Why do we love this game?

[Goldenboko]

I personally loved the story and gameplay.

I loved the game and all but... what really stood out about the gameplay? There where no serious improvements to the battle system

Graphically, it wasn't as strong as VIII or IX but then again it was the first FF PS game Square did so they were still 'learning'. As a side note, I also remember that this was the first game I ever saw advertised on TV.

Yet, while the graphics weren't nearly as strong as VIII and IX it still blew the compitition away. Games like Suikoden and Wild Arms still were still using 2D for their overworld maps and looked alot like SNES games unless you were in a battle.

I'd like to point out something...

This is the most dazzling visual experience to date on any console. Film-quality computer-generated cinematics blend seamlessly with pre-rendered background artwork to create the strikingly realistic world of Final Fantasy VII, both beautiful in its grandeur and terrifying in its detail. The overworld and battle sequences are presented in full polygonal splendor with just a touch of texture mapping for good measure. But you haven't seen anything until you witness some of the more powerful magic spells in the game. Massive dragons heed your bidding, dwarfing your gigantic enemies tenfold; an earth titan tears the ground up from beneath your enemies' feet, flinging them aside like toy blocks. Some of these summoning spells cut to over half a dozen different camera angles as the catastrophe unfolds.

Don't compare the graphics to VIII and IX's ever. Even if you where doing it to make the game look better, it is impossible to get an accurate measure of a game's graphics by comparing it to future games, of course it wasn't as graphically as strong as VIII or IX.