For Discs 1 and 2
Version 1
Produced on March 17, 1999
This section uploaded on Friday, Sept 3, 1999

Written and Translated by Henry H. Jerng at hjerng@leland.stanford.edu. Additional hints and comments, revision of contents and correction of 3rd party and language errors by Terra. This walkthrough was originally taken from GameFaqs.Com . Permission for this adaptation granted by author himself. This updated version is not to be replicated in any other site. Contact me (Terra) via email if there are any errors.

Note: The words in Fuchsia are hints while the text in Red are FMV descriptions. Only essential FMV descriptions have been written. This walkthrough will only continue until the end of disc 2. I (Terra) will write the walkthrough for the remaining 2 discs as soon as I get there =P

"Our hero Squall, after becoming a mercenary at a soldier training school, becomes acquainted with the girl Rinoa at a party. Squall, who has until then refused to be involved with other people, is gradually influenced by her free way of living. Meanwhile, at the moment, the nation of Galbaldia suddenly declares war against the entire world. Standing beside the address-making president was a `witch', something that had long disappeared from people's memories..." (FFVIII game, Japanese back cover)

Final Fantasy VIII, published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCPS 45375-8), is the latest chapter of Squaresoft's popular Final Fantasy series. As in the previous Final Fantasies, the game takes place in a world of futuristic technology mixed with mysterious magic that encompass warriors and magicians. In Final Fantasy VIII, the central conflict develops between an organisation know as SeeD and the long-forgotten witches. I will now introduce you to the parties involved. In this world, there are privately-owned soldier training schools known as "Gardens". Gardens are non-government and non-militant organisations. Their administrations are paid commissions mainly for sending its graduates to join military forces of every country. In the Gardens located in every country, special squads known as SeeD are formed regularly. Members of SeeD are chosen because of their exceptional abilities.Ttheir battle abilities are said to be levels above those of the average Garden graduates that are sent to every country. The missions of SeeD include engagements in military activities such as starting wars, protection of VIPs, suppression of uprisings, and assassinations.

A witch is a woman with powerful magical abilities. The birth and existence of witches are shrouded in mystery since little is known about them, but it is known that their continued existence is not based on blood relations but is succeeded to the next witch through a pure "succession of power". As you may expect, for a woman it may be a blessing or a curse to possess a witch's overwhelming powers. Witches have had enormous influence in the world over the ages, but witches have not appeared in recent years. However, the long silence for witches has been broken. As you will see, the reason for the witch's reappearance will become an important part of the FFVIII story. Nearly all information that appears here comes from Square's Official Final Fantasy VIII Express Strategy Book for Beginners by DigiCube (ISBN 4-925075-42-X), published on February 10th, 1999. I have done my best to accurately translate the information, and I will first apologize for any error that may have been made. This translation FAQ is meant for personal use only, for helping FFVIII players with this highly entertaining game. If there are questions concerning this FAQ, please feel free to contact me at the e-mail address listed above. Now, let us proceed on to.....

Seifer and Squall, two students of Balamb Garden, are dueling as part of their training program for SeeD. They are using genuine gunblade. Judging by   the intensity of their swordplay, there is clearly some form of rivalry between the two. For a moent, Seifer assumes an unguarded position, allowing Squall the opportunity to win the duel... However, Seifer suddenly casts magic, which is prohibited in training. Squall withdraws, but promptly recovers his stance and tries to return the attack. Seifer becomes involved in the task of offense and defense, advancing and retreating. The moment the edge of his blade grazes Squall's eyebrow, Seifer pulls the trigger on his gunblade. Fresh blood scatters, and Squall enters a fighting rage. Squall's gunblade catches Seifer's brow this time. The forehead wounds that they receive mark inescapable destinies into their hearts...

In a complete change of scenery from the earlier battle, Squall is lying down on a bed in the Garden's medical office. It appears that somehow after the fight, he lost consciousness and now does not remember what had happened to the duel. However, the pain of his forehead wound tells him that there was a fierce battle. The medical officer in charge, Dr. Kadowaki, certifies that Squall's condition is stable, and she contacts Squall's officer-in-charge to come and receive him. She exits the room. Meanwhile, a mysterious lady in a blue and white outfit looks through the window of the sick bay. She appears to know Squall. She leaves the medical office. A short while later, another woman appears in the medical office and smiles at Squall, tinged with slight disgust about the unfortunate situation. She is Quistis Trepe, Squall's teacher.

