[Sasquatch]

Actually, FFVII and FFVI are easy to compare, seeing as they were both revolutionary, and FFVII copied many, many ideas from FFVI.

Yes, the materia system was lame. But that was a standard part of the game, quite unlike the multiple-Ultima combos. Those were just cheap. It's one thing to play a game, even to find shortcuts and good combinations, but that is cheap. Kind of like Knights of the Round, but not nearly to that extent, and not pre-cheapened for you. VII was much, much easier than VI, unless you went through the (even more lame) pointless WEAPON battles. The game should be a challenge, it shouldn't be easy with a couple optional extreme challenges.

However, if you've already beaten and appreciate the original FFVI, I don't see a problem with you taking on a different version -- though I highly, highly doubt that some schmuck is going to remake any part of it to make it any better. At least you're gaining more respect for the older, better FFs.