Hyaku said:
FF7 was the first Final fantasy I ever played, and it got me addicted.
Ditto. Final Fantasy VII wasn't just the first Final Fantasy game I played, it was also the first time I properly decided to try out the Japanese Role Playing Game genre. Since then the genre has gone from a complete mystery to me to one of my favourites in the industry. It also works very well as an interactive extension to the whole animè & manga scene.
The first Japanese RPG I played outside of the Final Fantasy franchise I remember was Grandia II on the Sega Dreamcast. I remember it well. I tell a lie actually! It was in fact Phantasy Star Online! The memories are flooding back to me...