Great thread and I share many of the sentiments of the OP.

Final Fantasy 8 is still my favourite game of all time and I have been gaming since the 16bit era.

To me the game was a perfect combination of action, story, graphics and fun addictive gameplay. Not to mention the supperb soundtrack which is one of the best I've come across in any game.

If I had to say what my favourite thing about the game was I would say the junction system. Although initially I was puzzled by it, once I got the hang of it I really started enjoying the game.

I too compare every rpg game I play to this, though I realise we are unlikely ever going to go back to the same gaming mechanics of the earlier FF games. The other thing I loved was the fact that I had full control of all the characters and with the active time bar the battles were always fought at a high tempo.

The only games which come close to FF8 for me are MGS4 and infamous, even though they belong to different genres.

Final Fantasy VIII is my second favourite game ever (FIrst being Metal Gear Solid 4).  Though Final Fantasy VIII will always have a special place in my heart; it was the first game I ever played that I had to play, it was crack for me.  I was playing 8 hours a day straight through summer (Was on summer break back in grade 8).  And to this day I still havn't played a final fantasy as rich as VIII, I'm still finding little things in the game (Just found the lunch lady's son in FIsherman's Horizon on my last playthrough).  It's also one of the few games I can replay over and over again and never get bored of it.  Mind you I can go on and on about this game, so I'll just leave with "Game's amazing!"

Wow! So many positive AND negative posts! Hate, to me, is some kind of love. The opposite to love would be indifference. In fact, I am surprised this thread is still going... In any case, the game was succesful in sales, so it is fairly known.

I made once a less succesful thread about Zelda Ocarina of time. It was supposed to be a log. I played the game and made posts as I progressed. Well, I got stuck in the water temple and quit LOL! But now, I am restarting FF VIII. Yeah, that's right. I am going to see if the game beats the test of time. I am already past the first disc. The only thing I realize so far (not about the game but about my life) is that now I don't have as much time, so... anyway, I will be posting and maybe asking for advise....

See ya

Its my favorite game of all time,  I replay it every year and it never gets old

I approve