[Ginkasa]

Have moved on to VIII. I actually knocked out VII pretty quickly, so have been working on VIII for a bit; I think I'm nearly done.

Originally, I did not like VIII. I think the first time I played it I ended up giving up partway through (IIRC, I think it was near the end of the game, TBH) as I brute forced my way without really understanding the Junction system and got stuck in a point where I couldn't beat a boss and couldn't go back to fix my Junctions. 10 years ago may have been the first time I actually beat the game and understood the system; I don't recall if that was second or third time playing it through.

The Junction system really isn't all that difficult to use, but it is a lot and that is very intimidating coming into it for the first time with expectations set by previous games. There are just a lot of differences and ripple effects those differences have on how to really play this game. Equipping summons to learn abilities doesn't sound that different from FFVI's magicite system or even FFVII's materia system, but there is so much more. Boosting your stats with magic makes levelling up less substantial which is increased by monsters levelling with you. This means you are discouraged to have random battles and you can get access to abilities removing random battles pretty early (one of my mistakes in my first playthrough was not working towards that ability because I didn't understand monsters would get stronger as I did).

Having an inventory of magic rather than MP and needing that magic to junction with makes you less likely to cast spells and more reliant on items. But not fighting battles would limit how much money you earn (battles being the traditional way to earn cash in RPGs) so instead you have a salary based on how well you play the game (although the mechanics of this are very hidden and don't always make sense, particularly in the context of an RPG). Equipment is also no longer a thing. You can upgrade your weapons, but honestly I don't know if I've ever just naturally gained the items needed to upgrade my equipment even one time. I always need to refer to a guide to figure out where I can get those items in order to upgrade, and the bonus isn't even that big.

There's just a lot.

Ultimately, FFVIII just really isn't my favorite Final Fantasy. The Junction system is fine once you get the hang of it, but I prefer the more traditional experience. I'm not a huge fan of the story either. It is famously supposed to be this grand love story, but I don't think Squall's and Rinoa's relationship is that big of a deal until all of a sudden it is. It feels like it comes out of nowhere and isn't really earned. There are several other romances in the series I prefer.

Unrelated: In the course of playing the series this time I've learned my kids are graphic snobs. They enjoy watching 3D games more than the 2D games and my son made a comment about how VIII was his favorite so far as it the Remaster looks so much nicer than any of the other games. My daughter also made like an "ugh" sound when I moved from the modded VII to the original VII when she saw the downgrade in character models and backgrounds.