I think I'm gonna have to join you eventually in catching up with the classics. I'm not old enough to have played all these games, so I feel like I've missed out on quite a lot.

Go ahead you should enjoy , my one word of warning just like most old  classic games , some of what was praised is directly related to gaming at that point of time, and what left you holding your breathe then may seem passe now.
If you go ahead without expecting flawless gems you will find really good jrpg's , that are well worth playing not the least being for the experience of exploring new worlds.

get a ps2 from ebay, cheap and it can play all ps and ps2 games.  and if its the fat ps, it gets to hot often, you can cut the plastic and it should run better.

Really don't know why people are praising the card game so much. It's just a logic puzzle and it's always the same. The cards are always the same, the strategy is always the same and it's played on a very small board. It's the Tic Tac Toe of card gaming.

That's why Square invented Tetra Master. A card game that's better in every way. Where it's actually fun hunting for new and better cards and all battles are different due to a lot of random factors. It's a lot more complex and the tactics and deck building are deeper.

In retrospect, it's obvious FF VIII has oodles of flaws, but I have a confession: I like it, anyways.

The thing which really irritates me is that in good Square fashion, the problems could have been easily fixed. Give players a junction artifact which limits the number and number of types of spells they can hold, and you've gotten rid of 60% of the grindy there.

The other 40% could have been fixed by making card refining go both ways and Triple Triad a mandatory MAGIC TRADING system. Refine spells you aren't using into a card, and then trade that card for for something you do want. This would keep your magic menu clean during combat and add a lot of NPC flavor with who wants what and who has what.

Doesn't look as much fun as Tetra Master though. But before long you will agree with me and be playing more Tetra Master than the actual game. It's pretty much as addictive as Blitzball.

The very one.

Don't listen to this person, he thinks BLITZBALL IS GOOD, Jesus Christ.

Never bothered with Tetra Master to be honest. And only played Triple Triad because that gives some insane rewards.

I never said Blitzball is good :P

I can't muster the energy to hate it. I'm just think it sucks, and it bothers me to see something so polished turn out so bad. Like FF13, or Skyward Sword, or Diablo 3.