========================================================================
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       88888        88888         8888  8888       88 88 888
       8888888      8888888        88888888        88 88 888
       88888        88888           888888         88 88 888
       88888        88888            8888          88 88 888
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========================================================================
                F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   V I I I
========================================================================
                Final Fantasy VIII (US. Version) Part I
                              Version 1.8
                             By Scott Ong
                 E-mail: kangning@mbox5.singnet.com.sg
                   http://members.xoom.com/scottong
World Map Source:     http://risland.virtualave.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ffviii_top

<<<< Disclaimer >>>> -please read it!-
This FAQ is meant for personal usage only. It cannot be altered and
it can only be reproduced in electronic form only. It cannot be 
published in magazines, articles and any other form of reproduction. 
The FAQ is not meant for sale. Any offenders will be severly dealt with
This FAQ is made by me, Scott Ong (kangning@mbox5.singnet.com.sg) 
Unpublished work of Scott Ong 1999-2000. If you want to use this FAQ for 
your website or webpage, please seek the author's permission and link it
to my site. You are allowed to print the FAQ out, but make sure that 
you did not sell it for cash! All my FAQs are not meant for sale! 
This is Part I of Final Fantasy VIII FAQ for the English version. Final 
Fantasy VIII Logo, characters are copyright of Squaresoft. If you want
to find information regarding item list, weapon list, monster list or
any other besitary data, please look up at Final Fantasy VIII FAQ Part
II which is available at GameFAQs.

<<< References >>>
Official Final Fantasy VIII Website - http://www.ff8.com
Official Squaresoft Website         - http://www.squaresoft.com

<<< Note to Webmasters >>>
If you want to use this FAQ for your site, make sure that you keep on
checking GameFAQs for latest revisions. Otherwise, I will have to answer
questions that already answered in the latest editions.
 ___
/ I \___________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revision History                                              ffviii_001
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     -[1.0]- . First appearance of FAQ.
             . Added completed Disc 1 Walkthrough
             . Completed Tutorial Guide

     -[1.1]- . Added partially completed Disc 2 Walkthrough, make 
               spelling corrections for Disc 1 walkthrough.

     -[1.2]- . Completed Disc 2 Walkthrough, and more secrets 
               uncovered.
             . Added Chocobo Guide to FAQ.

     -[1.3]- . Completed Disc 3 Walkthrough, major expansion.
             . More items than you could ever expect!
             . Added Ultimate Weapons Upgrading Guide
             . Added Obel Lake Mystery along with all sub quests.
             . Enhanced Zell's Love Quest.
             . Added getting Full marks for Dollet Quest

     -[1.4]- . Completed Disc 4 Walkthrough

     -[1.5]- . Edit the Disclaimer 
             . Make a couple of corrections to most parts of the FAQ.
             . Added the Shumi Side Quest Part II
             . Added corrections to Zell's Love Quest
             . Added the second method for Deep Sea Deposit Quest
             . Added to get Ward in Laguna's Dream Sequence #4

     -[1.6]- . Added a method to get Ammo in FH [before concert]
             . Corrected some of the errors.
             . Added an improved method in finding Piet.

     -[1.7]- . Made corrections on Missing Vase Pieces Quest.
             . Added information regarding Watts as a disguise in Timber
             . Added frequently asked questions section.
             . Corrected some errors.

     -[1.8]- . Added Frequently Asked Question section
             . Added the answer for the third hint for the Obel Lake 
               Mystery
             . Added advance Search Mode help!
             . Correct most typos and grammatical errors.
             . Added Rumours section and also my point of view regarding
               to that.
             . Added some miscellaneous information regarding PC 
               version

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where to obtain the latest version of the FAQs?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The latest versions of FAQ can be found in following locations:
GameFAQs                http://www.gamefaqs.com
Scott's FAQ Page        http://members.xoom.com/scottong
Cheat Code Central      http://www.cheatcc.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you intend to place the FAQ on your site, please kindly make an 
effort to get its latest versions from GameFAQs.
 ____
/ II \__________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note                                                 ffviii_002
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, it has been a long time since I have made an update for the FAQ.
Even though the FAQ is already completed, there are still errors that
required me to correct it. 

