OK, so Final Fantasy VI is still my favorite, but I can't say enough about FF8.  The reason is that the story is incredible.  I don't think I have ever played an FF game that has as well defined story as this.  The romance between Squall and Riona is great.  It actually got me involved and made truly empathize with the characters, especially when Squall rescues Riona on Disk 3.  Also, the story of Siefer and his one-man war against Squall only heightened the drama as you go through the game.  The portion about the orphanage was a bit hokey, though I can understand where it fit into the rest of the storyline.  But, by far, the best part is the love story.  Again, I don't think I have ever seen an FF game that has as dynamic characters as this one.  Wow.  I just can't say enough about it without giving too much of the story away.  On a negative side, this one still uses the 3D characters from FF7 as opposed to the overhead, less realistic views that were common of the FF games I grew up on.  And, probably the most fun thing about Final Fantasy games is missing in this one: you can't rename the characters, and with FFX having voice overs with the character's names in them, I guess that will never come back.  But that was the most fun part: renaming all the characters with your friend's names.  But still, for playability, this is one of the best editions out there, and I just don't see how, aside from general graphical improvements during the regular scenes, it could be improved upon.  This one is great.  Buy it, play it, and enjoy it.