-Got major End of Evangelion vibes after the Esthar section where you head to space. Seeing the moon drip a giant blood tear drop of monsters onto the Earth is such a cool way of establishing why there's always random monsters attacking you. This game has amazing world building.
-Sorceress Adel and the backstory with Laguna was so freakin' cool! Laguna tricking her and shooting her out to space was a great way of showing how dangerous she was. Now knowing that the television screen in Timber populated with text like "I WILL NEVER LET YOU FORGET ABOUT ME" was Adel the whole time is just so chilling.
-Also can I just say Adel's design is badass? She's a damn muscle-ripped giant with phoenix red hair. I liked her a lot better than Ultimecia's look.
-You know how sometimes when you enter a save point and you can't save because your hitbox is a little off? I was readjusting myself for like 10 minutes at Ultimecia's Castle because the save option was grayed out. I was freaking out until I realized her powers were blocking my save ability. So meta....
-HER FIGHT WAS SO FREAKING HARD! First of all, my planned party for the fight was Squall, Quistis, and Rinoa and here's the catcher...they were the only ones that were junctioned. (and I also had Squall at low hp so I could use Renzokuken) Ultimecia forces Rinoa out. YES LET'S GO! Ultimecia forces Quistis out. HELL YEAH. Ultimecia forces Selphie out. NOOOOOOOOO I HAVEN'T USED HER SINCE DISC 1! Safe to say the fight was tough without Squall and the only reason I survived was because of Rinoa's Invincible Moon (clutch!) Squall finally came out when Irvine, Selphie, and Zell died and I cleaned up the fight and won.
-That time compression scene with Squall forgetting Rinoa was pure nightmare fuel and haunting. Losing your memories, especially of the people you love, might be the scariest living thing that could even happen to you and FF8 touches on this fear well.
-Remember when I said I damn near cried? I lied. I in fact cried quite a lot...seeing Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin happily fishing, Laguna and Raine's scene, and seeing Squall finally smiling and kissing Rinoa. Best video game love story ever.