Quote Originally Posted by Bolivar View Post
I used to be the exact same way. However I've come to realize that VIII's plot is alot more intense than maybe any other FF's that the few flaws in it are easily forgiveable. Also, the battle system isn't broken - sure you can spend a considerable amount of time drawing and make your characters uber strong but in any FF you could spend hours leveling and do the exact same thing. It's about deciding just how much is enough and getting through the plot without as many distractions.
I'll grant you the plot stuff because despite the lack of a consistent villian and the gaping plot holes I still manage to enjoy the story, but even with little knowledge of where the best draw points are and how to exploit them, a person could easily junction there characters with enough high level spells to unbalance the game without ever spending the kind of time it took to overlevel in other games. Granted if someone wants more of a challenge they can delierately hold back, but even I can't be bothered as the main reason myself and most people will play through multiple times is to do sidequests they missed the first time and to enjoy the story again. The majority of people will never bother since it's incredibly difficult to walk the line between a reasonable difficulty, and uber hard super fan challenge.

The system isn't broken because you can create overpowered characters, it's broken because it can be done in little time, and pretty much by accident simply by using the system the way it was designed to be used.