Squall is told by Quistis to attend a meeting at the Garden classroom. Along the way, Quistis teases Squall about his less-than-amiable behaviour, much to the latter's distaste. At the gathering conducted by Quistis, there is apparently, a practical exam for SeeD selection latter in the day. Candidates who pass this test will become members SeeD, the elite members of Garden. Squall however, is lacking of a prerequisite test which he is required to pass, so he is informed of an immediate test that will take place in the Fire Cavern, east of Balamb Garden, in which Quistis will aid as well as invigilate. Squall is told to meet her at the school's front gate. He is advised to not forget to prepare  lessons with ay study panel of his allocated seat. When you examine the items for lesson preparation and review, you will get 2 Guardian Forces (G.F.): Quetzalcoatl and Shiva.

When you're finished in general with preparations at the study panel, leave the room. As Squall proceeds out of the room, a girl runs into him. She is however, unhurt. She has just transferred to this Garden today and is late for class.. An optional panel appears so allowing him to guide the transfer student around the school. These options however, have no effect on the outcome of the game.

Take the opportunity to explore the Balamb Garden.

After Squall joins up with Quistis at the main gate, they head towards the Fire Cavern. The goal of this mission is to subdue G.F Ifrit who is in the deepest part of the cave. There is a time limit on this test which you can choose from. The options presented are 10, 20, 30, and 40 minutes. You should neither be too ambitious nor too easy going. 30 mins is the most reasonble. Do not forget to junction the G.F.'s before entering. Once inside, the main point is to draw Blizzard from Vail. They will be helpful in the boss fight. You will fight Ifrit in the deepest part of the cave. Remember that Ifrit can absorb the energy of flames and recover his HP, so do not use fire-related attacks. Ifrit is weak against cold magics such as G.F. Shiva and the magic Blizzard.

After gaining credit at the Fire Cavern, Squall undertakes the final exam for SeeD. His team will of 2 other people who have assembled in the hall of Balamb Garden. The first person is Zell, who is an excellent fist fighter. The other is none other than Seifer, who will be the team leader.

Squall and the others depart for the town of Balamb aboard a high speed car in order to execute their job quickly. When the party reaches the town, they head for the port. At the port, there is a landing craft waiting for the party, which will head straight for the principality of Dollet, their destination. Inside the ship, the mission briefing is given by Garden instructor Shue. Their mission this time is to support the Dollet army, which is in the midst of battle against the army of Galbaldia, a militant nation.

After reaching Dollet, try to spot the central plaza by passing through the city streets. On the way, enemy soldiers will attack several times, but they are not tough opponents and are easy victims for `draw'. You should draw Thunder for later use. At the plaza, the enemy forces show threatening movements.

Enemy forces are assembling at a radio tower on a mountain top. Seifer decides defy his orders to follow the trails of the enemy forces. As the party advances to the mountain trails, a Dollet soldier crawls out from a crevice in the rocks, near the first stairway. A hedge viper appears. Blizzard is effective against it because it is weak against ice. When you come before the radio tower, Seifer leaves the party and enters the tower. Here, Selphie appears as a messenger, and she joins the party and replaces Seifer.

After adding Selphie to the party, Squall and others follow Seifer who entered the tower alone. Note: do not jump from the cliff but walk around it! They head for the highest floor. On the highest floor, Major Biggs of the Galbaldian army is repairing the antennae, on discoverery of the intruders, a battle ensures. After being inflicted a certain amount of damage, the Major's subordinate Wedge comes in and assists. Just face them straight on with proper attack methods since neither one has a weak point,there's no need to use any special attacks.

A waterspout rolls out from the sky a short while into battle. Biggs and Wedge are swept away by the current and replaced by a monster Elviole. The fight ensures. Because Elviole has high HP and uses various kinds of magic, you should expect a long fight. His strongest attack is the storm breath that will give big damage to all members of your party. Fortunately you can draw Care from it, recover without hesitation when your HP becomes low. Remember to draw G.F. Siren from Elviole. Double is a very useful magic so draw it whenever the oppportunity arrives

