Even if you're playing the game without a strong knowledge of the Junction system, FF8's still pretty easy. I remember on my first playthrough, I was rather impatient with drawing but I liked Triple Triad a lot. I just junctioned magic to the HP and Str stats and pretty much ignored everything else. Because I wasn't fussed about modding rare cards, I got Lionheart early. I worked out there's no point teaching Angelo anything else besides Invincible Moon. I found out about Armageddon Fist somehow. Fast Ammo was easy to come across through card modding. And Selphie could Full-Cure whenever I felt my "constant critical health" strategy was getting a bit risky against a particular opponent.

oh and Degenerator.