What's has been added to the FAQ?
- Frequently Asked Questions --> Well, for the past few months since
  FF8 has been released, I have received countless e-mails regarding 
  this game and I have decided to compile them. Otherwise, I will be
  repeated those answers over and over again. Of course, once I have  
  added the list of questions, I will not be answering them anymore.
  BTW, if you have any problems regarding weapon upgrading, please
  refer to the ultimate weapon upgrading guide.

- The third hint of Obel Lake Mystery --> thanks to one helpful 
  contributor who has told me about this third hint [well, can't expect
  that it is actually a joke...]. Refer to Obel Lake Mystery Section
  for more details.

- Search Mode --> A lot of FAQ readers have complained to me that the 
  FAQ being too long as it takes ages to search for the information that 
  you need. I have finally found a method, which is being obtained from 
  Dingo Jellybean's FF7 FAQ but I have made some improvements to it. All 
  you just need to do the following: (Note: there are actually people 
  who tends to overlook this capability of WordPad and I myself is also 
  one of them ^_^;)

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Method 1:
  From the toolbar, select Edit and choose Find. Enter the keyword.

  Method 2:
  Use the short-cut key Ctrl+F and you will see the Search Box popped
  up. Enter the keyword that you want to look for. 

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  But sometimes the keyword does not reached your desired destination,
  hence I have come up with a good idea and that's to add codes to the
  right side of the contents page. Just enter the following keyword:

  ffviii_xxx 

  where xxx stands for the 3-digit code for the section. The list of 
  code numbers can be found at the Table of Contents. But remember that
  you must enter the "ffviii_" in order for it to work, or you will 
  find that you will end up at other pages instead! 

- Note to all webmasters. If you want to post the FAQ on your site, make
  sure that you keep update and get the latest versions. I will always 
  sent my FAQs to GameFAQs. I will definitely not permit anyone else to 
  edit my FAQs. No HTMLizing for my FAQs. Final Fantasy: Worlds Apart
  (http://www.ffnet.net) is an exception.

- Strangely enough, I have received e-mails regarding whether I am doing
  a FAQ for Final Fantasy IX. I am about 75% sure that I will NOT be 
  writing a FAQ for it due to several personal reasons. Anyway, I guess
  someone else will write a FAQ for that game. [But this means that you 
  can be ensured that there will be FAQs for Final Fantasy IX.] 

- I have corrected most of grammatical errors as being requested by 
  viewers. Thanks to them, otherwise I will not known the seriousness of
  the problems. I will try my best to correct errors for my other FAQs 
  once I have time. 

- I hoped that this may be the final update for this FAQ. BTW, I am no
  longer accepting strategies and questions regarding this FAQ. ALL the 
  stuffs that I know about FF8 can be found in this FAQ and Part II. If
  you have any recommendations, complaints, secrets regarding this game,
  and just e-mail to me and I will try my best to solve it.

- I am quite sorry for not answering any e-mails after my March 
  vacation as I have been rather busy with my assignments, projects
  and examinations. You should get your reply shortly. BTW, there will 
  be no reply for those who do not add "FF8" or "Final Fantasy VIII" as 
  I have deleted the e-mails that does not have this as a subject. [
  except for those that contains other game headings]

- BTW, if you intend to place this FAQ on your site, you are free to do
  so as long as the FAQ remained intact and make sure you make an effort
  to get the latest revisions of my FAQs. Don't bother to e-mail on 
  requests on place the FAQ on your site. [applies to only my FF8 FAQs]

