Hmm, refining is one of those things I haven't been doing. I've been favoring getting extra junction slots and drawing the magic I need, but since the refines are need so few AP to learn, maybe I'll just suck it up and get them.

ALSO: I'm on the third disk and I still haven't found all the spare parts I need to upgrade most anyone's weapons past the one they start with. I'm still using squall's revolver for one. Are all of those things monster drops or is there some super secret storehouse I missed?

Most of the early ones come from monster drops/card refining, most of the later ones come from rare monster drops/rare card refining.
But you should have enough to at least remodel a few times from just walking around. Try refining your cards.

Except no becuase that's a crucial part of how you make your characters more powerful?

On the game overall; Yes there are angsty and broken plot points, but if the quality of a game is mostly based on how much fun it is to play, then, for me, Final Fantasy VIII is a really good game.

As they were just saying for the past page or so, refining is a FAR better way to get junction magic than drawing.

I'm a little torn on FF8. On the one hand, it had a TON of potential - the story had an incredibly solid grounding (as evidenced by the rewrite Gregness linked) and the concept of junctioning is very, very cool. They just fucked it all up with BAM AMNESIA, a useless love interest/female protagonist, and a very broken implementation of the junction system.

Aside from that, the music in FF8 is among my favorite in the entire series (and that really says something) and the airship you get is boss.

EDIT:

If I remember correctly, a lot of them need to be dropped/stolen from monsters, but there are also a few items you need to refine. Squall's Lionheart requires pulse ammo, for example, and I don't think you can find that easily - you have to use... uh, Tool/Ammo RF or something. I haven't played in a while.

As I said, buy/turn monsters into items, refine items/card. Faster, more effective. Like maybe if you want to get to maximum power you have to draw some spells but I didn't draw at all last playthrough and was a million times more powerful than everybody else and completed the game in a fraction of the time if I was drawing.
And off the top of my head most of the best spells can be gotten by refining pretty quickly. Best way to survive first disk with no troubles- learn the cure magic refining thing, buy 5 tents for each character- refine them into 20 curaga each- blammo like 3000 HP for everyone, you're pretty much invulnearable first disk.

So here's a question, if bosses get stronger the more you level and get stronger faster than you, is the game balanced in such a way that the more time you spend not levelling the easier the game gets? Like the next boss is easier than the last one because the next boss is statted under the assumption I did a bunch of leveling.

Not really. They don't go "Oh, you should be level 20 by now, since you're only level 10 let's make it easier for you." It's all just mathematical formulas to make sure that the enemies scale with you... for some reason. (Why would anyone ever think that was a good idea?)

The increased stat gains are probably there just to make sure you're using the junction system.

Actually, now that I think about it, they have the experience system... they have enemies whose strength is proportional to your level... and then they have the junction system, which is completely unattached to both levels and monster growth. So really, the ONLY thing in the entire game that matters with respect to character progression is the junction system, which is easily exploitable if you use refining (hell, even if you don't). Why would they ever do that? Why bother having levels in the first place if you're just going to make them completely irrelevant? There is NOTHING in the game that levels have any bearing on whatsoever.

I do know that bosses only learn their moves at set levels so if you keep under those levels the bosses don't learn their killer moves.
As for one boss then the next, I'm rpetty sure they will still get progressively harder because like their stats and HP and things scales based on a band (which you can see somewhat if you scan them I think) ie they have low/medium/high HP and strength and things and that determines what stats they have at various levels so one would assume earlier bosses have all low progressions and later bosses have high progression.

Edit: To add to what Kerensky said ( i misread the assumption a bit there),
how bosses is work is that they have a progression so at any level you can determine their stats based on a formula. They also learn moves at set levels.
So there is no "You should be at this level so I'll scale down difficulty" shenaigans.

Technically correct, but actually wrong for the question asked. A boss WILL be easier if you don't level, and the game DOES get easier the less time you spend leveling, as that you'll be able to draw/refine better magic as you progress through the game, even if you don't level.

Meanwhile, junctions give flat boosts not percentage boosts.

So, let's say a boss gets like 10 strength per level (simplistic and not how it really works, but whatever, close enough proximation) and you get 20 strength by 50 by junctioning firaga (again, not the right numbers, but).

Now along the way to his boss you have the ability to draw firaga, or get an item to refine into it, or both. So you do. And stick it on your character.

If you fight this boss at level 5 it will have 50 strength and you will have 50 strength + your levels.

If you fight this boss at level 10, however, it will have 100 strength... you will still have 50 + your levels (And you don't even reliably get 1 of any stat per level without GF level boosts).

Combined with the fact that the lower level boss is going to have fewer moves to use?

Yes, bosses will be a fuckton easier if you aren't at the 'recommended' level when you face them.

And yes, the recommended level outpaces your level quickly if you spend all your time doing your best to not level.

Edit: And levels aren't irrelevant. They're detrimental, because enemies don't scale even to you. They scale better than you.

Edit2: I once fought ultima weapon with a level 10ish group. I beat the living piss out of it. It wasn't even a little hard.

Krylo gets it.