FF8_Disc_1_Walkthrough

Balamb Garden

         Final Fantasy 8 begins with a long FMV (Full Motion Video) previewing some interesting events that you will come across during the game. It ends, and the actual game begins with Squall Leonhart lying down in the second unit bed of the infirmary. Squall Leonhart is the main character of Final Fantasy 8, so get used to seeing his face often. He will sit up and have a conversation with Dr. Kadowaki, the present physician. At one point during your conversation, she will ask you to tell her your name. The screen will go dark, then bring up a gray screen. This is a character recruitment screen, one of many that you will see. Here, you have the ability to change your character or Guardian Force name with the help from 6 options. Once you are done, select confirm to close the screen. After more conversation, she will step out of view to call on Quistis Trepe, Squall's instructor, to come and pick him up.
          The camera will then go for a close up of Squall's left profile. At this point, a mysterious young woman dressed in blue, green, and white appears in a reflection on the window. She says a few words to Squall, then leaves. As she does, a short FMV introducing Quistis Trepe begins as she walks into the room. She speaks briefly to Squall, then begins to leave, with him following shortly after. The game will shift to Squall and Quistis walking through the hallway toward the central core of the Garden itself. This short FMV shows a nice view of where you will be spending most of your time, so take notes. They chat as they walk, and the conversation ends when you reach the 2nd floor classroom.
          You will walk in and sit down as Quistis enters and begins her lecture. She will speak about the SeeD field exam and give instructions concerning the test, then lets the students prepare for it. She dismisses the students. As the students leave, she scolds Seifer Almasy then talks to Squall. She tells you about the Fire Cavern east of the Garden and what to do there for the SeeD test. She will then advise you to go to your seat and see the Tutorial. Your seat is in the back of the room on the left side. Once you are there, press the x button to access the Tutorial Screen. A screen will pop up, and show you a lot of different things that mainly deal with the Garden itself, like the Festival, etc. Before you log off, you will be granted the Guardian Forces Quezacotl (Lightning), and Shiva (Ice). After each Guardian Force is granted to you, a character recruitment screen will follow. Do the same for the Guardian Forces as you did with Squall on his recruitment screen.
          If you choose not to do it, head out of the classroom and down the hall towards the elevator. As you turn the corner, you will bump into a girl who is late for her class (The one that you just came out of). Talk to her. Choose to help her. As you cross the bridge to the elevator, talk to the man sitting down and he will give you seven cards (All are level 1 cards and you will receive one of each - geezard, funguar, red bat, gayla, gesper, fastitocalon f, and a caterchipillar). The elevator will take you to the 1st floor, then down to the directory. With the girl by your side, Squall will give a detailed description of each place in Balamb Garden, so listen well, as it will prove to be helpful. The girl will then leave. Go down the walkway toward the front gate where you will meet up with the waiting Quistis. If you went to your seat and extracted the Guardian Forces, Quistis will say nothing to you, but if you didn't, she will scold you and then give them to you. The character recruitment screen will pop up again if and only if you didn't choose to get the Guardian Forces from the start.
        Quistis will lecture you on GF junctioning. Listen to her, then walk out of the Garden.

Outside (To Fire Cavern)

          Once you are outside the Garden, junction your Guardian Forces to each character. It is strategically best to junction Shiva to Squall and Quezacotl to Quistis, because this will aide you in the Fire Cavern later on. Also, do not forget to set their abilities so that they can learn something new und useful. Move around the outside area before heading to the Fire Cavern to gain experience with your new Guardian Forces. You will fight relatively easy monsters that have useful magic that you can use in the Fire Cavern. Draw from each, defeat them, and move on. Once you are confident enough in your abilities, head east of the Garden to the Fire Cavern for your field exam.

The Fire Cavern

          In the small clearing before the actual Cavern itself, Quistis will stop you and tutor you on both magic junctioning and how to use Squall's gunblade. Listen to her, then go to the entrance. At the entrance to the Cavern, two faculty members will converse with Squall and Quistis. You will be asked to select a time limit ranging in tens from 10 - 40 minutes. As you are more prepared, you should be able to select a lower time limit. This is not critical unless you want to earn more money later on, but the lower time limit you choose, the more successful you will become at achieving a higher SeeD rank. Time is not the sole determiner of your SeeD rank however, and more will be explained later. IMPORTANT- If you do not complete the Fire Cavern within the amount of time you selected, the game will be over!
        The Cavern is situated so that you only need to travel in one path, with a fork later on around the center of the course. As you make your way deeper into the Cavern, you will be confronted by fire innate enemies, so use ice magic against them and you will prevail. Quistis will also speak to you as you move along. Once you come to a fork, the right side will contain a draw point, the left will contain nothing, and the path ahead is where you need to go. Keep going until you reach the volcano at the end of the cave. You will fight the Guardian Force Ifrit.
       Boss Fight- You will fight the Guardian Force Ifrit here. He has an HP of 1068, so be careful. Use the Guardian Force Shiva against him, as well as strong physical attacks and ice innate magic that you hopefully have stocked. He has fire, cure, and scan magic, so be sure to draw those from him before you defeat him. Once you beat him, he will give you his card and 3 G Returners. He will then join your party. Once you are done, make your way out of the Cavern.

