I really love the variety in this game.

[VeloZer0]

On the average mistranslations are bad, but by cutting them out you lose some of the hidden gems that add to the games charm. It's not really clear cut which I like better.

[Wolf Kanno]

As long as a new translation doesn't remove my infamous "shiny string of hop" speech from Barret.

[Jiro]

^ Interesting take. Mistranslations generally just disgust me, charm or not. I've been playing the PSOne version and I'm struck by how bad some of the lines are. For the record, I grew up with the PC edition (I didn't get a PlayStation until VIII) so some of these mistranslations are frankly new to me.

That makes a lot of sense. Not sure what else to say though; in a way, it seems like you've "missed out" on the charm that the mistranslations bring. But then, if you hate them anyway, it might've saved the game for you, in a way.

[Flying Arrow]

Eh, there's no rhyme or reason to my tastes. On the one hand, I begrudge FF7 for butchering the language I love so much, but on the other hand the more embarrassing the writing in a B-movie, the more I worship it as a masterpiece. (See: Samurai Cop - YouTube - ‪Samurai Cop - "Now, I'm telling these son of a bitches..."‬‎)

More thoughts on my time through FF7!:

Just got to the Gold Saucer. On the way, I really enjoyed the entirety of the Shinra HQ area, the Kalm flashback, the Fort Condor scenario, and Junon. Tifa's reactions during the Kalm flashback make it worth seeing again if you've forgotten exactly how she responds to Cloud. I also like all the mini-dungeons sprinkled throughout the world, like the Mythril Mine or Mt. Corel (the music + scenery here actually make it one of my most memorable locations in the whole series. How's that for obscure?). I'm not even half-way through the game and I can say that I've been re-convinced that FF7 has the best setting in the whole series. I won't get into it, but I do think it works in ways and hits visceral and thematic notes that the other games' settings do not (including FF6's, but this probably just due to hardware). The best storytelling in the game, I think, comes from just looking at the backgrounds and hearing their back-stories. Spectacular art direction really does a great job of controlling the player's attention in each shot.

Party-wise I'm trying to mix it up and get conversations I've never seen before, but I'm generally sticking with my standard disc 1 party of Cloud/Aeris/Tifa with a touch of Barret. The approval thing with Tifa/Yuffie/Aeris/Barret is still pretty neat, and I'm saddened that it's never been utilized again or on a larger scale in post-FF7 games (FF9's ATEs were a really good take on party development, though, but not quite the same thing). Playing this after a play-through of Dragon Age: Origins earlier this summer made me realize that I just really enjoy a well-developed dynamic party that responds to my decisions. Obviously FF7's approval mechanics aren't as developed or prominent as DA:O's (the games are 13 years apart) but it still makes the journey that much more engaging than in a game where party members are designed first and written later.