                                                             [Scott Ong]
 _____
/ III \_________________________________________________________________
========================================================================
Table of Contents                                             ffviii_003
========================================================================
                                                                   Code
     Start of the FAQ -Disclaimer                                  top
I    Revision History                                              001
II   Author's Note                                                 002
III  Table of Contents                                             003
IV   Frequently Asked Questions [Game play]                        004
1.   Introduction - Story of Final Fantasy VIII                    005
     [1.1]  Introduction and Final Fantasy VIII Data.
     [1.2]  Characters of Final Fantasy VIII
     [1.3]  Changes between Japanese and English version
2.   Basic Tutorial                                                006
     [2.1]  The Basics
     [2.2]  Playing the Game                           
     [2.3]  Basic Configuration
3.   Walkthrough for Disc 1       
     [3.1]  Familizing yourself with Balamb Garden                 007
     [3.2]  Fire Cavern - The Field Test                           008
     [3.3]  Dollet Dukedom Parliament                              009
     [3.4]  The Night at Balamb Garden                             010
     [3.5]  The Train Trip - Mystery and Murder                    011
     [3.6]  The Sorceress at Timber...                             012
     [3.7]  Laguna's Dream Sequence #2 - Centra Evacuation Site    013
     [3.8]  Galbadia Garden                                        014
     [3.9]  Quest at the Tomb of Unknown King                      015
     [3.10] Assassination Plan                                     016
4.   Walkthrough for Disc 2
     [4.1]  Winhill- Laguna's still alive!                         017
     [4.2]  Held Captive                                           018
     [4.3]  Galbadia Missile Base- Prevent the Launch!             019
     [4.4]  Balamb Garden - War between Garden and SeeD Academy..  020
     [4.5]  Arrival at Fisherman's Horizons                        021
     [4.6]  World Tour for Disc 2                                  wt2
            4.6a   Card Quest at Balamb Garden                     022
            4.6b   Zell's Love Quest                               023
            4.6c   Deling: Still as busy as a bee                  024
            4.6d   Dollet: It has become a busy town!              025
            4.6e   Timber: A mysterious journey...                 026
            4.6f   Winhill: Still as quiet as ever...              027
            4.6g   Shumi Village                                   028
            4.6h   Centra Ruins                                    029
            4.6i   Chocobo Guide                                   030
     [4.7]  Balamb under Galbadian Occupation                      031
     [4.8]  Trabia - Childhood Memories at the Orphanage           032
     [4.9]  The Garden Crash                                       033
5.   Walkthrough for Disc 3           
     [5.1]  Edea's House - Truth Revealed!                         034
     [5.2]  Trabia Canyon - Laguan's 4th Dream Sequence            035
     [5.3]  White SeeD Ship - Trip to Legendary Esthar             036
     [5.4]  Great Salt Lake - The Gateway to the Legendary Esthar  037
            City
     [5.5]  Laguna's 5th Dream Sequence - At Esthar                038
     [5.6]  Esthar City - Seeking Treatment at Lunar Base          039
     [5.7]  Esthar Under Lunatic Pandora Attack!                   040
     [5.8]  Lunar Base - The Lunar Cry Incident                    041
     [5.9]  Sorceress Memorial Hall - Rescue Rinoa!                042
    [5.10]  The Great World Tour for Disc 3                        wt3
            5.10a   Lunar Base Crash Area                          043
            5.10b   Obel Lake Mystery                              044
            5.10c   UFO Sighting Incident                          045
            5.10d   Ultimate Weapon Upgrading                      046
            5.10c   Cactaur's Island                               047
            5.10d   Centra Ruins Revisited                         048
            5.10e   Deep Sea Research Center                       049
            5.10f   Deep Sea Deposit                               050
            5.10g   Shumi Village - Laguna's statue completion.    051
    [5.11]  Esthar Revisited - Meeting President of Esthar         052
    [5.12]  Final Showdown at Lunatic Pandora                      053
6.  Walkthrough for Disc 4
    [6.1]  The awakening of the Sorceress                          054
    [6.2]  The Last Quest                                          055
    [6.3]  Ultimecia's Castle - The Sealed Truth                   056
    [6.4]  The Battle of Destiny                                   057
7.  Contact the Author                                             058
8.  Rumours                                                        059
9.  Credits                                                        060
    End of FAQ                                                     end
========================================================================
 ____
/ IV \__________________________________________________________________
========================================================================
Frequently Asked Questions [Game play]                        ffviii_004
========================================================================
For this section, you will find all those frequently asked questions and
the key events of the game. Note that these are the questions, which I
will not reply anymore. BTW, if you have problems regarding BOSS fight,
please check out Part II for the guides that you need.

