>>39019233FF7 had practically no gameplay improvements over FF6. All it added was (back then) fancy 3D graphics and FMV cutscenes. It sure as hell didn't "define the modern JRPG".
>>39019489Smash also hasn't had a gameplay overhaul since its first game in 1999; every entry has 'only' seen gradual improvement and constant rebalancing, but its 2018 entry is still fantastic.
Meanwhile, Paper Mario was completely overhauled, and now fans hate it.
>>39020550Super Mario 64 actually made great design innovations in 3D platforming. The earliest 3D platformers were just 2D platformers with 3D graphics, sometimes with depth gimmicks. While some developers successfully innovated with new 3D possibilities (such as Crash Bandicoot, in development at the same time as SM64) they were still at their core 2D platformers in a 3D environment. Super Mario 64 discarded the notion that levels should be paths from a start point to an end point (instead having objective-based gameplay in a small open world) and had a revolutionary (now standard, even slightly outdated) camera system which allowed for complete freedom of movement (including rotation) in a 3D platformer. All of that completely changed the design of post-SM64 3D platformers.
