I really liked stump rant about the game since I dearly love it, but I really don't think its square best game of the ps1 era or anything and it DID change a lot of the mana formula that fans wanted (and still want ).
I also agree with a few posters who don't like the lack of difficulty and the long health bars in nightmare mode (NG+). I don't agree with the poster who said the story is bad, FF8 story is BAD and nonsensical, LOm story is divided in chunks and it is literally a children's book like one you tell a story every night to a kid before going to bed.
But I love it, and why you may ask, well the beautiful art and music helps a lot into immerse you into the world and it is a very interesting world to explore (and create?) but the fighting mechanics are solid, I remember trying different abilities to see what I could find, that had an almost fighting esque way of doing combos with attacks changing if you did a half-moon with the d-pad or timing certain abilities and attacks after others (like doing 8 to 10 hits in a combo by YOURSELF), some bosses were a let down in difficulty but they were huge and imposing, and I am one of the opinion that a NG+ does help a LOT this game, specially since it can be fairly short if you only do the are minimum of missions in your first try and go for completition for the 2nd round.
For those trying it for the first time or on the fence, what I can say is that it is a wonderful but somehow flawed game, it is both a fantastic experience and a fantastic game though one of my personal favorites ever!
P.D even if it's not perfect the multiplayer is really fun, I did a run of the game with a friend and had a blast with it (like 5 years ago tho), great for casual play (in the correct sense of the word) since you can do just a couple of missions and then come back later. Also the cactus diary entries are hilarious and the world history book is AWESOME and really detailed.
Sorry for the bad english!