The details of the message was for an immediate withdrawal. Squall and others have to return to their original landing place within 30 minutes. However, during their withdrawal, a Galbaldian weapon (X-ATMO92, AKA "Black Widow") persistently pursues them. The weapon has a very high amount of HP so while it is possible to reduce the HP completely to 0, but time limitations may prevent you from doing so. Instead, run with all your might whenever you are told to do so. Avoid battle as far as possible. If you can reach the beach within a short time, you should receive a higher SeeD rank because of higher agility points. Black Widow is a machine so shortcircuit it with Thunder or G.F Quetzacoalt whenever it catches up with you. (Actually, this should be classified as a Squaresoft blunder...you can't actually shortcircuit something with Thunder...it should be lightning, shouldn't it? =p - Terra)

The "Black Widow" desperately repeats its attacks. The party finally arrives at the beach where their landing craft awaits. However, the enemy weapon closes in from behind, with furious force. As Squall finally makes it into the ship, Quistis strike the enemy weapon without mercy from a machine gun. Thereafter, the landing craft returns to Balamb, leaving behind the ruined remains of the weapon.

Upon arrival at the port, you have the opportunity to explore the town of Balamb. You can buy items from a shop at the railway station, upgrade weapons from the shop to the left of Zell's friend. Zell's mom will be in the 2nd house from the top right of that same screen. You are advised to visit her with Zell every time you enter the town in the future. There is also a draw point just below Zell's friend.

When the party finally returns to Balamb Garden, they will split up. Squall will find Quistis, Shue, and Cid discussing among themselves in the first floor's central hall. He is told to wait for the exam results In the meanwhile, the only option for Squall is to heard for the passage way on the right, towards the library. He will find Seifer complaining about his dissatisfaction with the order to withdraw. Because of his disregard of the order, he is to receive punishment. After being told to go to the second floor classroom, Squall is notified of his qualification into the ranks of SeeD. At the inauguration ceremony in Headmaster Cid's office are also Zell and Selphie who have graduated. When you assume the SeeD office, you will acknowledge your "SeeD rank". Your rank will go up and down depending on your action from this point on. The rank affects your SeeD stipend which is paid at fixed times. It goes up when your rank goes up. The "SeeD rank" goes up when you receive full points on the "SeeD written exam" in the tutorial, or when you accomplish your given mission. However, be aware that it can also go down because of inappropriate speech, inappropriate conduct, and activities during battles or missions and scenarios. Note that if you completed the missions preceeding this event properly, it is possible to gain a SeeD level 9 rank.

After the inauguration ceremony ends, go towards the classroom. At the classroom hallway, classmates are gathered in front of the classroom to bless the graduation of Squall and others. Seifer is present as well. Zell stands on guard. However, Seifer unexpectedly begins to clap his hands...(sarcasm or mutual respect? -Terra) After the blessing by everyone, go to your dormitory and change into the SeeD uniform. Herein the inauguration announcement party.

After officially becoming a member of SeeD, Squall meets a woman at the inauguration dance party. She becomes interested in Squall at first sight (because he's, according to her, the most handsome guy in the party =p -Terra) and then she invites him to a dance together (more like drag -Terra). She says she is looking for someone but doesn't want to be alone.

Squall's initial attempt at the dance is rather pathetic: he keeps treading on the girl's feet... After a while, he almosts gives up and wants to abandon the dance, but she manages to persuade him to stay on. Being a quick learner though, he soon gets the hang of things and pulls of a magnificent dance sequence. As the fireworks go off, the darkened ballroom becomes illuminated. As Squall is enjoying the atmosphere of the dance, the woman he was dancing with seemed to have found the person she was looking for and left, much to Squall's dismay.

Afterwards, Squall stands alone at a terrace, Quistis comes by to speak to him. Quistis orders him to go to a place known as "the secret place", located in the back of the training facility. Incidentally, "the secret place' is a date spot where couples on the Garden gather every night. After returning to his dormitory and changing back to his personal clothes, Squall goes to the entrance of the training facility. Quistis awaits.

Squall and Quistis pass though the training facility and arrive at "the secret place". Times of momentary silence pass between the two. And Quistis slowly tells Squall that she is disqualified from the teaching position. Henceafter she will become an ordinary SeeD.  However, Squall, who dislikes free displays of affection, shows no care for her words.

