Yeah, FF8 was pretty bad. I mean, why bother with anything else then guradian force spamming. And once you get Aura and Lionheart going, why bother with anything else than continuous renzokuken?
The characters, besides the angstboy Squall, were okaish and the story pretty mediocre. I didn't see much point to follow it through after 3rd CD, so don't take my word for it.
I sort of liked the junction system though, even as it was fairly flawed.