Yeah, I have to say, I've never hated the flashback scene. I think it's an incredibly well written and executed part of the game's story. And I do love story in games. Maybe if I was playing FFVII just for the gameplay, I'd get upset over such a lengthy stall, but why the heck would I do that? I mean, the gameplay's good, but it's an RPG, it's all to serve the story, I'd never boot the game up just to get into a couple random encounters. Maybe to fight a particular boss, but then that's what save files before boss encounters are for.

Why would people hate such a great part of the story?