you could make the case that this game doesn't hold up today, and in a lot of ways it doesn't - i used several mods to improve the graphics, and the controls, particularly the movement controls - are frequently clunky and unintuitive. but the setting, the characters, and the story are all truly timeless. the Materia system is still pretty fun, the ABS combat works well, the pacing is good... i thought that i'd play this game simply as a "pre-requisite" for playing the remake, but i'm shocked by how much i still liked it in 2022!