I came in this thread before anyone replied, but didn't say anything as the first post was so....

VII isn't overrated at all, the graphics for the time WERE impressive, the FMVs moreso. More important though was the effort put into the game. The plot and graphics could have carried it easily enough, but they didn't just sit back.

FFX took the power of the PS2 and improved the graphics etc. then threw on one mini-game that required any real programming (as far as I can tell).
FFVII took the new power of the PSone and threw in mini-games with so much care and variety that they could have been made into stand alone games without a huge amount of effort. Not massively successful games, but games nonetheless.

Vincent and Yuffie both make great additions, and actually add to the plot and the world of the game.

The FMVs helped a lot, they weren't just pretty, they helped convey the emotion the graphics couldn't. I doubt the end of disc one would have been as moving had you seen Clouds eyes bulge to show that he was feeling something.