I m 100% biased, as am a massive fan. So I'll share my SO's perspective. She played it a few years back for the first time, wondering what all the fuss was about, and she absolutely loved it. The graphics rapidly disappeared for her and let place to the adventure. The Remake and Rebirth are good, too. Though they slightly modified the story. (Remake ≠ Remaster). The mod graphic boosts are a big plus. I'm unsure of what is available nowadays. Haven't played it in 5years, or so. If you ever get to play it, or decide too, please don't read anything about it, story wise. Spoilers everywhere, especially for an old masterpiece like this one.

I just replaced the original (with mods to make it look nicer) last year. Hadn't played it since like 1997 on PS. It was great nostalgia and still a great game, but obviously a bit dated in some QOL departments.

It is, however, a complete game and the story line is still good. Especially if you go into it blind. The entire materia system to give your characters powers and perks is legendary.

The OG game came out as an entire (and long) game. It's complete. Major bonus. No bullshit having to buy a game like 3 times over a 15 year span just to get it all. Not to mention having to keep waiting for that 3rd game to release.

If you like (or think you may like) old school turn based rpg's, then give it a shot. You should like it. If you don't like those, avoid it, and if you haven't ever played one, it's not a lot of money to risk.

I do recommend getting some mods on it though. It can be made to look much better than it originally did during that awkward phase where they were making 3d games, but graphics weren't good enough to warrant making them 3d.

If you want nostalgia for a remake of a game that came out close to the year 2000, I would instead recommend Trails in the Sky First Chapter. Unlike the dumb time travel ghost shenanigans, it's actually a remake of an old JRPG. It tunes up battle mechanics, but also respects what worked in the first game.

Like everyone else says, the remake isn't a remake, it's a weird sequel. More importantly though, the original is one of the greatest video games of all time while the remake is a video game. There's no comparison, tbh

Honestly, the original still holds up today, you just need to emulate it so you can get the best version of the game. The mods required to get it playable on PC nowadays are honestly not worth the effort. Also the graphics look stranger and more dated than they did originally due to different display technologies and vastly higher resolution displays these days. And, last time I checked, there’s no way to get the original font back, which genuinely makes a massive difference.

You’re going to deal with some clumsy mistranslations but it’s not such a big deal in my opinion.

There’s also a real remake on mobile called Ever Crisis, but I haven’t tried it so no opinion on that.

The remake isn’t really a remake. It’s obvious to anyone who played the original within an hour.

It’s a sequel and I don’t think that’s a spoiler. However, the characters aren’t aware of the events of the first one by chapter 13, where I’m at. So it’s a spoiler to the characters? But not to gamers.

The original on Xbox has cheats that make the game easier and less tedious. I don’t know if they affect achievements but the OG didn’t have them, so I’m fine not earning them. Fortunately the OG comes with Remake on Xbox, but anyone can grab a PlayStation emulator and play the OG that way.

The original is dated graphically, but you gotta realize it was basically the first ever cinematic game of its kind. These days that’s most games. Back then in 1996 or 1997 it was a truly novel idea. It was even advertised as being too big for Hollywood to make into a movie. They stopped just short of saying it was better than a movie. And it exceeded all our expectations. Hearing everyone talk about it in high school was wild. It seemed like everyone was playing it, even people who didn’t like video games. Even the preppy girls and jock boys were getting in on it. Everyone found characters to admire. It really was a cultural phenomenon.

I would say depends on your preferences

By today's standards, old 7 gameplay, graphics and story will seem dated.

I am unable to play the newer ones, but from what little I have seen it seems to "feel" better when you see and know characters from the original.

I have played and finished old ff7 and if you don't mind reading everything, some grinding unless you are going to for the secret stuff ( which is heavy grinding) it should be a "smooth" experience once you get to grips with the game systems, graphics and gameplay - and yeah, It can feel difficult in the old one to get into but I found the payoffs were engaging, had moments of emotional resonance and generally felt satisfied by the end - but that is because I allowed myself to be engaged with the game world.

That is all up to personal taste, as I know there are games that have had a stronger effect on me, but I also understand why FF 7 is rated the way it is.

The remake heavily relies on understanding the original story to really get the most out of its new story stuff as it implies some kind of time travel or alternative dimension shenanigans between the events as they happen in the OG vs how they alter them in the remake. It's pretty awesome, but I am not sure someone jumping into the remakes first would fully be able to appreciate the differences when they don't know them.

I guess the old one might feel really old if it’s your first Final Fantasy.

Even the remakes feel a bit dated in a way (not graphically).

I say the Remake is basically a complete new game. It shouldn't have been called Remake, but more like "Inspired by". You don't need to play the original game in my opinion, if you want to play the Remake. To me those are two separate games. And that comes from someone who says the original FF7 is the best videogame of all time.