IMO, the game didn't really give too much history of characters other than Squall. Yes, they did explain about the group of peoples going to the orphanage, but then it's like there's this big gap between the time when they were at the orphanage and then when they went to Balamb.

I found that I liked the overall stroy of FF8 and everything did seem to fit together. I mostly liked how all of the main characters were connected somehow.

I think that using draw points was a pain, but it's better than being constantly on the lookout for ethers to restore MP. And It's good that everyone can use the same types of magic (meaning, there aren't ONLY black mages, white mages, etc.) and there are more options when it comes to the characters limit breaks.

Now that I've told you my opinion, I'm going to run and hide before anyone can disagree with me :P
*laughs maniacally*