While the Junction system was admittedly broken, figuring out the best course of action that could be taken to maximize stats early on was still a blast and one of the major draws of the game. Given how the cards were stacked against Final Fantasy VIII, it's quite refreshing to see just how excellent the game turned out to be.

Given the massive reception for Final Fantasy VII, it was only a given that the hype for Final Fantasy VIII would be through the roof and people wouldn't be satisfied by anything short of an absolute masterpiece. People consider Final Fantasy VIII to be the black sheep of the franchise, which is quite an unfair label for the title.