Final Fantasy 7 was my first one if we don't count Mystic Quest on Super Nintendo.
But somehow I couldn't get into 8.
A friend had it and I tried playing it there, but it just wasn't my thing at the time.
The setting and characters really turned me off.
I had gotten really into importing Japanese Saturn games, so I played a ton of great RPGs like Langrisser, Grandia, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force, etc.
And was about import Xenogears, Lunar and Star Ocean 2 on PSone.