Overview
A explanation (from my few) for the Final Fantasy VIII game. Final Fantasy stories are a bit complicated, so I made this to help you understand Final Fantasy VIII. I personally don’t like this Final Fantasy game much. The reason why I explain in the end.
SPOILER WARNING!
Final Fantasy stories are a bit complicated, so I made this to help you understand Final Fantasy VIII.
I personally don’t like this Final Fantasy game much. The reason why I explain in the end.
THIS GUIDE CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Balamb Garden
Lets start with Balamb Garden.
Balamb Garden is a school (founded by Cid and Edea) on the east of the town of Balamb.
The Garden is a flyable location, but normally it is stays on 1 place (that is why, they get their name of the place they stay at). People attend school to becoming SeeDs. Most students on the school are orphans (its free shelter, so I get why). There are 3 Gardens (schools) in the world, Trabia Garden, Balamb Garden and Galbadia Garden. Balamb Garden is the only garden, that is authorized to do field SeeD exams (A exam, that makes you an official SeeD). This means that students from other gardens need to go to Balamb, in order to do the exam to become a SeeD.
I talk a lot about SeeD, but what is a SeeD?
A SeeD is a mercenary that is for hire to battle, support people or do undercover operations.
They often get hired by the governments and civilians (mostly to destroy monsters).
There are different ranks within the SeeD:
SeeD rank 1 = A normal student (15 years or older).
SeeD rank 2 = Those SeeD’s go on missions. Most of those SeeD’s operate in groups.
SeeD rank 3 = The highest rank in SeeD’s. Those SeeD’s are able to use GF (later back on that) and use higher magic.
Depending on your rank, you get paid.
Squall
The main character in this game is Squall.
We see in the beginning in the game, Squall fight with Seifer. Well Squall’s story starts way more back.
Squall is the son of Raine Loire and Laguna.
Raine died soon after Squall’s birth. Laguna didn’t know Raine was pregnant, he was on a mission at that time. So Squall ended up in Edea’s Orphanage.
Squall grew up and made a very close friend named Ellone.
1 day Ellone suddenly left. Squall felt abandoned by her, so he began building up an emotional defense system. He wishes to go through life now, without depending on/bounded by others.
1 day Squall finds a dying sorceress and a teenage Squall from the future (he doesn’t know, that it was him at that time). Edea (a sorceress at that time) reserved a message from the future Squall.
Edea then begins to build Balamb Garden. Cid (Edea’s husband at that time) became the principle and registered Squall as his student. Squall trains in wielding the gunblade (a very difficult weapon).
On Balamb Garden, he meet Seifer. Those 2 become rivals, because they are very similar in many ways. This all happend 11 years, before the beginning of the game (the fight scene with Seifer).
In those 11 years Squall forgets about his past (the orphanage, Edea and Ellone) and works on his journey to become a SeeD.
I tell more about Raine, Laguna,Ellone and Edea later on.
The start of the game
She recognize him, but he doesn’t recognize her.
The next morning Squall and Quisits (a teacher on the school) gets assigned to obtain a GF named Ifrit. In short, GF stands for Guardian Force. They are creatures that makes the owner able to use magic. After obtaining Ifrit Squall goes to Dollet for his field exam. On the field he gets assigned to Seifer’s team (There we meet Selphie and Zell). Seifer abandons the team, which made him Seifer not graduate. Because Squall saved the team, he graduate from the field exam (with Zell and Selphie).
After the dance Squall follows Quisits to the training center. Quistis reveals to him, that she no longer is a teacher and gets emotional. On the way back to the ball they find Ellone being attacked and help her out. Before Ellone could talk to Squall, she gets carried away by SeeD’s.
The first mission
Squall, Selphie and Zell get a mission in Timber.
On the train, the three of them get a vision of the past. The vision is about Laguna.
In Timber they meet Rinoa, who is the one that employed them. Rinoa is a freedom fighter (Timber owl). She hates the Galbadian system and wants to kidnap the president. The party agrees to help and try to capture him. Sadly they find out, that the president is a body double and the mission fails. Squall gets angry and tells Rinoa, that the freedom fighters are weak and childish. Squall only doesn’t have a choice and needs to help them (in terms of the contract he and Rinoa made). They came later with a new plan, to interrupt the presidents TV broadcast.
