I've played FF8 more than any other FF and it's partially for what the author is complaining about.

I can see complaining about the battle systems because they're pretty loose, but personally I think it's fun to play anyway.

The complaint about the characters not having a much of a story I guess is technically true if you compare it to the hamfisted diversions from the main story a lot of rpgs do to force a story arc for a character, but all of the characters feel like they are part of the group for a good reason because of their back stories and they all grow during the game.

I would just have to disagree on the writing. The story is why I play the game every few years. In fact, counter to the author's claim that it is incoherent, almost everything you do has to do with the sorceresses and history of the garden, without ever feeling like you got sent on an inconsequential side quest in the middle of a crisis.