Final Fantasy 8

Familiarizing yourself with Balamb Garden

Items:
6x Potion, 4x Phoenix Down, 2x Remedy, 1x Tent, (1x Geezard, 1x Funguar, 1x Red Bat, 1x Gayla, 1x Gesper, 1x Fastitocalon-F, 1x Caterchipillar) 7x Cards, 1x Occult Fan I

Magic:
Esuna - at the library
Blizzard - at the Training Center
Cure - at the frontyard [Central Gate]

GF:
Quezacotl, Shiva

Save Pts:
B-Garden - Dormitory
B-Garden - Hall [Lobby]
B-Garden - Training Center

B-Garden Training Center
Grat: Sleep, Silence, [Berserk], {Confuse}
T-Rexaur: Fire*, Thunder* {Quake}

Balamb - Acauld Plains
Bite Bug: Fire*, Scan
Caterchipillar: Thunder*, Cure*, [Slow], {Stop} (forests)
Glaccid Eye: Blizzard*, Cure*, Scan (near mountains)
T-Rexaur: Fire*, Thunder*, {Quake} (forests)

Rinaul Shores
Fastitocalon: Blizzard*, Sleep, {Water}, Scan

It was a battle in the morning between our hero, Squall Leonhart and his rival, Seifer Almasy. Squall got injured in the process as Seifer results to a cheap shot.. using magic is not allowed in a battle.

Squall will be lying unconscious at the Infirmary when he was inspected by the doctor of Balamb Garden [Dr. Kadowaki]. Dr. Kadowaki will be asking Squall whether he is alright or not, pick any one for Squall's reply and you will be given a chance to name your character [Squall].

* Ok. I guess
* My forehead hurts

After a short conversation, Dr Kadowaki will phone Squall's instructor, and you will have a CGI introduction of Quistis Trepe (also known as Instructor Trepe in Balamb) [Pay attention to that sequence.. there is a girl dressed in blue peeped into the Infirmary]

Guess what? Squall's misfortune fall on the day that he is going for his SeeD examinations... Squall have to follow her back to the classroom. Along the walkway, you will be able to talk to her by pressing the X button. Next you will have another CGI ... [it is about life in Balamb Garden]

Now Squall will be walking to the classroom, noticed how sloppy Squall was! At the back row of the classroom, you will see Squall along with his rival, Seifer. Quistis will talk to the class that they will begin the SeeD final examinations in 1600 hrs time. [The SeeD examinations is critical for those whom want to be fully-pledged SeeD mercernaries] After that talk, you will be regaining control of Squall. This time, you will be able to view your menu [pressing Circle button]. Now talk to Quistis whom is surrounded by a group of students. [that are the Trepies, hmm.. nice name huh?] She will tell Squall that he need to go to the Fire Cavern before he could start his SeeD Examinations. (Squall intend to go this morning but was challenged by Seifer..) Head back to your seat and watch the Tutorial, and tried to get a slight idea on how to use the Junction system. [Balamb Garden Network, Tutorial Menu]

Balamb Garden Network
Study Panel
The network was user-friendly and easy to use. Just simply get back to Squall's desk, pressing X on the study panel and you will be able access the student's network. Next pick the first option [Tutorial], and you will be able to take your first two Guardian Forces: GF Quezacotl and GF Shiva. You will be asked to name the GF and thus being brought to the screen where you name your characters. Next you can spend your time browsing the other options. Here is an ASCII art of the screen:

___________________________________________
| Balamb Garden Network         main index  |  Notice:
| ==========================================|
|                                           |  The School Festival
|        Tutorial (NEW)                     |  Commitee is only 
|           The Basics                      |  available after you 
|              About Garden                 |  have gotten the first
|              A Message from Garden        |  copy of the Timber
|  _____               Garden Square        |  Maniacs as soon as you
| |SeeD | _______________________________   |  have recruited Selphie 
| |Logo | \ School Festival Commitee     \  |  Tilmitt. It got some
| |_____|  \------------------------------\ |  good stuffs!
|___________________________________________|

After collecting the first two GFs, it is time to equip them. You must equipped GFs before you can equip any of the basics commands beside Attack. To exit the tutorial, simply press Circle and then choose the first option. I guess you may need to take a look at the Basic Tutorial before proceeding on further.

Now exit the classroom. At the walkway, head south a bit... Squall will eventually knocked into a girl (this girl is a future member...) and you will given two options

- "Are you OK?"
- ".........."

After some chit chat, you will find out that this girl wants you to take her on a tour around Balamb Garden. She has been just transferred from Trabia to here just for Garden School Festival Committee.

