After having played ff7 remake and being somewhat obsessed with the story, I ofcourse had to play the original game. Weirdly enough when I first started playing it, I couldn't get used to the battle mechanics at all. After taking some time off before giving it another try, it finally clicked. Which resulted in me having a great time with the game till the very end.

My thoughts:
(+ = (mostly) positive; - = (mostly) negative)
+ Gameplay;
Starting isolated in Midgar was a great start, with you getting dropped in an open world after. Once I understood how materia worked, I started to try out different combinations. I played the Switch version, which had a X3 speed option; a must nowadays. Have to say most fights felt actually fair, aside from some endgame regular enemies. idk why they did that...

++ Music;
Perfect till the last song.

++ Graphics;
I really have a weak spot for pre-rendered assets. Every visual in the game screams nostalgia even tho I can't have any nostalgia for the game. The summon animations were all very unique and gave the powerfull feeling it was trying to convey. All places you visit are visually memorable, but the overworld could have gotten a bit more variation. Other than that it pleases exactly of what I like from older games.

++ Story/Characters;
I barely play story games, but this one just does it for me. The story is so intriguing, that I want to keep knowing more about it. Not only the main characters were interesting, so were enemy characters and some side characters. Even tho I already knew how the story would go and end, I was still captivated till the very end.

Recommend?
Yes, but this should not be your first RPG. I think it's better to start with an easier (more modern) one. If you enjoy those, for sure give this one a try.
Also FF7 Remake really is a game on it's own. If you've played this one, you haven't played the other one and vice versa.