Hi SymphoniC,
I've run into the same kind of thoughts on my latest project as well. I think FF7's "percussive metal" sound (similar to an anvil being struck) contributes to the steampunk feeling of the game, as well as the various synths you mentioned.
I see a parallel between the techniques Uematsu used in FF7 and those used in 80s musicals like Les Miserables or some of Andrew Lloyd Webber's shows. A lot of times when a new technique or new tool is introduced to the "pop" music world, everybody will overuse that technique at first as they experiment with it. Later, everyone settles down and that technique finds its niche in the recording world.
Go back to the 80s when synths were in style. Les Mis experimented with the blend of early synths and an orchestra, and the original orchestration was quite synth heavy. Now fast forward to the mid 90s, when the PSX sound chip offers enough polyphony and enough sound memory to start mimicking a full orchestral ensemble. Now it's Uematsu's turn to play with the same synth/orchestral scoring.
For Les Mis' 10th anniversary concert, the music was reorchestrated and synths were more conservatively used (not so much as synths, but as simulations of real instruments like harpsichords or mallet instruments). If there's a melodic line that you find odd in your arrangements, maybe ask yourself if the original composers and sound techs included those lines simply because of the novelty of the PSX sound chip, and maybe if so how you can use that material in a way that blends with the rest of the ensemble a bit better.
If it helps, here are some audio examples:
Les Mis - Opening:
1985;
1995Les Mis - Waltz of Treachery:
1985;
1995Anyways, love your stuff. Keep on rockin' in Midgar!
Show Posts
). However, we just need to get our lazy asses going 
.
)