Can't wait to sink my teeth into this thread but for now I'll say a lot of people hated this game because they wanted to.

They hated it because they wanted to.

People like Wolf Kanno declared Jihad against 3D graphics before they ever picked up a Playstation controller. Others may have been happy-go-lucky Nintendo kids whose innocence was first truly shattered by real world reality when FFVII would not be appearing on the Nintendo 64. Others were just blown away by the memories of the moments of FFVI and IV back in the day, and would refuse to allow another game to ever be considered, so the internet fanboy love OFFENDS them. For still others it may be a combination of all 3.

FFVII left the mark it did because it was a huge turning point in gaming and essentially gave birth to the Hollywood set piece that current gamers today are so enthralled with. That's probably why on the Game Over screen, there's a film reel containing scenes from the game. It's an achievement, no a testament in this medium, and it's up to the gaming fans to debate its undeniable relevance.