Yes, "overrated" is a fancy way of saying "I disagree with the majority, but my opinion counts more."
This.
Also, I think that some of the criticism of this article is OTT. For the most part, it just quotes the idiocy of others. Still, some things there deserve a mention.
practically impervious to anything but the most glowing analysis
Really, this is an extreme example of the hostile media effect. This person thinks that FF7 is never criticised, I think that no other game has ever attracted such hatred (even ones that deserve it). Whoever thinks that FF7 doesn't get enough criticism ought to go around the internet and say amongst communities filled with RPG fans (and FF fans in particular) "FF7 is my favourite game". Then he'll see plenty of criticisms, and plenty of people with such hate for FF7 that you really worry about their mental health
. Anyone who thinks that FF7 doesn't get criticised (and, I might add, criticised for every tiny little thing people can find), must have been taking a 12 year sabbatical from the internet.
I'm aware that I too might be a victim of the hostile media effect, and that I might be a little too sensitive to the anti-FF7 vitriol, but I know for certain that this person is deluded in saying that FF7's demerits are not considered, and considered obsessively.
I won't bother arguing with the real haters (trolls, perhaps?) in the article, since it's obvious that they are suffering more butthurt than the man from the "1 guy 1 jar video". Instead, I'll give a few quotes from arguments I've seen on the tubes that put their rambling into perspective.
"FF7 isn't a real FF because it doesn't have crystals" (no explanation needed)
"I hate FF7 because it has an environmentalist message" (c'mon, you're getting a bit desperate when you come out with things like that. You could just as easily criticise other FF games by saying that they support unelected absolute monarchs. Chances are that king the Light Warriors defended wasn't voted in democratically)
And my favourite one (from a 6 vs 7 thread)
"FF7 fanboys are stuck in the past".
We should actually feel vindicated by the fact that so many people spend so much time on energy trying to pick apart FF7 (I've seen one bloke who had a list of 50 reasons why Sephiroth is a bad villain, most of which were factual inaccuracies). The only reason people would go that far to convince everyone that something so unimportant is true is if they know in their hearts that it isn't. Those people who hated FF7 weren't trying to convince us that their precious favourite game is better, they were trying to convince themselves. I'm glad that FF7 gives so many people such a big inferiority complex