Not to but in, but I feel the issue I have with VII's materia system is similar to an issue several FFs have which is that it sacrifices challenge for variety. Yes, the Blue and Purple Materia add plenty of customization options but there is honestly very little reason to use most of it. Even Magic Materia is largely filler once you start amassing Enemy Skills which are often more powerful, efficient, and economical in design.

I mean I don't know too many people who would swear by the Elemental Materia. Potentially, this should be like one of the premier Materia but the damage modifiers as a weapon are nothing to really shout about, magic is often better used for crowd control and even then summons are more efficient, and while there is a lot of potential for defensive purposes, once you leave Midgard you'll start acquiring accessory/armor that already confers elemental defense completely undermining the Materia's usefulness. My real issue here is that a lot of the Blue Materia falls into this camp of sounding useful but then kind of being pointless when you put into account that VII is hardly difficult and there are almost always more practical strategies that are often more efficient.

Granted, you can screw around and build interesting party configures, but it doesn't really change that most of VII's enemies can be destroyed by simply mashing X or using a summon. Again, I would like to point out that this is not a problem unique to VII, as VI, VIII, and X are all notoriously guilty of this dilemma