Yes it's true, I'm now addicted to FF VIII. I don't know why so many people consider this to be one of the worst Final Fantasies, I think it's a great game. I'll admit the junctioning and item refinement stuff took me awhile to understand, but now that I know how they work I find it very interesting.
I think what turned most people off was how drastically different FF VIII was. The magic system is totally wacked out, as you don't learn spells at level up or have magic points. Instead you draw spells out of monsters and store them up. The Junctioning system is very odd, not only do you basically become attached to a Guardian Force (think Espers), but you learn abilities from them as well. Not only that, but you can junction magic to your abilities (such as Fire magic to your strength) and the bonus is related to how many of that spell you have. Also, you don't get money from defeating monsters, instead you get a paycheck from the army you work for. Other strange things include gaining items from refining playing cards (now you know where that damn card game in FF IX came from), upgrading weapons with parts (you don't buy new weapons), and Limit Breaks that require you to enter button combinations (not to mention Limit Breaks only occur when you're low on life). FF VIII certainly doesn't resemble any other FF game I can think of.
I think it's a refreshing change from the stale old FF formula, but I guess it didn't take. Almost none of the new changes were ever used again. I'm just happy that I ignored all the critics and gave it a try, I really like it.
Oh and in case you don't remember... DON"T POST SPOILERS WITHOUT WARNINGS!!!!!
Tempest