To be honest the graphics weren't that good for ~1997, the cutscenes were, but most of the rest of it was rushed looking 2D garbage.
First RPG's are always remembered better than they were, and FF7 was the first RPG for a lot of kids, that's why people are so fond of it. The game itself had TONS of flaws, FF6 was a MUCH more solid game, yet it wasn't commercial and wasn't marketed like FF7 was, so throngs of children didn't play it as their first.
There are way, WAY better games out there and (gasp) a bunch of them aren't even Final Fantasy games!
ToP or any single game of the Suikoden series crush FF7 hands down as far as Console RPG's go, those are the ones i'd rate best, Chrono Trigger, FF6, Lufia 2 and a few others get honorable mention.
But RPG's can't realy be thought of as a whole, there are subgenres; The best Action RPG is Ocarina of Time, the best tactical / strategy RPG is either Disgaea or Tactics Ogre, the best Puzzle RPG is Lufia 2, the best MMORPG is World of Warcraft, the best P&P RPG is D&D, the best TCG (could be considered an RPG) is MTG
Pretty Much my thoughts, but i have a strong favor towards Ogre battle games and chrono trigger. FF 6 is by my favorite of the series. Kekfka FTW