Very first time I played was when it first came out, no spoilers, no strat guide.
I got pulled in by the relationships between the characters, even if the main story was a confusing mess.
I worked hard to make Aeris a main-line healer (Yes, AeriS, not AeriTH) and she was damn good at it.

Then she dies, and since I was invested in the characters, it actually got to me.

Then, as the game continued, and I realized I was never going to get her back, I realized all of the time and gil I invested in working on her was wasted and the frustration almost made me just quit. In fact, I did for a while. I went back and beat it later, but the whole experience was kind of tainted by that part. Hell, if they had at least dumped her stuff back in the inventory it would have been better than NOTHING.

Not my LEAST fave FF game, but I got ISSUES with it... Also, don't like that they decided they're essentially going to change a big chunk of the story going forward, either.

Remake the game or don't. Don't give us a multi-part game at $60 a pop, tell us it's the old game, lovingly recreated and it's a friggin spinoff at best.

Sorry, didn't mean to rant. :(

Rant away! I get it.

I remember there being a few characters that I liked, but I got so confused by the plot, and the ones that I didn't like (CLOUD) were so confusing and unlikeable IMO that it was difficult to stay attached. Also, to be fair, I played the game a bit late and someone spoiled Aeris'/Aerith's death. At first, I was sure they were just messing with me; so, I still lost my stuff. But it wasn't the same shock for me.

I have heard that the new game is basically the fullest of what the original game was supposed to be based on the creators notes and, for those that liked the game, it's quite good. I didn't like the game; so, Mir is having a hard time convincing me to give it a try, lol.

The re-Make is soooooo much better - it's scary ...

Meh.