FFVII did, but not for the reasons you're thinking. Heidegger is clearly the greatest character in the entire FF series bar none. However, the rest of the cast of that game was seriously lame. It was almost enough to ruin the game's reputation completely, but Heidegger managed to shine through, making the game popular enough to warrant 3 spinoffs. The other games may have a greater number of good characters, but in terms of overall quality, Heidegger alone manages to make FFVII's characters that much better than any other FF game's.