Exactly the same for me. I played a lot of other games before FFVIII, like Rayman, Crash Bandicoot, Theme Park, and a lot of Sonic, but nothing pulled me in like FFVIII did. I absolutely could not get enough of it, I even wrote a story about it for a year 5 assignment, from the beginning of the game, to obtaining Ifrit and up until after the Dollet mission. I too, could write a huge review but I won't lol. Anyway, from FFVIII onwards, Final Fantasy has been a huge part of my life and I feel so glad that I was able to experience these stories. +1 for you.