I was one of those people who did not really enjoy FFVII very much except the opening mission and it's superb music.
But FFVIII I loved because of the military school atmosphere, their were so many times I was so pumped up in the game. The first mission on the beach loved it, the mission where the school gets under attack and you see everyone fighting oh god loved that so much. I played that game numerous times to just play that part.
The thing that annoys me was how easy or frustrating it was just like Tales of Zestiria fusion system. If you take your time (that I mostly don't do the first time I play a game) and learn how the system works it can be incredible easy. Give your guardian forces some Tents..bam you have 100-2000 more hp and you basically have a character with + 3000 hp in the first hours of the game also fighting random battles is not needed makes the game only harder.
The game didn't feel like we are a small team trying to overcome evil thanks to my imagination back then. The school system with all the students fighting on your side made it feel like you belong to a big group. I was kind of pumped when type zero also would take place in a school kind of sytem...but that one failed on so many levels...
And yeah ofcourse FFVIII had annoying issues but I kept going on because of the music/School system and my imagination...
