I'll put it this way:

I came.
I played.
I enjoyed.

I expected nothing more than a decent game, and got what I asked for. Therefore, I was 100% satisfied.

If FF7 is overrated, then I'm a small chicken pie.

I first played it when I was 6, and I've bought it 4 times since. I'm going to let my kids play it, my grandkids play it, and I'm going to leave it in a box, with a PS1, so that far into the future, people will still know what a good RPG looks like. I love it that much.

ps. FF7 has a deeper storyline than any game I know of. It has hidden characters, hidden bosses, sidestories by the million. That's what I'd call extravagant.

I think Rydia here has got it right. I think FF7 has got alot of bad press lately because people are fed up with the emo'ish sequals and prequals that milk the original game beyond belief... On the other hand those same sequals have given birth to a new breed of FF fans, who love the sequals, but hate the original FF games.

It's realy sad that some people hold FF7 lower in their opinion because of this over-milking though. Final Fantasy 7 has one of the greatest sets of characters, story, side-story, mini-games, and music of any FF game...

I've said this plenty of times, and I will say it again.. In my opinion the best era for Final Fantasy was FF4-9. In this era the franchise was at its height with story, character development, gameplay elements, HUMOUR, and overall design.

So to say Final Fantasy 7 is overated.. In my opinion is a very sad thing for people to say, and my best advice would be to play the original game again (I have been cured from joining this sad viewpoint, by replaying the game this year and remembering just how good it is). Final Fantasy 7 is loved for a reason.

The only bad thing is that it now has a large new crowd jumping on the fanwagon, who don't know an awful lot about the original game, but love AC, Crisis Core and DoC... But realy, if these fans annoy you, and make you irritated with FF7, ignore them. Lock yourself in your room and play FF7 on your own. Then come back and tell them about Don Corneo, Bugenhagen, Red XIII, Barrett, Cait Sith, Yuffie, Reno and Rude, and all the light humoured parts of the game, and characters who don't all have silver hair and a big-ass sword, and they would be as confused as anything. "Uh... Sephiroth? Zack? Cloud? Who else exists in the FF7 universe!"

*sigh*

FF7's storyline is decent. It's not the deepest ever, however. Hidden characters and bosses have been around forever. As far as sidequests go I thought FF7 was lacking.

It's a good game, but far from the best.

FF7 had lots of fun mini-games though.. The Submarine, motorbike, boxing, basketball, arm wrestle, mog game, snowboarding etc etc. And it had a theme park in which to replay them all AND much more in it.. I mean in what other FF's do you get a theme park with your own rollercoaster in it? Not to mention to fun of the chocobo racing...

As for sidequests, I wouldn't say they were lacking entirely. There were quite a few towards the end of the game, mainly defeating the Weapons, but also gaining the teams ultimate weapons and summons etc...

I think when people think so negatively of this game, to try and counter the hype of the sequals, they shamefully forget the good things that come from this game.

I don't think it is overrated...but I also can't say it is underrated either.

I mean there are SO MANY people nowadays that HATE FF7 (especially FF6 fans). If that is how they feel, I can't hate on them since I dislike many popular games too (Ocarina of Time, Bioshock, Gears of War...especially,etc.).

However, the people I can't stand are those that just say FF7 sucks because it is the cool thing to do. The poor graphics and emo characters arguments are so tiring.

Complain about the poor translation and the broken materia system, not because Cloud is emo....please. Of course even the poor translation argument isn't that strong. So many of my favorite NES games had ATROCIOUS translations.

I agree with the above posters about how the spin-offs have garnered some hatred toward the game though... I hate every spin-off except Crisis Core but that gives me no reason to hate the original game.

I think those arguments are applied more to the sequals than the actual game. The real game wasn't emo at all.. But DoC, AC and a bit of Crisis Core was in many peoples eyes, and lacked many of the greatest elements from the original. But yeah, again how the spin-offs have made some ppl hate this game.

ff7 is part of gaming history to be honest, it is bar far the best in its genre and will be for years