Whats the best way to play FF7? The original seems good but looks like megablocks. And the remake is only half the game and is apparently a sequel.
Both. If you only want to play one then play OG FFVII.
The remake, besides the fact that adds and changes elements to the story and that it's not a remake that covers the entirety of OG FFVII, is that kind of remake that doesn't nullify the original game. Certain remakes as Shadow of the Colossus PS4 could be considered the best way to play the game, and that there's not much of a reason to play the original after playing the remake.
But FFVII Remake is like Resident Evil 2 Remake. It keeps a lot of things but also it adds new elements, in a way that RE2make doesn't really erase OG RE2 from existence, so the ideal way to experience RE2 would be playing both the original and the remake.
Similar case for FFVII, I'd say.
Crisis Core is a fine game to check if you want more FFVII, but a bit overrated in my opinion. And the movie, well, it's cool to watch for the action scenes.