My mother bought the game for me when I was around seven or eight years old. I had been playing (read: in love with) Final Fantasy VI on the SNES for years and had just recently received a PlayStation for Christmas. I think VIII was the first of the three PS titles that I played.

I was pretty young and my parents had no interest in gaming, so needless to say my first playthrough attempt was a disaster. I got as far as the T-Rexaur battle and got slaughtered. I tried again a year later until I fought NORG and was slaughtered again. Years later I returned to the game as a teenager and had a much easier time getting through it. Not the best Final Fantasy by any means, but one I have a lot of positive (albeit frustrating) memories of.

tl;dr dinosaurs and humanoids with oversized hands bullied me as a child