That sequence was very special and creepy to me for two reasons
The fact that we hadn't seen Sephiroth yet.
&
This
Not sure how they're gonna handle that sequence in the remake. I would have really wanted them to not show Sephiroth in the first game, but that's just my opinion. This is not a 1-1 Remake so who knows what's gonna happen.
I just like the fact that Square put John Carpenters alien from The Thing and made it the central antagonist. Not an evil emperor, not a demon, a shapeshifting biological life from that absorbs others and turns them into its slaves. When you think about it, this game has more in common with a sci fi horror flick then a typical fantasy story. Even outside of Midgar, you see some of the failed cronenberg experiments roaming the world. IT really was never just about some blonde spikey haired dude fighting a silver haired anime killer. Not to mention, most of the time you fight Sephiroth, it's not him but Jenova taking the appearance of him and mutating into a grotesque freaky monster thing. It's just after playing the compilation, I think the developers forgot what made FF7 unique and special so I apologize if I seem a bit critical.