The plot / writing feels like it was put together by a 13 year old, or maybe an AI. it's almost interesting, and almost makes sense, but doesn't. Things just sort of "happen", and they don't really make sense and aren't really explained. Character motivations are unclear. Also, the gameplay is shit.
The world they created is super compelling, which seems to always be the case with Final Fantasy games. I just wish they could make an actually good game to go with their top tier world building and art direction.
I enjoy 8 well enough, including having fun with its mess of a plot, (only non-mmo mainline final fantasy I dont enjoy is II, and even that has my boy Minwu) but some online friends I have cling so heavily to the "Squall is dead" theory, not just in a death of the author sense but insisting that it was intentional because they are under the delusion that professional writers don't write sloppy stories (one said this verbatim).
Like I think its fine if killing the author and believing that theory makes you enjoy the game more but insisting it had to be intentional is just a delusion.
* gestures broadly at everything Square has done *
I mean, I love their games but the plots are almoat always a mess. I don't fully blame them, coughing up like 20+ hours worth of story content which has to keep the average 14 year old engaged and remaining coherent is a tough task.
The one exception to this I will raise is that I think Chrono Trigger is very tightly plotted, which is astounding because its a time travel story.