Conan: Damn right. I like the way they've totally overhauled the combat system. That Materia business in FFVII was all fine and good, and lent a tactical vein to battles. For this one, though, they've heightened the strategic nature of each fight, and the Guardian Force system is great, too. You find more as the game goes on, and you can teach them loads of new abilities. Choosing the set-up to suit you for each area is an engrossing task.

Achilles: Aren't the battles a bit easier than FFVII, though?
Conan: Generally, yes. And it's markedly easier to keep your party of three in shape. You can't get complacent, though. The first two discs aren't massively tricky in general, but you'll end up like Casper the Friendly Boy if you mess around with some of the bosses thereafter.
Atreides: I don't think the plot is quite as good as FFVII, though. It's not quite as immersive, is it?

Gandalf: Well, no. There's no character with the sheer presence of Sephiroth, and Squall - the main bloke - doesn't have the depth of FFVII's Cloud. And its dialogue can be pretty weak, too - although, admittedly, FFVII was no paragon of virtue in that respect either. No, it's more the poorly-explained narrative asides that get to me. FFVIII's problem, as a story, is that it often fails to fully establish the significance of plot twists and turns, or even throwaway lines, so you end up thinking, 'So what?' To be fair, Square have done one hell of a job, considering its sheer length and wealth of areas to explore. And - although Tolkien is, indeed, hobbit forming - they don't resort to many fantasy and sci-fi cliches either. If you can accept intermittent cringes, the better set-pieces prove more than rewarding.
Conan: Some of the large-scale 'revelations' are a bit flimsy, too. In principle, they're fine, but the way in which they're introduced can be surprisingly weak...