Contrary to the official review, Final Fantasy VIII is a moving game that is arguably on par with its predecessor.
Final Fantasy VIII doesn't look like FarCry. We can all agree on that. However, it's an older game that was ported from an older system, and thus holding high expectations of top-notch visuals is a perhaps bit unfair. In fact, the visuals are a vast improvement over FF7, which featured strange, balloon-headed characters wobbling/hopping around like rubber animals. Since FF7 is widely understood to be one of the better RPGs out there, we can justly conclude that the graphics in FF8 are forgivable.
Secondly - put plain and simple - the music is great. I'm sorry Greg Kasavin, but you got this part wrong. Perhaps capable sound-cards weren't widely available on stock PCs when the game was released, but everyone who buys the game today will get an excellent rendering of a striking electronic score. The arrangements were effective, and variety was never an issue.
Lastly, gameplay is excellent. If you are a fan of turn-based combat, you will get your money's worth here and more. Fights may get redundant if you are trying to travel somewhere quickly on the world map, but you shouldn't have that problem if you are obsessed with leveling characters like I am. You don't even have to be obsessed, just somewhat interested in improving stats.
You can tell by the average user rating that Final Fantasy VIII was vastly underrated here. Take it from all of us who thought the same - this game is excellent.