This game will quickly draw you back into one of the best RPG stories ever told, and just wait til you see the end :-D
Instantly, this game grows on you. It has a great combat system, that actually makes you WANT to fight, unlike most RPG's where the combat gets boring after a while, this continues to amuse even after seemingly endless hours of gameplay. The combat system is more simple than that of most Final Fantasy games, which takes of the many hours usually spent with that, and let's you focus on the important factors, like the fun of just hackin' your enemies to bits with your giant-ass BUSTERSWORD, or the fact that you can actually choose where to be on the battlefield, whether you stand still, or you are moving around like a crazed rabbit. It is much more like an action game, than an actual RPG, but that is what makes it so much fun.
And now comes my favorite part, the story, and in this game, there has been spared no expense on the storyline-front. Like I said before, you basically have to have played Final Fantasy VII, in order to get the max out of this baby, and if you have played the first game, then this will bring back old fond memories, of one of RPG's greatest stories EVER. This game, however seems a little more mature that it's predecessor, since it does not have those silly, completely meaningless characters like Professor Heidegger and his creepy laughter. Instead it features a lot of well known characters from the first game, and lets you get a better look at their personality.
The story of Zack, formerly untold, is now revealed in the best manner, and the end of the story will leave even the most heatrless person with tears in their eyes, kinda' like the ending of Final Fantasy X.
This game is quite simply one of the best games Square-Enix has ever made, and it will be very hard to top it.