It was the characters that killed. They were just so flat and unlikable, they were all like cardboard cutouts of tropes except rinoa and Laguna's friends. I spent my time helping them win and hoping they'd lose lol
I do love he junction system though, it was brilliant and saved the game for me
Draw/Junction and triple triad made it, absolutely. I agree with you on all other points. I played as an edgy scene kid tho, so at the time the stilted “DGAF” dialogue worked for me. Eyes on Me was also an early 00s RPG banger.