>>717324675 (OP)
>first 3d game
Many subhumans can't into 2d
>edgy
And kino at that too
>streamlined builds
Most build choices can be used in different characters and aren't irreversible
>first entry many western fans played
And the first after 1 to have the correct number
>8 couldn't manage to keep the hype up
You had to read more than just the main quest to understand what was going on, the systems went over a lot of people's heads
>9 was cutesy
And not edgy
It was the face of the franchise for 3 entries, until 10 managed to be more notorious, but by then JRPGs were common enough in the west that it wasn't going to change the whole face of the franchise for as long as 7 did. It also had Tifa, the best waifu so far until Ultimecia rolled out, and a very notorious cast too, with a memorable fuckboy villain for goths to project onto for years to come. Finally, it repurposed a lot of earlier games's elements well, feeling like a culmination of and, at the same time, shift away from the franchise's core values, with evil industrialization flourishing beyond ff6 into what could be seen as the early onset of highly advanced civilizations like the lufenians or lunarians, closing a circle that would have to later be broken by the more outwardly lighthearted and lush setting choices in 8/9/10/12.
>>717328627
8>5>6>10>7 to me, but I need to replay 9, I was a barely literate kid when I first tried it. 8's dreamlike nature draws you in, kinda like Legend of Mana or Kingdom Hearts, hiding how fucked you'd be by actually living there. Other games are very honest about the everyday shit you have to deal with, be it the whale from link's awakening, or pompous rich technocrats.
