'm not sure :/

That video really brought many memories back, that was a good watch. FF6 is easily my favorite game of all time, and i echo the part about FF going downhill since then. Although I liked FF7, 9, and 12, but it's not on the same level as 6 at all. The author of this video was right, it is absolutely amazing how much emotion they were able to produce from the 24 pixel tall characters with limited animations. I've never been so pulled into a story as I was with FF6.

These videos really hit home for me. I can't believe it's been 20 years...

If there was one FF I would love to see completely remade on the PS3/360/Wii it would be FFVI. I still rank this as the best RPG I have ever played and I can only imagine how amazing it would in full 3d with proper VA (Aya Hirano as Celes is a must!).
This game creates an intimate relationship between the player and protagonists (in a similar way to LotR) in a way that very few games have managed. Both Character and plot driven, I think this is one of the finest pieces of story telling I have come across in any Media.

While we all kick the crap out of SE for remaking games all the time, I would love to see console-based remakes of the first 6 FF games and/or the first 4 DQ games in 3D. Similar to FF Origins/Anthologies/Chronicles, I suppose.