FFVII: Rebirth is about to come out soon, and I can’t help but think about the impact that the original game had on RPG’s in the mainstream here in the U.S. during that time period. It definitely opened up the mainstream to RPG’s as a whole, and I do wonder if Pokemon could have succeeded as well as it has without it. Sure, Pokemon had Nintendo’s backing but I feel like FFVII opened the floodgates and Pokemon (along with Nintendo’s backing) was able to capitalize on it. FFVII and Pokémon feel like the “1-2 punch” for RPG’s, and if FFVII hadn’t succeeded, then I don’t know if Pokemon would have which would have had. And without Pokemon, I don’t think anime and TCG would be as big as it is now here in the west. What do you all think?