With the ability to install PSOne Classics on Vita I recently restarted playing VIII, probably for about the seventh time. It's almost like a pilgrimage that I have to complete every couple of years or something, strange I know. Anyway, I've noticed that even though I'd forgotten a lot of how the game works, I seem to be absolutely running through the game, and I can't grasp how someone might struggle with it - aside from the junctioning that is. Let me explain. (May be spoilers for those not yet playing it.)

I'm at Deling City on Disc 1:-
> Every character has 2800hp or more.
> All five GFs I can have at this point.
> I have 100 stocks of every magic I could draw to this point from monsters.
> SeeD Level 29.
> I hit for a minimum of 400 with Squall, and the rest are just below.
> Life, Status/Time, Fire, Thunder, Ice Magic Refine Abilities.

Aside from the SeeD tests which of course could be looked up on the internet or if you just know the answers from playing it previously, surely I'm very overpowered? And that's just from playing the game the way it teaches you to - You could be where I was with no prior knowledge of the game and with a little patience. Which brings me to my question: Am I only doing that well because I know what I'm doing? Or is it that most peoples' playstyles differ and because of that, everyone views this games' difficulty differently?