In the middle of the plan, Rinoa and Squall get in a verbal fight. Rinoa gets angry and walks away (abandoning the plan). Seifer and Quistis, takes the president hostage in the main time while he is on air. This is the time we meet the sorseress Edea.
The Owl’s base gets destroyed. They all have nowhere to go, so they decide to go to Galbadia Garden. On the way Squall and Rinoa keep arguing. During an argument Squall passes out and get another vision of Laguna. Rinoa feels bad about the arguing and apologize to Squall.
To break the ice between them, Rinoa tells a bit about her past.
Ceremony in Deling city
In Galbadia Garden, they get a new order. They need to assassinate Edea during her ceremony in Deling city. Irvine gets assigned to their team, because he is a skillful sniper.
The plan was, that Irvine shoot Edea. Sadly everything didnt go as planned. Rinoa gets captured and Irvine and Squall need to save her. In the main time Edea murders the president and claims to be the new ruler. Seifer stands by her side as her knight (he is scared that she kills him, so he does what he is told). Once Rinoa is saved, Irvine has a chance to shoot Edea. He is scared that he messes everything up, so Squall reasons with him. Irvine fires, but Edea uses magic to deflect the bullet.
Squall decides to go head on instead and attacks Edea. Squall gets injured and passes out.
The team get arrested because they attacked Edea.
Flying missle and flying base
Squall gets another dream about Laguna. When he wakes up he finds himself imprisoned, and tortured by Seifer. During the torture, Squall learns that Edea is going to shoot a missiles towards both Balamb and Trabia Gardens. The group escapes and splits in two: The team led by Squall warns Balamb Garden of the missile strike, and the other, led by Selphie, are going to sabotage the Missile Base and stop the launch. In Balamb, there is a huge chaos. Students are revolting against the headmaster, who has locked himself inside his office. Squall warns Cid of the missiles.
Cid reveals, that the Garden is a mobile bunker and activate the airborne system.
They move away from the aiming spot and Balamb is save. Squall is called towards the core of Balamb, where NORG lives. NORG wants to give up those associated with the assassination attempt to Edea, to quell her wrath and save the Garden. During this confrontation, NORG reveals that Sorceress Edea and Headmaster Cid are married. Squall is confused and don’t like NORG’s idea of the future and defeat him.
Squall talks later with Cid, about him and Edea. Cid admits that it is true and explains that the SeeD’s real purpose, was always to fight a sorceress named Adel (more about her later).
Blast of the past explained
Squall meets Ellone on board of the Garden. Ge talks with her and remembers, a young Ellone from one of his dreams. He finds out, that she is the girl he met in the infirmary.
Ellone reveals her ability (showing the past. NOT CHANGING IT!). She has been sending Squall’s consciousness back in time to Laguna’s past. She doesn’t tell Squall why yet, but it is time that I tell Ellone’s, Laguna’s and Raine’s story.
Ellone lived with her parants in the village of Winhill, about four years before Laguna’s arrives (what makes her 4 years old). When she was two the Sorceress War broke out between Galbadia and Esthar and troops raided Winhill. Esthar’s leader (Sorceress Adel) was searching for an heir.
The soldiers demanded the village to hand over all the young girls for consideration.
Ellone’s parents refused to hand over their daughter and were gunned down for their rebellion.
Ellone escaped and hide till all the soldiers were gone. Ellone (now orphan) got taken in by her next door neighbor, Raine. Ellone accepted Raine as her new mother figure. The next 2 years were peacefull for them, until a wounded Galbadian soldier was brought into their house.
This soldier was Laguna. Riane took care of him for the next 6 months. As repayment for helping him, Laguna offert Riane to help raise Ellone. To the city, he offers safety from monsters if he could stay. Ellone and Laguna bonded, although she calls him “uncle” he is a father figure for her.
Ellone encouraged Raine and Laguna to get in a relationship. Riane and Laguna fell in love and get married.
