FFVIII is only hard when you are a clueless kid like I was when I first got it :V
I ended up using lower junctions when I was overpowered from before and the bosses were still way too easy. I banned Aura, fought the final boss with 4k hp, removed some junctions, still easy.
They are either extremely slow, do almost no damage, or.....yeah, you get me.
The fact that you get Protect and Shell at the 3rd boss and that it lasts a ridiculous amount of time is broken enough and if you have even the slightest idea of what you are doing you will be an overpowered bastard for the remaining 3 and a half of a disc.
No junction challenges are nothing but spamming limits and praying to God that you will be invincible for the most of the time.