Aw, I love the smell of fanboy crossfire first thing in the morning Personally I feel VIII doesn't get enough credit for the things it really did and too much credit for the things it didn't do well.

VIII's an odd duck for me Technically I should hate it but for all its faults in its story, Squall's journey of growth hit close to home for me but then again the game came out in a trying time in my life. I could relate to Squall and his journey to learn how to open up to people. Though its gameplay is horribly broken and its story is a mix mash of poorly followed through ideas, the game is quite endearing to me.

Maybe cause its the game that taught me to hate VII fanboys (No, Squall is not Cloud and Tifa's son. No Garden is not a remade Midgard and SeeD has no connection to SOLDIER. No there is no Materia or Knights of the Round. No there is no relation between Seifer and Sephiroth. No, it has no connections whatsoever with VII in any way and no it doesn't suck because it isn't VII-2...:rolleyes2 ) I think of anything, I liked it cause it was daring and tried something new. Especially considering the fact RPGs were just starting to become mainstream worldwide. Non-Japanese gamers were just getting used to how the genre works and Square threw them a curve ball. Even Veteran players had to rethink how to do everything.

I think the Junction system was an interesting idea, I only wish it had been better balanced and better implemented in the story. A better level cap for spells (30 fires is all you need to get the maximum stat boost meaning excess spells can be used for casting), more balanced stat boosting (strength boosts are way too overpowered while its an act of god to get magic stats to do decent damage.) and make the GF not so damn powerful and easier to kill (perhaps summoning the GF halfs their HP so each time you spam them it becomes easier to kill them) but mostly I wanted explanation on what the GF were and there place in the world.

The story has too many ideas and are poorly implemented. Time traveling, witches, amnesia, child soldiers, politics, lost civilizations, space travel, natural disasters, love triangles, childhood rivalries, and a tale of growing up, not too mention a wealth of other crap I don't feel worth mentioning. A few of these ideas alone is all thats needed to make a good story but VIII has all of them and can never spend enough time to justify there purpose in the story. But then again there is another side of VIIIs storytelling...

Its one of only four FFs that actually has a main character and its story is completely revolved around said character (IV, VII, and X being the other three). For this reason you need to understand that the rest of the stuff is pointless. VIIIs plot is about Squall and his journey to learn how to love others. Its one of the only story elements thats actually consistent and well written in the game IMHO. At the end of the day, VIII doesn't give a damn about lousy love triangles, and time traveling witches. Its about Squall learning to open up and trust other people. To learn how to love himself and others. You can call it emo if you want, but its rather touching if you are willing to accept it for what it is.

This is just my opinion though...