Stat bonuses are completely worthless in FFVII anyway :P

Any severe HP drop can be fixed with a simple "HP Plus" for those unwilling to level. My file was a clear example of "Materia fixes everything." FFV required lots of leveling and thought of perfect combinations. FFVII not as much. I was way too underleveled to beat Emerald and Ruby but by stacking up on HP Pluses, Mimic, and KOTR the entire thing was effortless. Many strong summons didn't require that kind of work. I remember quite a lot of materia (Bahamut ZERO anyone?) being in easily obtained places as long as you paid attention. Worse yet these summons didn't require leveling to be strong at all.

FFV the summons weren't as powerful, yet in most cases (let's exclude KOTR) where just as difficult if not more so to find (without a strategy guides help I would've never found Ramuh a summon that isn't even worth much). The real strengths came in leveling your classes, (Ranger, Monk, Magic Swordsman) which required time, thought for combinations, and when it comes down to it, either knowledge of the game already so you know what you get when you level, or a guide of some sort.

In FFVII you where rewarded for just, paying, attention. As for VI, I found that game broken, but not until the World of Ruin, and even then everything required some sort of work. Even Altima weapon because you had to level it by killing monsters (Offer+Genji Glove+Altima Weapon+2nd most powerful weapon=Win).