LogFAQs > #943074754

Let me go down on each entry and explain why a good chunk of people don't like it.

Characters: Very rough Squall seems to have no personality and the rest of the cast isn't much better.
Gameplay: As stated above pretty damn rough, whoever designed the battle system really didn't know what they were doing.
Story: Focuses heavily on Riona+Squall and their love story which is interesting but when the characters are so damn forgettable It comes off very rough. Then to top it off throws in a lot of weird time shit which makes the plot far more complicated than it should be.
Music: Quite good the soundtrack is very impressive and it has some of the most memorable and cool songs.
Graphics: Good for it's day a big step up from the blocky and weird graphics from FF VII.
Side Content: Has a pretty interesting card mini-game that is quite fun to play at least for a bit.

In my opinion FF VIII is one of the worst FF's ever made.