I feel like VIII had a lot of potential that it didn’t fully live up to. I can see why people don’t like it. I love it though, and it’s what got me into the series and JRPGs in general.

It’s one of my favorite worlds to explore, and I like talking to all of the NPCs. I also like some of the little touches like how Selphie updates her little website on the Balamb computers throughout the game as well as how some of the other stuff on the Garden website changes. I like all of the characters, the designs, and the music. I like how Seifer is made to basically be the stereotypical main character only to ultimately be a failure, often due to some of those more lead characterish traits. Also, the Moombas and Shumi tribe are great additions to FF lore. I also just felt the characterization of these teenage characters was pretty realistic, and Squall was pretty relatable to me back at that age.

I can concede that the orphanage twist was poorly done and poorly utilized (though I still think it could have been good). Quistis got the short end of the stick with the rest of the party, though I still like several of the aspects that are there for her character. Junction/draw is pretty exploitable and a lot of people don’t like it, but I do like it. There are lots of other faults too, but I love the game despite them.