Outside (To Balamb Garden)

          Once you are out of the Fire Cavern, head back to the Garden the same way you came, being careful of the monsters. At any point during your adventures outside, save the game so that if you die, you can go back to the last saved spot.

Balamb Garden

         Once back in the gates, Quistis will tutor you on Guardian Force junctioning. She will then instruct you to go to your room and do a few things afterwards. Go to your room and change, then meet Quistis in front of the directory. As you arrive, she will talk to you briefly before introducing your partner to you. An FMV of Zell Dincht will follow, showcasing him as a lively fellow. He will enter, and the three of you will converse. A short while later, he will instruct you on how to use his limit breaks.
          As he finishes, Seifer Almasy, Fujin, and Raijin will enter. The six will converse before Cid Krammer enters. He will give an interesting little speech before giving instructions, then dismissing the group assembled before him. Fujin and Raijin will leave, and the others will head toward the parking lot and a waiting Garden Car. This Garden Car will be taken to Balamb for their first SeeD mission.

Outside (To Balamb)

         An interesting conversation will follow once inside the car. After a short while, you are able to move the car on your own. Follow the on - screen directions in order to navigate the car itself. Cars will get you all sorts of places in Final Fantasy 8, so use them wisely. You will then need to drive over to the city of Balamb.

Balamb

         The car will stick on autopilot until you get to the marina. Once you get out of the car, proceed directly to the submarine - style ship waiting for you.

Submarine Ride (To Dollet)

         Inside the ship, there will be little to almost no conversation until Xu arrives. She will speak to you about your upcoming mission, and brief you on what is expected. Your actions from here on will affect your SeeD rank performance. After she finishes speaking, Seifer will instruct Squall to go outside and take a look at what is happening. As you do, you will witness a long FMV of Dollet being attacked.

Dollet and Your First SeeD Mission

          As the FMV finishes, you will find yourself outside of the vessel. Quistis will instruct you to secure the area, so head toward the stairs leading into the city. Save at the point, junction your Guardian Forces to each character except Seifer, then head down the street. You will fight numerous Galbadian soldiers. Be sure to draw magic from them, then move on.
          Head toward the town square, where Seifer will instruct for you to check each alleyway for enemies. You will fight no more than 10 Galbadian soldiers, so be prepared, then talk to Seifer again once you are done. A few seconds later, you will hear bells chime, then silence. Talk to Seifer once again, then go down the left alleyway. Cross the brige then make your way up the side of the mountain. About half way up, a wounded Galbadian soldier will talk to you. He says but only a few words, then is attacked and killed by an anacondaur, which you will now have to face. Draw its fire and cure magic, defeat it, then continue moving on up the stairs.
          At the summit, Seifer will speak, then run off, as a scene with Galbadian soldiers follows. Bewildered, Squall and Zell don't know what to expect next, untill an FMV introducing Selphie Tilmitt begins. As a spunky young girl, she will introduce herself only as a messenger. She will ask Squall about Seifer, then proceed to jump off the side of the cliff. Follow her. Another short scene between Galbadian soldiers will follow, then you will be led inside. To the right is a save point, and to the left, a draw point. Use them both before moving on.
          Once you have saved your game, head up the lift cable. Before you appear, you will witness yet another scene between Galbadian soldiers. As you appear, an FMV showing the Dollet Communication Tower will follow your entrance. The Galbadian soldiers will notice you, then attack.
          Boss Fight- At this point, you will fight Biggs and Wedge. They are relatively simple, so just use your Guardian Forces and best attacks on them, and you will prevail. Before you completely defeat them, however, they will be knocked off their feet by wind created by an elvoret. His magic will prove useful, but he is relatively hard to defeat, so be careful. Use the same strategy as you did with Wedge and Biggs on the lone elvoret, and you will most surely win. Before you defeat the creature, DRAW THE GUARDIAN FORCE SIREN FROM HIM!! That is an absolute must! Then after that, just defeat him. As you do, he will disintegrate.
          As he is finished off, Selphie remembers the important message she was supposed to give, then delivers it to Squall. The basic message is that you have 30 minutes to vacate Dollet, and if you do not do so in that time, you will be left behind.