When they leave finally leave "the secret place", a scream is heard. A woman is being attacked by monsters, and a battle begins. The opponents are 2 insect types, Granaldo and Raldo. The Granaldo attacks by throwing and kicking a Raldo. While the Granaldo remains alive, Raldos will not attack on their own. Dispose of the Raldos first so you can minimise damage. The Granaldo is weak against wind. Attacks using G.F. are also quite effective. When the Granaldo is left, quickly defeat it quickly with concentrated attacks because an individual Granaldo does not have great attacking ability.

When you return to the dormitory from the training facility, a non-sharing room for his newfound SeeD status has been prepared. Squall, tired from the fight in the training facility, sleeps. The next morning, he hears from Selphie, the news of their first mission and goes towards Garden's entranceway. From Cid, he learns that the mission this time is to offer support to an anti-Galbaldian government organisation in Timber. The members include Squall, Zell, and Selphie. Squall is the assigned team leader. Talk to Cid and he will give you a Magic lamp which apparently "cursed". In actual fact, it contains the G.F Diablos. You will most probably not be able to defeat this boss at this stage.

The party proceeds toward Timber by riding a train that leaves from the town of Balamb. Be sure that you don't buy too much before departure because it costs 3000 gils to ride the train. In the train, they find an extravagant guest room prepared for them. Zell and Selphie are in good humor. Suddenly sleep overcomes Squall and the others, and they all lose consciousness.

When he regains consciousness, Squall becomes Laguna Loire, a Galbaldian soldier, who is walking in the forest of Timber. Alongside him are Kiros, who carries himself undignified, and Ward, a big man who boasts of strength. The three pass through the forest and escape the battlefield in a military vehicle. They are heading towards the Galbaldian capital, Deling City.

After returning from the forest, Laguna invites Kiros and Ward for a drink. However, somehow it seems that alcohol isn't what he is after. After saving at the hotel, you can make use of this opportunity to fight Diablos now, by using the Magic Lamp from Cid. Diablos is rather difficult but not impossible. The method I (Terra) used was to keep the weakest attacking party member very healthy by using Cure, while the others had HPs of about 50. There isn't any point of curing everyone because Diablos's magics can do damages of more than half the current HP. This is the weak point however, because you will rarely die unless your HP falls to 1. Keep using the limit breaks, especially Laguna's Desperado, which causes up to 800 damage pts. If a member dies, use Phoenix down to revive. This is where the healthy member comes in handy. They go to a club at the capital's hotel basement. They speak to a waitress who guides them to their usual seats. A woman named Julia appears shortly, clad in a lovely red gown. Laguna tries to hide his feelings for the lady from his friends unsuccessfully. Julia begins a piano performance. Laguna finally gains enough courage to to confess to her his affections but stumbles out of terrible nervousness. Surprisingly though, after the performance, Laguna is invited by Julia to go to her room in that hotel. There they converse. Julia, who has always desired to be as singer, is inspired from Laguna's tales of adventure, to write the first lyrics to her song.

Squall wakes up from his dream. The party is surprised to find themselves sharing the same dream. With this leaving a big mystery, they arrive at Timber.

TheTimberMission.gif (1618 bytes)

After speaking the assigned password at the Timber train station, they are guided the base "Forest Owls", the anti-government organization, which is located in a train. In the hideout, Squall is asked by members of Forest Owl to awaken their sleeping "princess" from a room at the back. There, he meets Rinoa Heartilly, the mysterious woman who danced with Squall at the Garden party before.

Timber is now becoming under Galbaldia's control. Rinoa and others are working to free Timber from the dictatorship of Vinzer Deling, Galbaldia's current president. According to the latest information, the president is visiting Timber on a train. Rinoa quickly explains her operation to Squall and others. The mission is to waylay the Presidential train, and to replace the Presidential carriage with a dummy one.

After making preparations, the operation finally begins. By controlling Squall, you will move him on top of the train, and by means of entering codes, separate the connections between the Presidential carraige and 2 other carraiges. You must finish the entire operation in 5 minutes. A calm and swift operation is the key to success.

As a result of a successful operation, Rinoa captures the president. However, to her shock, she discovers he is not the real president Deling. After a short battle, the false president reveals his monstrous true form.  Fighting it with physical attacks will be tedious and difficult.The opponent has many abnormal status attacks such as Breath, Berserk, and Silence that give damage along with Darkness effects. If you use Raise, Arise or Phoenix Tail, you can defeat it with one blow because it is an undead. However, the hit rate will be low. Recovery magic like Care and heal are very effective.

