Hmmm... my issue with VII (whcih, let's get it straight, I DID enjoy immensly) is that the character are a bit too 'larger than life' while the characters in VIII feel a bit... closer to me. Also, they come more alive to me. I think part of the reason is that while FFVII has more background on each one, they have relatively little dialogue compared to VIII I feel. And that dialogue, even if it IS rather normal stuff on occasions, helps making them feel real to me, while Cloud and company stay rather distant, so that even a better background has elss effect on me. (one of the main reasons VI fails to affect me. Many of the characters only have a few lines outside their background. It starts out all right, but it stops pretty soon)

To each his own.