Edgy was the style at the time. That might be a case of needing to adjust expectations to the time it was created in.

Final fantasy 7 came out 2 years before the matrix movie for example. Edgy was huge.

Final fantasy 8 starts out similarly, but turns into a much better romance story with all the same zaniness.

Final fantasy 9 is a more classical fantasy from that era. After final fantasy 9 it gets more modern, but that one at least loses the edge that you didn't like in seven.