I could say pretty much the opposite. First, the story was way better written then most FFs I played. Instead of losing themselves in multiple plot elements and completely changing the mood and atmosphere of the game several times because of absolute no reason whatsoever, they stuck to a single theme - love story, and made everything revolve around that. Motivation of all characters in the end comes down to love and friendship, and that's done so elegantly and simply that it seems like its not FF game at all.
Plus, its masterfully directed. The scenography, choreography, music, camera angles... Its great during battles, and it really gets an epic feeling in scenes such as when they march out to assassinate the sorceress or the main guy carries Rinoa over that bridge.
As for system being boring, I didn't find it any more boring and repetitive than having 2,000 random battles to get a new Materia level in 7, having 100 battles to learn Ultima from Ragnarok in 6, or camp in that bloody room that had Odin in 5th. Or hell, killing Ogres in 1 around Elf town. This is FF, the games are repetitive by definition 
You really don't get what Final Fantasy has used as a premise for pretty much all their games, which is people who are fairly ordinary ending up being much more than meets the eye, get involved in epic adventure, blah blah blah. I would hardly say that the mood and atmosphere would completely change for no reason. In fact it is so well done that Final Fantasy has become known for the storylines. Ya know?
I don't play games to watch them, so maybe some scenes were nice looking but I never got that "OMG" feeling that good games give you. When Squall is falling after being hit by a crystal I didn't care all that much. The whole Squall character seemed to be the misguided answer to the ultimate question, "How can we make a character more bad ass than Cloud? I know! He'll be really angsty! Let's go sip Margaritas!" Please. I felt as much emotional attachment to Squall as I do to a mean block of wood. When Teta used the last of her strength to save Delita, I was heartbroken. When Chrono bit the dust, it was a tear jerker. When Sora stabbed himself in the heart with a keyblade, my face froze in awe. That is epic. To place FF8 above most Final Fantasys is a tragedy in itself. Even the Greeks would give you props on that one. (Pun
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I never made any claims about the system being too repetitive. I noticed you played the "RPG's are boring" card in mention of the battle system. Yes, we know. But to add on having to draw items for at least 3 characters then a short time later, "Monsters now have blizzara instead of blizzard. Time to get more items LOL." Geez. Why would you try to draw out the worst part of the game with something as equally boring? I could stand the battles in other FF's because they didn't require so much of my attention. Seriously, who picks up a Final Fantasy because they want to kill stuff? Even Tactics, where battles were the point, had an amazing story.
You know, after writing that I realized that I honestly don't care. This game appeals to some type of gamers and offends other types. To each his own, I suppose.
