I always thought the idea of the hero and villain knowing eachother before the stroy begins was a little too easy. It seems to make the story more about them and only them, rather than the people that they affect. It also seems far more likely to me that the villain would force himself upon the hero. Maybe the hero is the only one that can stop this villain, but that by no means implies that they have had prior relations. Maybe the villain did something evil to the hero's family, or gave him a nasty beating and left him for dead. Or maybe the hero did something to the villain, and thats why the villain even became evil. So the villain is now trying to get back at the unsuspecting hero. Yeah, I guess that last one's a little overused in comic books. But I always like the idea that the villain is a villain without the hero, and the hero has to be the one that saves everyone without being the chosen one, and without knowing the villain beforehand.

In FF7, it was very much Cloud vs. Sephiroth. Sephiroth was trying to do other things to the whole planet too, and thats the only reason everyone else tags along, but its very much just that Cloud wants to destroy Sephirorth. Whereas, in FF6, it was all the heroes vs. the Villain. It didn't matter that it was Kefka, He didn't do anything specifically evil to them. He did evil to everyone, and the heroes had to band together to stop him because of his evilness. It wasn't nearly as personal as the Cloud vs. Sephiroth thing.

I'd rather have a story about all the characters in it, rather than a story about a hero versus a villain.