Alright, I have to intervene in this madness. If you judge a game of the past by the obsolescence of its surface graphics or sound or whatever, what kind of gamer are you? As far as story, since when has an RPG had a expertly crafted story? In retrospect, all stories were fairly derivative, formulaic and simple; RPGs still remain notorious for their stubborn conventions. FFVII is one of our best showings, however. It's not perfect, but it was effective, at least at the time. If you weren't there when it was happening, of course that makes your view of the game different coming at it in this day and time. Since then, other games have borrowed or whored the themes or subject matter like no other (beyond what Square had already done plus other RPGs). If your exposure has been to more recent games, then you're going to look at FFVII and disregard it unless you come at it with the right mindset.
As a sidenote, I'm curious about the gamer who, after having been exposed to the whole "OMG AERIS DIES" aspect of internet gaming culture, can actually experience that sequence without cynicism or with a genuine regard (or if anyone remains uncorrupted that experienced it beforehand).