Last Updated: 04/05/2000

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.   How do you junction commands?
A:   You can ONLY junction commands (such as Magic, Item, Draw, etc.) 
     and abilities (Mag-J, Str-J, Str+20%, SumMag +20%, Counter, Cover, 
     etc) if you have a GF equipped for the characters. To equip a GF,
     select the character and Junction from the main menu. Next pick a
     GF and you will be able to equip the command! You can more help 
     from the Tutorial Menu in the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.   How many GFs are there?
A:   There are a total of 16 GFs [GFs with abilities] and the 
     miscellaneous GFs. I have include the list and the brief method on 
     getting them. 

     The sixteen Guardian Forces
     -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Name             Method           Location/ Conditions        Disc
     -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Quezacotl        Access           Balamb Garden Network,       1~3
                                       Balamb Garden 2F 
                                       Classroom, Squall's desk

     Shiva            Access           Balamb Garden Network,       1~3
                                       Balamb Garden 2F
                                       Classroom, Squall's desk

     Ifrit            Defeat it        Fire Cavern                  1

     Siren            Draw             Dollet Communication         1
                                       Towers, BOSS: Elvoret

     Brothers         Defeat it        Tomb of Unknown King         1~4

     Diablos          Defeat it        Magicial Lamp - gain         1~4
                                       from Cid before SeeD
                                       mission. Use it.

     Carbuncle        Draw             President's Residence,       1
                                       Deling City, BOSS:
                                       Iguion

     Leviathan        Draw             Balamb Garden Basement,      2
                                       BOSS: NORG

     Pandemona        Draw             Balamb Town, BOSS:           2
                                       Fujin

     Cerberus         Defeat it        Galbadia Garden, Main Hall   2

     Alexander        Draw             Galbadia Garden,             2 
                                       Auditorium, BOSS: Edea      

     Doomtrain        Access           Solomon's Ring found at      3~4
                                       Tear's Point. Get 6x   
                                       Malboro's Tentacle, 6x
                                       Steel Pipe and 6x Remedy+

     Bahamut          Defeat it        Deep Sea Research Center,    3~4
                                       Must have Ragnarok airship.

     Cactuar          Defeat it        Cactuar's Island             3~4
                                       Must have Ragnarok airship.

     Tonberry         Defeat it        Centra Ruins, defeat 20      3~4
                                       Tonberries and King 
                                       Tonberry. Must get Odin
                                      
     Eden             Draw             Deep Sea Deposit, BOSS:      3~4
                                       Ultima Weapon. Must get
                                       Bahamut.
                                       Must have Ragnarok airship

     -------------------------------------------------------------------

     Miscellaneous GFs
     -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Name             Method           Location                    Disc
     -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Chicobo          Item             Summon Mother Chocobo.      2~4
                      (Gyshal Greens)  Use item, Gysahl Greens to
                                       summon it. Gysahl Greens 
                                       can brought from Chocoboy
                                       at Chocobo Forests.

     Moomba           Item             Get Friendship item using   2~4
                      (Friendship)     Pocketstation.

     Ko-Mogri         Command          Get Mog's Amulet using      2~4
                      (Mog's Amulet)   Pocketstation. Use the 
                                       item on one of the 16
                                       GFs. Use command to summon
                                       it.

     Phoenix          Item             Get it by solving puzzles   2~4
                      (Phoenix         at Shumi Village or 
                      Pinion)          WinHill. Get it by 
                                       refining 3x Mega Phoenix 
                                       --> 1x Phoenix Pinion via
                                       Siren's Tool-RF. 

     Odin             Battle           Defeat it at Centra Ruins.  2~4
                      (based on        It will appear randomly at
                      Luck and no.     beginning of the battle. 
                      of Death 
                      Spirit items)

     Gilgamesh        Battle           Defeat Seifer with Odin     3
                                       acquired. Note: Odin will
                                       be lost.

     -------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.   I had forgotten to draw a GF! Are there any other methods to get it?
A:   YES! You can get the GF by drawing it from the BOSSES found in the
     Ultimecia's Castle. Refer to Disc 4 walkthrough for more 
     information. I did not include in the walkthrough as this will
     help to avoid spoilers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.   I had sold the Magicial Lamp! Is there a method to get it later in
     game?
A:   Unfortunately no. In fact, that's the only Magicial Lamp you can 
     get from playing the game. You can get more Magicial Lamps as you
     can get it from the Pocketstation. [Refer to Pocketstation guides
     that found in GameFAQs. Note that I don't own a Pocketstation.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.   What is the purpose of SeeD tests?
A:   Note for all new players, you can only get cash through your SeeD
     salary. You will get your salary, once Squall has become an 
     official SeeD member after Dollet's test at Disc 1. The SeeD level
     will change if you do any of following:

     SeeD Test
     -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Method                                                Effect
     -------------------------------------------------------------------

     Answering SeeD tests with correct answers. Access     Increase 
     SeeD test from Tutorial menu --> TEST menu.           SeeD level.

