Oh, I didn't even know that existed, lol. My bad.

I wasn't totaly wrong though

While the kids were in your party, he was stronger and far more useful.

Did you even play those parts?

True, you never got attached to Cyan's family and barely knew Cyan, but the scene at the train station is just *incredibly* moving and the way it's laid out is one of the most moving scenes in *any* game.

You don't have to be super attached to a character to still feel for them.  I'm not trying to say Aeris' death wasn't an emotional scene, I'm just saying there are many more much more emotional than that one.

Most of the FFVII emotional scenes just didn't have any heart or soul to them and were so two dimensional.  Yeah, it sucks that Aeris died or that Sephiroth decided to burn a village, but the way they were written and presented...it just wasn't very good.

Then you get a game like FFVI and a scene like the train station where every little piece of that is put together so perfectly you pretty much just don't have a soul if you aren't moved by it even if you aren't super attached to the characters.  That's the difference between good writing and direction and FFVII.

I've played FFVI several times over.

To sympathize on a relative human level (ex: car crash victims, burnt victims, etc) you don't need to be too attached, but to really feel for a character on a personal level you do need those interactions and it is ESSENTIAL that you know the character well before then.

Would you break down and cry for a woman you just recently met whom died a day later? 

Good writing involves great interaction.  FFVI has a lot of good moments, but their executions relative to what we already feel from the current cast leaves a lot to be desired.  FFVII filled that gap with a lot of unique, good moments combined with a huge depth of dialougue.  

BTW, can you explain to me why you feel for that train scene?  It's unique, I'll give it that, but I only have relative sympathy for Cyan at that moment.  It's not just the moments themselves either, there are several elements needed for any moment to have impact.  And Cyan is the most important element in that moment.  With him being focused on, it loses it's attachment.  It's not incredible, it's just unique: like so many FF events.

I don't know why Aeris's death was considered that surprising.

I mean, they kind of foreshadowed it over the entirety of the first disk. The two or three hours leading up to it practically screamed about how she was going to die.

For the train scene, just follow the link I did above.  That's so much better written than I could tell you.

And if I saw a woman die on the streets, yes, I would be sad and depending on the circumstances I could break down and cry.

If she were just randomly hit by a bus, I would think well that's a shame and be upset a saw someone hit by a bus but I don't think I would cry.

If I saw the same woman hit by a bus and then as soon as the bus finished whizzing by I saw her young kid screaming in agony at the sight of her mother being brutally killed in front of their eyes, I would be devastated even though I know nothing about that woman.

FFVII's emotional scenes try to work on just shoving the emotion in your face and expecting it to work.  The direction in FFVII is equivalent to Michael Bay.  He gets the job done but there's no subtlety, it's all just right in your face.  It's the lowest form of emotional writing and while it gets the job done there's just so much more better.

FFVI's take on emotional direction is more like the second bus example above.  Rather than just relying on your being so attached to your characters and then shoving death in your face, they just do so much more to tug on those heart strings.  You say all the emotional parts are wasted in the first half of the game, and while I agree the first half is better, the second half is where you learn so much more about the characters and really get into some deep emotional themes.

1.I've seen the scene more than enough times.

2. I said the woman died a day later though, you didn't see her die nor do you know the causes.  I guess you could say you were only told the news of her death.

3. A lot of important events and interactions aren't just shoved in your face though.  You have to pay attention much harder in FF7 to understand all of the connections and impact that goes with those connections : Ex: Vincent was in love with Lucrecia, but Hojo is too and nearly kills and reconstructs Vincent.  Sephiroth is born from Hojo and Lucrecia, wow Vincent was almost the father of Sephiroth!  But that plot point is never shoved in your face.  Vincent was a former turk and you are fighting against the turks.  But Vincent joins you to settle with Hojo and now you and Vincent have a common goal against Hojo. But there's even more! Aerith's Father: Professor Gast was killed by Hojo and you don't find this out until after Aeris dies.  

This right here is a prime example of subtle revenge for two characters. Hojo isn't heavliy implied throughout FF7 as a true threat or enemy, but if you look hard enough you realize that he could potentially be the true villain.    

1. You asked me why, I pointed you to the description.

2. Fine, the woman doesn't die.  Lets just say she's hit by a bus and the kid still screams "mommy" in a blood curdling pitch. 

Or are you just trying to say that reading about a death in a newspaper has no emotions attached like an obituary or random news story?  Then yes, I agree with that but that's hardly the situation we're talking about.

3. That's really just a side story, that doesn't mean it's fully of emtion (it may or may not be) and that's not really what we're talkign about.  I know FFVII has those.

(and just for the record, even Michael Bay movies have side stories just to show that just because a character has a background doesn't mean it's automatically emotional)

My sentiments exactly..some people get WAY too into story lines, I've always believed that.  Phenomenal game, but I wasn't even close to surprised or shocked when it happened.