Now, this is nothing personal to anyone who DID enjoy FF8. If you got something out of it, good for you. I played through it twice (once normally, once cheating) to get something out of it and...well...I like all the other Final Fantasy games I have better, including FF4, which was lukewarm to me. So, where to begin?
How about...I did not like the leveling system? That's as good a place as any to start. The FF8 system is one which makes it so you are never superior to even the weakest of enemies (certainly not many of the bosses) in terms of your growth. Every ten levels, BOINK! They're trouble again. So then tell me, after all the T-Rexaurs I fought in the Garden (And WHOSE bright idea was it to put flipping dinosaurs in the Garden?!), you're saying that I can never EVER get a heads-up on how to kill these things in a more efficient way? The Garden is a SCHOOL! Do you know what that tells me? I learned NOTHING in SCHOOL! Now what good is that? The leveling systems in the other games were better, in that you smash easy enemies because they hold no more secrets for you. It makes sense. The bad learning curve in FF8 tells me that all the characters are idiots! (Ah, but don't let me get ahead of myself.) The only way to get an edge...is the junctioning system.
Another bad system, my thinking. So basically, I'm willingly putting monsters...in my brain. So happens, it causes laser-guided amnesia and allows me to not be a 10-pound weakling. Also allows me to do things like magic, because again I can't LEARN anything, while I certainly met people (opponents) without Guardian Forces who certainly use magic. (Tells me Galbadia's got a better curriculum or something...) Magic is not run by MP, it is stocked and traded and used to strengthen your attributes and whatnot...except that, therefore, using them ultimately makes you weaker again, a massive bummer. Collecting the damn things is a pain, of course, even when you learn synthesis. Speaking of learned abilities: Encounter-None. Really... So now, we're training an ability that enables me to NOT PLAY THE GAME? Doesn't seem right. Oh, and when I have my GF setups the way I like 'em? Sometimes, the game fudges them all up, plus I REALLY hated the tutorials.
Alright, so I've established that the world seems backwards. Now, onto the people. Oh, let's see...the cast. Hmmm... Squall is, of course, a pain in the ass with WONDERFUL DIALOGUE ("...") and a sword attached to a gun in a manner that should make it explode if triggered. I'm so glad that Square later realized that Squall's weapon was rubbish and came through with gunblades that could WORK, but for now...this is supposedly an advanced weapon. Really? Zell is better, but Zell is kind of an irritable punk, not known for being that bright. Ah, let's see... Quistis is notoriously bad at her job and I never found her limit break to be ANY good. Selphie...not much better. Seifer...*Snerk*...worse than Squall. Irvine...irritating, but at least he has a GUN. Rinoa? MAGNIFICENTLY DENSE! Who would ever follow her? And incidentally, I really don't like ANY of the playable characters OR much of the antagonists either. (More on that later.) The guys who the game SHOULD have been for, perhaps, were...Laguna and company. Three war veterans leading a haphazard life, armed with blades, an anchor, and a proper machine gun. Might've worked, never know now.
Okay, I just wanted to stop and say...limit breaks, special abilities, etc...TRY TO BE MORE USEFUL AND EASIER TO CALL FORTH! To call upon a limit break, you have to be close to dead, or using a certain item or spell. And not all of them are any good. Selphie's is a gambler's luck (but without the luck, most of the time). Zell is channeling Tifa Lockheart...poorly. Squall and Irvine are big quicktime events. Quistis'...invaribly are not helpful (like using an ability that an enemy mopped the floor with you before and it does nothing to them). Rinoa...don't make me laugh. Suffice to say, they'd be better if they were built up like in other games and not risking your inevitable doom instead. This is suppose to be a the character's time to shine. If it isn't shiny, my time has been wasted. Also, there I am again, getting killed. See? No fun at all.
Right, so...down to the plot. It's asinine. (And before you flash me the Squall-Is-Dead theory site, I've read it and find it amusing, but chances are it wasn't what Square actually DID.) The entire plot occurs because Ultimecia, the Giant Space Flea From Nowhere, got it into her head that SeeD (an organization which is dead in her timeline) will somehow destroy her. SO! She decides to mess with time in a manner which...makes no sense at all. Because, stupidly, the villain causes her own flipping downfall, seriously. All of the looking back through time thing just made the world aware of her and for things to start in the first place. Her appearance in the past made SeeD happen, which is bloody retarded. And everyone who follows is not much better. The President of Galbadia is a moron for letting ANYONE that dangerous near him, for instance. The way people react to things, the ideas, etc... We could be here all day, so I will end it with this...
The final battle is bullshit. Culminating all of the above, the battle is a big fat load. Let's see... You have to battle Ultimecia down to the exhaustion of her powers. THEN, you have to battle Griever down to the exhaustion of HIS powers (and for some reason, he's like a regular monster and not a quick summon). AFTER THAT, you have them MERGE, which makes no sense because they should BOTH be out of juice by then, so how is this better? Oh, and THAT ONE is two parts. FINALLY, you have a faceless Ultimecia who is somehow more powerf- THIS IS BULLSHIT! You should be dead already! YOU EXPLODED! I went into detail on this in TvTropes as an entry of Goddamned Boss. It's still there for reading pleasure.
Sorry that this was all entirely lengthy and all, but I DID warn you.