Sorceress Adel’s soldiers return and kidnap Ellone. She ends up in Dr. Odine’s lab, where he studied her powers of telepathy and sending a person’s consciousness back in time.
Laguna, along with his friends Kiros and Ward, departed to rescue Ellone.
What he didn’t know was, that Raine was pregnant at that time (of squall).
Once in Esthar Laguna, Kiros, and Ward joined forces with a resistance group against Adel.
Laguna enlisted the help of Dr. Odine to build a special cryo-containment device, to bind Adel’s powers and body. The resistance placed the device inside a building outside of the capital, which would later become known as the Sorceress Memorial. They lured Adel to the site using a holographic projection of Ellone and succeed to capture her. Adel’s frozen body got shot into outer space to prevent her from ever passing on her sorceress powers.
Laguna and Ellone find each other again and are planning to go back home.
Laguna got asked to stay by the Estharians. Unaware of Riane’s pregnancy, Laguna agrees and sends Ellone home. Riana gives birth of Squall and died shortly after.
The people of Winhill sent both Squall and Ellone to Edea Kramer’s orphanage.
One day a dying Sorceress Ultimecia and a teenage Squall appeared out of a time warp.
Mortally wounded, Ultimecia transferred her sorceress power to Edea (who was a sorceress herself). Squall told Edea he was a SeeD. He claimed he was send by Edea herself, before disappearing back into the time warp. Edea concluded, that the orphan boy Squall will one day defeat a powerful sorceress. For this prophecy to come true, she let Squall become a SeeD, so he one day meet his fate. Because SeeD was to be an anti-sorceress force, Edea’s husband, Cid Kramer, was reluctant to go with the plan, fearing the SeeD might one day want to fight Edea.
Edea and the orphans who were not joining the Gardens, went into hiding on the White SeeD Ship. Thus Ellone and Squall were separated. The orphans who joined Edea and Ellone on the White SeeD Ship would become the White SeeD to ensure Edea and Ellone’s safety.
Ellone did not have a chance to say goodbye to her younger brother, who grew up believing she had intentionally abandoned him. Ellone remained with the White SeeD for many years.
And that is for the past!
Ellone departs with the White SeeD, leaving a confused Squall behind (beceause he doesn’t know all this yet. He has only see flashbacks of all this so far).
Battles and other events
When the Garden crashes into Fishermans Horizon, Squall and his group give an apology to the mayor. The mayor asks them to leave as their presence can only cause destruction.
Galbadia invades the town, and the mayor heads off to discuss peacefully with the soldiers.
They do not listen, and Squall fights the soldiers to save the mayor’s life. When this all happens, the group reunite with the Missile Base team. Cid appoints Squall as the Garden’s commander; a decision Squall is not at all pleased with. To show him their support Selphie and Irvine organize a concert in Squall’s honor, and Rinoa has an eventful chat with him, encouraging him to trust in them as they believe in him.
After the Garden is fixed Squall sets course to the town of Balamb. The town is under control of the G-Army. Squall and his team free the town after defeating Fujin and Raijin.
They head to the destroyed Trabia Garden. Irvine tells everyone about their past together in the orphanage, which they had all forgotten. Remembering their childhood, the team recognizes Sorceress Edea as the woman who used to care for them in the orphanage.
They decide to defeat her in spite of the past. The Garden embarks to the old orphanage in search of clues.
Balamb Garden is intercepted by the similarly mobile Galbadia Garden and the Battle of the Gardens starts. Squall leads Balamb’s defense, at one point giving a heartfelt speech to Balamb’s SeeDs and cadets, encouraging them to fight on. Squall and his team infiltrate Galbadia Garden and defeat Seifer and Edea, but Rinoa becomes comatose. It turns out Edea had been possessed by a sorceress from the future, Ultimecia. The whole time she did not act of her own free will.
Ultimecia’s goal is to make herself a god-like being, but she needs to find Ellone to perform the spell. So Edea and the others go find her.
