I don't care what anyone says. Fanboys praise this game to high heaven and trolls rip it apart.
I grew up with this game. I was around 8 or 9 when my cousin gave it to me, and I played it with my brother until I reached a certain point where we just couldn't continue. Although I was too young to really grasp the story... I felt a strong connection to it. The graphics, the battle system, the Materia system, the music... oh my god, the music. I remember playing Smash Brothers Melee while listening to the world map music. I would have the sound for my PS2 plugged in, and the Gamecube would have the video plugged in. I would park my party in the world map and listen to it while playing. I would enter a battle and do nothing just to listen to the battle music.
Everything about this game I find perfect. The storyline had the right amount of everything. I connected with every character, and I felt like I was a part of the journey. I remember crying my eyes out in the scene that everyone should know about. I didn't like Aerith any more than Tifa (in fact, I MUCH preferred Tifa; I thought her and Cloud held far stronger chemistry due to their history) but I still liked Aerith. It made me despise Sephiroth.
Every time I play through the game, I notice something I didn't notice in a previous playthrough. Little tidbits about the translation, real world connections, cut data... something always intrigues me about the game, and playing through it every time is still a unique experience.
Sure, it has it's flaws. Every game does. And even if I take off the rose coloured nostalgia goggles... I believe it's perfect in every way shape or form, and I have yet to encounter a game with such emotion and character. This is my favourite game of all time, and it will be forever.
Favorite game...Star Ocean: TTEOT. I've played through it at least 20 times. When I get bored with video games in general, I delete my Battle Trophy data and play through it 3-4 more times to get it back. I've done every challenge that I can think of from solo runs to level 1 playthroughs to only using Battle Skills. It's definitely got my favorite combat system out of any game I've ever played. The plot's alright. It's a nice chronological end to the series. Also it's got Freya and you don't know Hell until you've tried to fight Freya.
Don't even get me STARTED on this game. I spent WEEKS tracking it down, until it popped up in a local Gamestop.
I love this game... I really need to set some time to play through it. I remember playing through it when I was a lot younger and I loved it almost as much as FFVII, but I think the fact that there were so many endings made it feel like an incomplete experience. But still, amazing!