I've Never Played a Final Fantasy; Shall We Give It a Go? Continued… [TGH]

Kanbu33 from TGH writes:
"There are several hallmarks of truly a great game. I'm not planning on voicing them all now, but there is one that in particular that applies, even now, to "Final Fantasy 7?; any game that can anchor you to one spot for in excess of six hours has to be good, whether or not you can figure out exactly why. The only reason I can deduce, other than the hypnotic effect of the art design, is that its one of those "greater than the sum of its parts" scenarios.

Last week, I received some really good feedback about my "Final Fantasy" post, so I figured the best way to weather it all was by doing a follow up. First off, to anyone who suggested an alternate "Final Fantasy" to play, thanks, but no thanks; as I said before, nostalgia is a big part why I'm endeavoring to do this, and while "FFX" could well be a diamond encrusted marvel, its simply not a big enough..."