I guess maybe for some of the same reasons as Momiji. My life wasn't hard by any means, but I found myself staying home more and more when I was younger, and JRPG's were able to fulfill that time like nothing else. They were fun, colorful, with great music and interesting stories, and I just got sucked into both the story and game aspects.

Final Fantasy VII was one of the games I bought a playstation for, and it was an amazing experience. VIII kind of let me down, but playing IX and X when they came out were some of my favorite times. A few years ago I ran through all of them, probably around the same time I joined this forum and it's easily one of my favorite game series. It's also the reason that I played games like Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto. I went from NES to Genesis to Playstation and Sony really provided me with the kind of games I wanted to play, and does to this day.

Me and my gf both share a love of video games and I don't know if that hobby would stay as relevant as it is if it weren't for the FF series.