Aaron,
I know that you've already acknowledged the arguments of the others, but I think something that you're failing to take into account is that many of these people played FF7 years before any sort of expansion material was even in the pipeline. I was one of these people, playing FF7 when it was first released, and then practically creaming my jeans every time SquareEnix announced new material, starting with DoC. Then, like many others, I was disappointed - with the sole exception of AC. The reason I was disappointed, and the reason that AC was an exception, is because FF7 is a complete entity on its own. It asked all its own questions, and then answers every question that it asked. Nothing was left unaddressed. CC and DoC just add more answers to questions that were already answered.
For example, I could ask you, "What's your favorite color?" And you might reply, "Black, because black is versatile." That's all I need to know, and that's all you need to tell me. Then, a week later, a lifelong friend of yours contacts me and explains that he first liked black, and many years ago he explained to you the merits of black, and so you changed your favorite color from white to black. It's awkward, it's unnecessary, and suddenly your favorite color isn't yours anymore. It's your friend's, and you're just borrowing it.
DoC and CC (especially Genesis) do exactly that to FF7 and Sephiroth. AC does not, because AC happens significantly later, and operates independently of FF7. It asks and answers its own questions. It is by definition a sequel. It adds, instead of reviews and changes.
Now, if that wasn't enough to help you understand where we're coming from, you should take a closer look at the character of Sephiroth as Square Soft (not SquareEnix) executed him. Sephiroth was legendary, powerful, and he was intelligent. More than anything he, was a pretty smart guy. Throughout Sephiroth relevant cut scenes, he's constantly explaining and defining terms for Cloud/Zack. He's familiar with geography, ShinRa personnel, ShinRa corporate history, and the higher sciences of ShinRa's R&D including the specifics of Mako-human experiments and the finer details involved. More so, we're talking about a man who sleeplessly consumes a library on his own, and through myriad puzzle pieces scattered throughout dozens of books, reconstructs a secret past that ShinRa has worked very hard to cover. But most importantly of all, we're talking about a man who masters new abilities the moment he learns that he has them. Remember, Sephiroth was killed, and yet survived, then learned enough about his Jenova union to puppeteer Jenova, Cloud, and other clones from thousands of miles away. He didn't practice that. It's the same as you growing a third arm and immediately knowing how to type 60 wph with it.
The point is that Sephiroth was not a stupid person. He didn't need anyone to hand hold him and connect the dots for him, and implying that he does reduces the enormity of his presence. It's not unlike suddenly learning that Einstein had a best buddy who explained to him the Theory of Relativity, and then Einstein just regurgitated it. That's what Genesis does to Sephiroth.
I hope this helps you understand better what the others have been trying to explain to you.
I know that you've already acknowledged the arguments of the others, but I think something that you're failing to take into account is that many of these people played FF7 years before any sort of expansion material was even in the pipeline. I was one of these people, playing FF7 when it was first released, and then practically creaming my jeans every time SquareEnix announced new material, starting with DoC. Then, like many others, I was disappointed - with the sole exception of AC. The reason I was disappointed, and the reason that AC was an exception, is because FF7 is a complete entity on its own. It asked all its own questions, and then answers every question that it asked. Nothing was left unaddressed. CC and DoC just add more answers to questions that were already answered.
For example, I could ask you, "What's your favorite color?" And you might reply, "Black, because black is versatile." That's all I need to know, and that's all you need to tell me. Then, a week later, a lifelong friend of yours contacts me and explains that he first liked black, and many years ago he explained to you the merits of black, and so you changed your favorite color from white to black. It's awkward, it's unnecessary, and suddenly your favorite color isn't yours anymore. It's your friend's, and you're just borrowing it.
DoC and CC (especially Genesis) do exactly that to FF7 and Sephiroth. AC does not, because AC happens significantly later, and operates independently of FF7. It asks and answers its own questions. It is by definition a sequel. It adds, instead of reviews and changes.
Now, if that wasn't enough to help you understand where we're coming from, you should take a closer look at the character of Sephiroth as Square Soft (not SquareEnix) executed him. Sephiroth was legendary, powerful, and he was intelligent. More than anything he, was a pretty smart guy. Throughout Sephiroth relevant cut scenes, he's constantly explaining and defining terms for Cloud/Zack. He's familiar with geography, ShinRa personnel, ShinRa corporate history, and the higher sciences of ShinRa's R&D including the specifics of Mako-human experiments and the finer details involved. More so, we're talking about a man who sleeplessly consumes a library on his own, and through myriad puzzle pieces scattered throughout dozens of books, reconstructs a secret past that ShinRa has worked very hard to cover. But most importantly of all, we're talking about a man who masters new abilities the moment he learns that he has them. Remember, Sephiroth was killed, and yet survived, then learned enough about his Jenova union to puppeteer Jenova, Cloud, and other clones from thousands of miles away. He didn't practice that. It's the same as you growing a third arm and immediately knowing how to type 60 wph with it.
The point is that Sephiroth was not a stupid person. He didn't need anyone to hand hold him and connect the dots for him, and implying that he does reduces the enormity of his presence. It's not unlike suddenly learning that Einstein had a best buddy who explained to him the Theory of Relativity, and then Einstein just regurgitated it. That's what Genesis does to Sephiroth.
I hope this helps you understand better what the others have been trying to explain to you.