VIII was playable, in fact it was fun playable, but the character development was a let down, which was what made it so bad. After playing IV - VII, one comes to expect a certain standard from Square, and for me VIII totally left me disappointed. II was completly different in that sense... it was a let down after I, yes, but I wasnt uber-developed either. So I'd say VIII was worse, because I had such high hopes for it. I expected II to be... well... like it was.