What are your thoughts on Final Fantasy VIII?

Board 8

In my mind, I love it, but if I actually stop and think, there are tons of things about it that I don't like at all.

* The draw system
* Stupidly long GF cutscenes where you're supposed to mash a button rather than skip them
* Inane story
* Huge interruptions to your gaming to play as Laguna
* Triple triad

And then there's the fact that the PC port I had of it crashed frequently, and I kept losing progress because I didn't save every 5 minutes. I played it enough to have beaten it twice, and only got a little more than halfway in.