I do think in a lot of ways, FFVIII is indeed underrated. I'll admit that this game is sort of a black sheep in the series because of the junctioning system, but I wouldn't say that made the game better or worse. I may be a bit biased though, as I liked VIII much more than VII and it was my first FF.
But as stated, I thought the storyline was great, even though it was confusing at times and it was very open for interpretation (aka Squall's dead, etc etc). I certainly didn't see any more flaws in this game than any other FF, nor was it perfect by any stretch of the imagination. And I do believe that the FFVII effect does make FFVIII the victim, simply because most people who started playing FF, that started after the legacy FF's, played VII first, and the first always seems to have a better effect than any FF after (like FFVIII did for me). I think its more than anything, the fact that VII was the first of it's kind that puts VIII in it's shadows. It is what it is though, people will always favor a game more than others.
FFVIII doesn't get talked about as heavily, so yes, I do believe it's underrated.
But as stated, I thought the storyline was great, even though it was confusing at times and it was very open for interpretation (aka Squall's dead, etc etc). I certainly didn't see any more flaws in this game than any other FF, nor was it perfect by any stretch of the imagination. And I do believe that the FFVII effect does make FFVIII the victim, simply because most people who started playing FF, that started after the legacy FF's, played VII first, and the first always seems to have a better effect than any FF after (like FFVIII did for me). I think its more than anything, the fact that VII was the first of it's kind that puts VIII in it's shadows. It is what it is though, people will always favor a game more than others.
FFVIII doesn't get talked about as heavily, so yes, I do believe it's underrated.