It's uber-close.

I'll keep it 100 & admit I voted for IV. I actually love both games. I love the materia system in 7, as well as the characters & story.

However, I've played IV/II more times than one can imagine. To me, it was the proper successor to FFI, not just because it was the next sequel in the US, but because a lot of the themes in the game reflected that game's.