Rinoa and others get off at the Timber train station, after making up their minds to invade the broadcast station. It is a city with complex architectural styles where many train lines converge. You should first search the Timber Maniacs building for some manuals and a draw point. The city is occupied by Galbaldian forces, and you will ocassionally get into battles. According to the news on the streets, it seems possible to go to the broadcast station from behind the backdoor of the pub. When you head for the pub, some Galbaldian soldiers are talking in the entrance. A battle ensures, and you will receive the "Vail Card" after your victory. When you enter the pub, a drunken customer obstructing the back door laments on his loss of a playing card and lack of proper accomodations, by opting to return the card, he will not only move away, but give you back the card plus a Tonberri card.

As the party passes through the back ally and climbs up a long flight of stairs, words of unknown meaning are projected on a monitor on the wall. Rinoa quarrels with Squall and runs off. She is replaced by Zell/Selphie.The screen changes to the relay of the presidential address. The President announces the appointment of his new peace ambassodor, the witch Edea. Suddenly the screen switches to an image of Seifer and Quistis storming the broadcast studio. The party rushes into the station. Seifer tries to take the president captive, but he is lured away by a witch who disappears, taking Seifer along with her.

No thanks to Zell, the party are known to the President asassociates of Balamb Garden, Squall and others are urged to escape. They decide to seek shelter for a moment at the Forest Fox's hideout and to inquire the possibilities of escape. They decide to take a train to visit the nearby Galbaldia Garden. At this point of time, your actions will dictate the outcome of your SeeD rank. Make sure u head straight for the train and do not wander about and talk unnecessarily. Otherwise, you may find your SeeD rank falling by one position.You may have to repeat the sequences several times to get everything right, so hopefully, you have saved before then

Riding the last train out of Timber, you should  get off the train at the East Station. You will have to enter the Timber forest in the Northwest in order to go to the Galbaldia Garden. If you cross the bridge while following the train track, you will soon get there. In case you did not get off at East Station, the train will go to the Dollet station, the next stop. Because Dollet station is the final stop, just return by walking on the railroad tracks. Incidentally, monsters will not appear on the roads or train tracks.

Now is a good opportunity to explore Dollet and Timber.

Upon entering the  Timber forest, Squall's consciousness once again flies to Laguna. Laguna, along with Kiros and Ward, is lost in an excavation site. There is nothing special here at the excavation site, proceed to look for the exit. En route, there are places to set traps, so you can set traps for enemy Esthar soldiers. However, it is okay if you don't. As the party proceeds to an oceanic cliff to the north of a a save point, they will find themselves surrounded by Esthar soldiers. Upon defeat, the remaining Esthar soldiers will use the skill called "Soul Crush" that will reduce Ward and Kiros's HP to 1. After the battle, the party will dive down a cliff towards some ships below in a bid to escape.

Squall and other return from their second trip to the mysterious world. Tthey once again set out for Galbaldia Garden, their decided destination. Timber forest behind them, the Galbaldia Garden lies before their eyes. The area between is a region called the Monterosa High Plains, and the distribution of monsters is different. Because rather powerful enemies appear, go out after you have confirmed your party status. In the battle a little while ago, it is possible you have a character with only 1 HP.

The party finally reaches Galbaldia Garden. A message broadcast instructs them to go to the second floor reception room as quickly as possible. You should take the opportunity to explore the Garden though.

After a brief discussion, Squall runs away, angry, from the reception room. Secretly, he mourns the loss of Seifer. He realises how much he needs people to think of him and discovers the importance of life. After a meeting with Fuujin and Raijin in the first floor hall, he is instructed to head for the front gate. The rest of the party assemble to receive orders from Dodonna, the school principal and board chairman. New orders are to head to Deling City to assassinate the witch Edea. Sniper Irvine Kinneas hereafter joins the party as a member of the assasination team.

Squall and others appoint Irvine to the immediate party composition (it is possible to change), and they head for the Galbaldian capital, Deling City, where witch Edea resides. Because the railroad tracks go all the way to Deling City, it is better to go by train. However, if you go on foot, en route, you will find  the Galbaldian army spreading a barricade. As the barricade is released once you leave Deling City for the first time, you can return from Deling City while walking. The location of the station is   southwest from the Garden. It should not be too hard to spot because the train stops there. Because it costs 3000 gils to ride the train, do not squander your money.