Familiarizing yourself with the Junction System is probably the first step you should take in FF8. I think it is very well designed and has a lot of depth to it. Once you know everything about Junction, then its up to you how you want to play FF8 (whether you want to make it challenging or easy).
Try and collect all the cards in FF8. It is so much fun because Triple Triad is one of the best minigames I've played in any game.
FF8 is awesome!..... Squall is awesome!
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Rock n' Roll and Glam Metal... It never died