FFVIII is probably my third favorite Final Fantasy, but it's probably close to last on my list of favorite games.
Oh, it was interesting in the first disc and halfway into the second one, but the story took a boring turn, and I found myself only playing it to finish the game because I had invested so much time and effort into it, rather than excited and wanting to play because I was actually interested in the story.
What did it in for me? Mainly the fact that they threw Ultimecia in as if it was a last minute decision on Square's part.
(SPOILER)More like, "Oh, by the way*laughs*...Edea's not really evil....just some crazy woman in the future. Who is she you say? ....Well, we'll make the rest of the story up as you continue completing your thousands of side quests."
The draw system was a bit inefficent, compared to VI and VII. You could be in an intense battle and need to cast Haste or some other support magic to insure your victory and remember in the middle of battle that you used the last one that your party had while trying to finish off that annoying random encounter with that Tonberry a couple minutes ago. It was much easier drinking an Ether and being done with it.
With the exception of FFIX, I find that I generally agree with you. FFVII has been sitting on my very dusty shelf since I beat it. I only played it twice, and that was it. It was an okay game, but it definitely wasn't the almighty game that a lot of Final Fantasy fans swear it is. Frankly, I find myself playing FFIX a lot more than any FF game...even if only to see if I can kill off Kuja faster than my time before. And at least the story was mildly interesting.