- "Sure." - results a tour around Balamb Garden
- "Don't have time" - you navigate Garden yourself

No matter what choice you have make, it does not affect the game.. Now walk right.. you will find a man and he will tell you that his brother has given him some cards... and he will give the 7 cards. (I have list them up in the headings..). Press Square button to challenge everyone for the card game.

Now head inside the elevator. The elevator will take you to the 1F of the Garden. If you choose option 1, you will have a short sequence about the explanations of Garden. It is just your first base for your game.

Map of Balamb Garden
This is the layout of the 1F of the Garden. It is arranged in a hexagon-shaped structure with passages leading to different areas. There are a couple of card players found in this main hall and their appearance is random (well because no one can't stand at a spot for too long ^_^:). Note that you can go to the Training Center [but it will be a bit too risky..]. Those colour encoding marked in brackets is actually the colour coding on the ground.

The Map ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dormitory | Legend [1] |------------ Cafteria [8] | [2] Parking Lot |[] Areas \ | / |E Elevator Quad [7]- - - E - - -[3] Training Center |L Lobby / L \ | Infirmary [6] | [4] Library | [5] | Central Gate | ------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Dormitory:
You can change your clothes here or sleep [to recover lost HP, GFs has auto walk and recover!] when needed. [Grey]. There is a Save Point in this area. Always head here to rest as it restores your HP! Cadets of Garden all lives in Dormitory. Your dormitory is on the left.

______________ | | | | | "S" is your dormitory. | |__| S |__| SP stands for Save Point. |_ ____|_ ___| | SP| | |

[2] Parking Lot:
The place where you parked the vehicles [Yellow]. You will always head there where you are on a mission. No significant purpose in the game. Gee.. this place is only use once for the entire game!

[3] Training Center:
It's a huge jungle with huge rocks and pipes. The first time that you have entered, you will find two gates. There is a Save Point found here. [Green]. There is also a Draw Point found here. [Blizzard], it is somewhere near the ledge.

  N                                   L e g e n d
W-|-E       _X____________            SP    Save Point 
  S        |   SP xxxxx   |==\\       DP    Draw Point
          /     xxxxx  DP   / \\      xxx   Grasslands/Rocks
         /     /xxxxxxxxx|    ||      ||    bridge
        /      |xxxxxxxxx|  /--/      /--/  Metal walkway
        |      |xxxxxxxxx| /--/    [GG|GG]  Gates
         \     \xxxxxxxxx//--/        X     The "forbidden" Area
          [GG|GG]       [GG|GG]

[4] Library:
The place for bookworms and to do your research. There is a Draw Point located in between the bookshelves. You have to walk towards the picture in order to uncover the draw point [Esuna]. You will find Occult Fan I in one of bookshelves.. (get your clue from the two students and the study area. [Blue]

N __________________ L e g e n d W-|-E | XX| DP|XX| \_\ XX Shelves S | XX| |*X| |_| DP Draw Point _____ |_| |_| desks |_____\ X|_____/_/ * Occult Fan I

[5] Central Gate:
The entrance of SeeD school. It does not lead to World Map directly! A Draw Point is found near the fountain [Cure]. [Dark Blue]. To get IN and OUT pay attention to the admission gates!

|R | | Legend |__|_||_||_|__| R Receptionist | \ []==[] Framework of Balamb | | |--| Stairs | []=========[]| FFF Fountain | |----|----| | DP Draw Point | |----|----| | |/ \| Gate | | Q Quistis Trepe | FFF | | DP | \ / \__|/ \|__/ Q

[6] Infirmary:
The place where you will find the doctor and the room where sick/injured people were attended by Dr. Kadowaki. [Purple]. You can always find Dr. Kadowaki there.

[7] Quad:
This is like a gathering area for students of Balamb Garden. There is a stage there which is meant for the Garden Festival Committee. [Pink].

[8] Cafeteria:
The canteen of Garden. [Red] You will meet Seifer and his pals. [Fuujin and Raijin], the first time you have been to there. The hotdogs found here irresistible...

[E] Elevator:
This will allow Squall to head for the second floor, where you will find the classroom. You can also access the Tutorial menu from Balamb Garden Student Network.

[L] Lobby:
The place where you can find the Directory of Balamb Garden. At the beginning of the game, there is a Save point near it. Press X to view the map. You will always held gatherings with important meetings with the headmaster, instructors etc. Save Points have also changed its designs from FF7. To save your game, just proceed to the Save Point. Tired of walking? Here is the trick (applies for Disc 1 only). Just simply examine the Directory (or map) and you will find a hand cursor. Point to the locations that you wished to go..

