What do you mean? I can't think of a single time it is mandatory in FFVIII. If you want to reap the rewards that come from refining cards and whatnot, you'll likely have to engage with it, but it's not like that's a requirement to beat the game.
Losing specific cards on purpose was a pain, especially when you were having to deal with things like the Random rule, especially if All was also in play, but I never really felt pressured to try and refine the cards into items, even after I learned that you could regain one-of-a-kind cards if you refined them.
I'm curious, do the nurses and doctors know that you've managed to get out of your straitjacket?
Tetra Master, especially if you're going for the perfect score, is so much worse in my opinion that I can't even fathom this thinking. You have 100 cards, and a max carrying capacity of 100 cards, you need to deal with the game's random nonsense, you need to have each card have a unique array of arrows, and you need to get them to max level.
For literally nothing. Except the opportunity to rename your character, I guess.
And unlike in FFVIII, you actually are required to play this game.
In terms of its gameplay mechanics, I definitely agree. There's enough cards and enough variance in how they work that you can make a different decks with very different playstyles. Having to draw cards rather than have your full hand at your disposal is also a great change of pace, as is having to manage costs.
In terms of its rewards/progression, I can't say I agree. Again, you just unlock one new card per opponent, and if they don't synergize with the decks you're usually running, then there's not too much reward there. And while you can run a booster deck or a debuff deck and so on, outside of the challenges, I never really felt the need to switch to a totally different playstyle.
It's the most fun game to play, but it's not nearly as rewarding to play as Triple Triad, except for getting to see the ridiculous Yu-Gi-Oh style finish to the sidequest.
It's kind of wild to hear somebody complain that a minigame offered rewards and incentives to play it that were tangible outside the minigame and praise a game that is instead just a black hole that offers nothing to those who engage with it.
