HI! WHAT MAKES FINAL FANTASY VII SO VERY SPECIAL AND EVEN BETTER THAN VIII OR IX? I PLAYED COMPUTER GAMES ALL MY LIFE, STARTING WITH A COMMODORE 64 AND AN AMIGA 500 (I LOVED THE AMIGA), A FEW YEARS LATER CAME THE PC, BUT I NEVER PLAYED RPGs. I BOUGHT MY PLAYSTATION IN 1997 AND HEARD ABOUT THIS INCREDIBLE RPG FROM JAPAN, FINAL FANTASY VII. ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF THE PLAYSTATION IS, THAT MOST OF THE GAMES WON`T LAST LONGER THAN A FEW HOURS, BUT FF WAS DIFFERENT. I ALSO SAW THE OUTSTANDING GRAPHICS IN THE CONSOLE-MAGAZINES, SO I STARTED WAITING FOR MY FIRST RPG EVER AND FINALLY THE DAY CAME WHEN I OPENED MY PSX AND STARTED THE FIRST CD. THE FIRST FMV-SEQUENCE BROUGHT ME RIGHT INTO THE STORY AND I WAS TOTALLY OVERWHELMED BY ALL THE FIGHTING, STORY, COLOURS, BEAUTIFUL BACKGROUNDS AND MONSTERS, I HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT ON MY PSX!! THEN I GOT USED TO ALL THIS AND THE STORY WENT ON, I LEFT MIDGAR AND STARTED TO LOVE THE CHARACTERS OF THE GAME. AFTER 22 HOURS OF PLAYING FINALLY HAPPENED, WHAT REALLY NOBODY EXPECTED AND SHOCKED THE WHOLE PLAYSTATION WORLD: SEPHIROTH KILLED AERIS! I COULDN`T BELIEVE IT. ACTUALLY I LIKED TIFA MORE THAN AERIS BUT STILL IT WAS SUCH A SAD AND CRUEL MOMENT! OF COURSE EVERYONE HOPED THAT AERIS WOULD RETURN LATER IN THE GAME BUT SHE NEVER DID... 30 HOURS LATER SEPHROTH FINALLY HAD TO PAY FOR AERIS` DEATH AND THE GAME CAME TO AN AWESOME END. MAN, I WAS HAPPY! THEN I FOUND THE LAST SECRETS AND FOUGHT A HARD FIGHT AGAINST THE TWO WEAPON-MONSTERS. UNTIL TODAY I LOVE TO WALK THROUGH MY FAVOURITE WORLD AND JUST ENJOY THE GREAT STORY AND GRAPHICS! IN 1999 THE SAME HYPE STARTED WITH FFVIII, BUT IN THE END BOTH -FFVIII AND FFIX- DISSAPOINTED ME. IN MY OPINION, SQUARE WANTED TO CREATE THE ULTIMATE RPG. THE CARD GAME, THE LONG GUARDIAN FORCES, THE WEIRD STORY, THE NON-ANIME CHARACTERS, EVERYTHING LOOKED TOO PERFECT IN FFVIII. AND HONESTLY, WHO DID NOT KNOW FROM THE FIRST SECOND, THAT SQUALL