How mandatory is the card game in this?

Fuck i meant Tetra Master, god damn it

Not at all, but it's the easiest way to get Holy magic in the mid-game.

the random encounter rate in this game is fucking insane holy shit
i can see why people hated this. the setting isnt great either.

I hope you don't play Final Fantasy VI.

It is not mandatory.
The faggots saying playing it breaks the game are wrong because you actually need to turn the cards into shit; Something you can ignore if you want to.
Plus, triple triad is actually fun.

already beat it.

You don't have to play it at all, but it's one of the nine good things in the abysmal game, so I think you would be doing yourself a disservice.

Random-Open-Same-Plus without Direct is the secret best ruleset.

>tfw the card game in VIII is better then the game itself until retarded rules spread and kill your deck and strategy
VIII is so shit

Can you just spam GFs the whole game?

The encounter rate didn't bother you in that game?
You fight stronger enemies later in the game, so you'd run the risk of them getting KO'd. You can try that if you want to.