Now just head for the Central Gate. Refer to the [5] marked on the map. You will find gates [like when you board a train.] Just simply hold Forward at the red gate and Squall will knocked open the gate. You will find the area in front of Garden... Head for the section that is marked Q on the map. You will find a lady dressed in orange, she is no other than your instructor, Quistis Trepe. You will have a Tutorial about Junctioning GF to your characters. (That's something new. I guess the reason why Square did not add Tutorials for Japanese version because the instructions are in Japanese) Well.. if you want to know more, check the Tutorial.

Getting Started

Part I
1.1 "Squall's Renzokuken"
When Squall's HP is low (you will see that his stats are colored (red or yellow). Tap Circle repeatedly and you will see a tiny blinking triangle on the right. Press Right and you will see this word "Renzokuken". Press X to select it and Squall will use his basic Limit Break. You will next see boxes.. for you trigger. Press R1 to inflict more damage. Occasionally you will see Squall using finishing moves like Rough Divide.

1.2 "Quistis Blue Magic"
Quistis is one of the best characters for her skills works like the Enemy Skill Materia in FF7. However the learning method is different. Instead you need to look for items known as "Blue Magic Items" You can get one from the Caterchipillar [Ultra Waves learned by using the item, "Spider Web"] There are a lot of items. I will use the following sign (like one below) to remind you guys:

(Blue Magic: Ultra Waves): Getting Spider Web by defeating the Caterchipillar. You can get this by stealing or defeating it. (steal will avaliable after you have gotten Mug Ability)

1.3 "Stocking of Magic"
How to junction commands? Refer to Section 2.2 for more details. Junction the "Draw" Command. Now enter a battle and select Draw from the command. Let's say you decide to draw from the Bite Bug (this diagram can be also found in Part II):

Drawing Failures- You will encounter this frequently for weak magic users like Quistis. The situation occurs when either one occurs:

- The monster is being killed and you have selected the Draw command
- A new powerful spell [e.g. Quake, Ultima, Full-Life, Demi]

To counter this situation there are a couple of methods.. here they are:

1. Increase the character's Mag stats through junctioning magic to Mag-J. The powerful and more your stock, the better the effect of the Junction [it is really crucial!, you can view a chart of it at Part II]

2. Use items like Mag Up to increase your characters Mag stats. It is rather difficult to find, therefore option one is still the best.

3. Have a strong magic user stock the magic for the weak magic user. This one looks good.. but it really make a difficult situation for you as later in the game.

Tip from Scott: So it is REALLY ADVISIBLE for you to stock up 100x kind of that spell as the higher the amount of spell and stronger the spell, the better the junction. How junction magic? Refer to Section 2.2 or have the Tutorial at the Fire Cavern.

1.4 GF Management
Learning Abilities- This is VERY important for you know. From the GF screen, you will be able to select your GF and choose the ability to learn. If the GF has Boost, choose to learn that skill first. To learn this you need to get AP (which I guess it stands for "Ability Points"). Boost is VERY important, refer to Part II for more details. [It makes whole lot difference when you play the game.)

Restore GF HP- Stupid me.. for knowing this only after getting the English Version. GF has auto-walk recover! They restore HP by walking on the field. It works like taking them for walk! To better effects, choose to sleep in the Dormitory or Hotels. Better still, use GF items like G-Potions.

Improve Compatibility- I would recommend you junction Shiva with Quistis and have her summon GF Shiva for every battle.. Summon GF frequently improves GF compatibility with that character. Compatibility is very important as it determines the speed of ATB of GF! You can get up 1000 compatibility.

1.5 World Map
You will encounter random monsters while walking on the World Map [unless you have equipped Enc-Nothing from GF Diablos]. Different Monsters nab you different EXP, AP and items. So it is your interest to meet them. AP allows GF to learn ability. EXP which stands "Experience Points" allows your character and GF to level up. Classficiation of Items will be discuss in detail in Part II

1.6 Magic Upgrades
Just like FF7 Materia.. as you level up the Materia level, you get an intermediate version of spell. For the case of FF8, as your character level up, you will be able to draw more powerful spells, like instead of Fire you can get Fira! I have marked "*" for this types of spells. Spells appears in brackets only appears for intermediate levels.

Level 1 ~ 20 - gets the primary spells.
Level 21 ~30 - gets you the secondary spells and the secondary class spells marked by "[ ]"
Level 31 ^ - gets you the most powerful spells and the spells are marked by "{ }". You also see conversions of spells. (final class)

Abbreviation of conversion- {Scan > Dispel} This results a change from Scan to Dispel in the final levels. Easy to understand huh? If not contact me.

You can find the subsequent Tutorial at the Fire Cavern Section.

Press Select to view the World Map. Press it again and you will be able to view the full size of the World Map. The Fire Cavern is just behind the forests located near Balamb. Encounter rate in forests is higher compared to grasslands.. It is quite safe to walk on the road.

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