I think FF7 is one of those things where if you were there at the time and part of the hype then it will always be the GOAT...
For anyone born after the fact going back and playing it, it's probably just another JRPG. But to people who were thrown into a world of CD quality music and ultra realistic FMVs (remember, prior to the 32bit generation the best looking game we had was probably sonic 3...) Final Fantasy was mind blowing. and 4 cds? 100+ hours playtime? It was unheard of.
Fuck I miss the 90s.