In space and a beginning of a romance
Rinoa in coma Squall realize that he is in love with her. Squall searches for Ellone to have her send him back in time, to prevent Rinoa from becoming comatose. After learning from the White SeeD she has gone to Esthar, Squall decides to abandon the Garden and to take Rinoa to Esthar in secret. While on the road Squall opens up to the comatose Rinoa. Later at the sea, Edea and the others caught up to him. The party makes it to Esthar, that has had no contact with the outside world for 17 years. After learning Ellone has gone to the Lunar Base, Squall and Rinoa are sent to the space-station. Squall reunites with Ellone, who is happy to learn he has recovered his childhood memories. He begs her to send him back in time, so he can save Rinoa. Ellone tells Squall it is impossible to change the past using her ability. In the meantime, Ultimecia possesses Rinoa, uses her to free Sorceress Adel and leaves Rinoa to (almost) die in space. Ellone sends Squall to Rinoa’s consciousness, where he tells her to activate the oxygen supply in her spacesuit. Squall then jumps into space to catch her. Squall and Rinoa take the spaceship and use it to return to the planet. Squall learns Rinoa has inherited Adel’s sorceress power and became a sorceress.
The final battle
The team heads back to Edea’s house. Rinoa is sad about the future, but Squall vows to be her knight even if all the world is her enemy. They are recalled to Esthar and find Laguna is Esthar’s president and that Ellone has been taken captive inside Estharian. Laguna and Dr. Odine have a plan to stop Ultimecia once and for all. Laguna follows Squall’s party to the location.
Laguna’s friends talk about Squall’s parents and Laguna. Laguna learned the whole story from Ellone and tells Squall, that they will have a lot to talk about later. They save Ellone and find Seifer and his former teammates. Squall and his friends fight through Seifer and later Adel (who is under possession of Ultimecia). With no other body to possess Ultimecia takes over Rinoa, which gives Ellone the opportunity to send Ultimecia’s mind further back in time.
Ultimecia begins the time compression allowing Squall and his friends to travel to the future and confronts her.
In the final battle that traverses time and space, Ultimecia gets defeated.
Time changes at Ultimecia’s defeat and time begins to revert to its original form.
A dying Ultimecia and Squall go back in time and appear at Edea’s orphanage, where Squall meets Edea and implants the ideas of SeeD and Garden (And so start the prophecy).
After Ultimecia passes on her sorceress power to Edea, Squall falls back into the compressed time and tries to find his way back to the field, where he and Rinoa promised to meet.
Sadly he can’t find his way and gets trapped in a void. Rinoa uses her sorceress powers to find him and brings him back home.
During a victory party at Balamb Garden, Squall and Rinoa stay outside and share a kiss.
Why I didn’t like this game….
Oke…. this game has many people’s dislikes, but also likes. I am 1 of the people, that didn’t like it.
Before going raging in comments, let me tell you why.
1. I do understand the romance and story where they are aiming for, but it was poor executed in my opinion.
2. Many times in the game (to many times in my opinion), the group get split up (for no dam good reason) and come back to each other.
3. Every time they search for Ellone, that it becomes boring (Lose her. Next objective. Find her).
4. The exact thing is going on with Rinoa! Rinoa is missing to many times, that it becomes boring to rescue her (knowing she gets missing again).
5. Also Squall and Rinoa romance didn’t have to happen for me. The 2 of them are kind of plain together. The romantic parts in the story did nothing to me (no feels).
6. The Laguna story I loved! But in the end, there was no interaction with him and Squall anymore….
7. The final reason why I didn’t like of this game, are the sorceresses. There is no background story about Adel or Ultimecia, while they are extreme dangerous (Uh… why?).
I get they want to destroy the world and all, but where is the motive and the plan how.
8. There is also to many sorceresses: Edea, Adel, Ultimecia, Rinoa and Ellone.
In the middle till the end its all about them, while we don’t have much information about being a sorceress. How do you become one? Why are they hated? Are there more sorceresses, then just them? Explanation missing…
Those reasons are my reasons to not like this game, even though how much I do love Final Fantasy…
Thank you
Sorry if my English isn’t great and that the explanation is boring (like I said, I didn’t like the game).
I’m a big Final Fantasy fan and I’m planning to make a guide on ever Final Fantasy game, because the story (game) is so much more if you look more into it. Everyone experience the game diffrent, respect that. Thank you for reading <3