I enjoyed FF8 except for a few things - "Drawing" magic from your enemies, Guardian Force summons and the "grade" system at the Academy. Drawing magic was probably the most annoying thing out of all the FF games I played, even more so than watching the lengthy summons over and over. FF8 had a good story and the soundtrack was the best of the series.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Those flaws, despite being what they are, probably made FF8's final boss the most enjoyable one in the series for me. Since I had barely drawn any magic and was relying too much on summons, it was really neat to have the roles reversed as the GF's were being decimated and put on the role of last-minute shields for my characters, as I tried to actually deal damage with the limited amount of magic I had - all while the boss was destroying my magic *and* stats at the same time. In that context, having the extra boss forms was pretty neat. That redeemed the game's battle system for me.
I would not, in a million years, replay it, though.