     Continue with the story of the game                   Increase
                                                           SeeD level.
  
     Finish Train sequence in Disc 1 upon first try        SeeD level
                                                           +1

     Walking around the world map, field terrains without  Decrease
     doing anything.                                       SeeD level

     -------------------------------------------------------------------

     SeeD levels do not increase every time. In fact, it increases
     based on the number of steps that Squall walk on the terrains. 
     Hence, do not try to not overdo it as it will decrease your SeeD 
     level.

     The higher SeeD level, the more cash [in gil] that you will
     receive each time. For the test answers, refer to the walkthrough
     for disc 1.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.   I have seen a UFO moving around in a random battle and nothing 
     happens..  What was that?
A:   It is the UFO Sighting Incident. There are four sighting spots
     which is being marked on the world map found at 
     <http://risland.virtualave.net>. Just go there with Diablo's 
     Enc-None and move around to have a random battle. For more
     details, refer to the World Tour under the Disc 3 Walkthrough.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.   Why I can't convert 100x Curse Spikes into Dark Matter through GF
     Siren's Tool-RF, in order learn Quistis' last Limit Break, 
     Shockwave Pulsar?
A:   In order to do that, GF Siren must reach LV 100. Otherwise, you 
     will not be able to do the refinement. As for the help in getting
     Curse Spikes, you need to defeat the Imp, Forbidden or Malboro.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.   Is it true that you can't have both items obtained from stealing
     and defeat monsters?
A:   Yes. You can get only get one of the items. For example, let's 
     says you encountered a battle with 2x Adamantoises, you defeat 
     them without any characters using the Mug command. You will get 
     the item won from battle, such as Adamantine, Whisper, Orichalons 
     based on Squall's level.
     If you mug any of the Adamantoises, you will DEFINATELY NOT get 
     Adamantine [which can only be obtained by defeating both 
     Adamantoises]. Instead, you will get other items such as Whispers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.   How do I get Squall's ultimate weapon and Limit Break, Lion Heart?
A:   To get Squall's ultimate weapon, you must have the following
     items:
     1x    Adamantine
     3x    Dragon Fang
     12x   Pulse Ammo

     << Recommended Methods >> - these are the easiest methods
     Adamantine - you can get this by defeat Adamantoises found shores 
     of Dollet, Long Horn Island [to find the location of Long Horn 
     Island, view the world map at http://risland.virtualave.net].

     Dragon Fang - head towards Trabia area where you find the Shumi 
     Village. Note that from the world map's point of view, you will
     find a row of mountains behind the village. Just walk closely 
     against mountains and you will encounter Blue Dragons. Defeat it
     to get Dragon Fang.

     Pulse Ammo - you need to get Energy Crystal. Get 20x Elynole's card
     via card playing and you can convert them into 2x Energy Crystals
     through Quezacotl's Card-Mod RF. Next convert the energy crystals 
     through Ifrit's Ammo-RF. You will get 20x Pulse Ammo. 

     Now go to any of the junk shops found in the game and pay 2000 gil 
     to remodel Squall's gunblade into Lion Heart. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.  Where are the Islands closest to Heaven / Hell?
A:   It is kind of difficult to explain using words. You can get find the
     locations of them at <http://risland.virtualave.net/map.html>. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
11.  I can't locate the Deep Sea Research Center! Where can I find it?
A:   To locate the Deep Sea Research Center, you need the Ragnarok 
     airship. Pilot the airship to the extreme low-left corner of the 
     world map. 

     Move the Ragnarok low by press Down button. When you move the 
     Ragnarok, you see water splashing... Next navigate around that 
     corner and you should find the Deep Sea Research Center. If you 
     have any problems, get the world map mentioned in the above URL.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
12.  Why is there a screen showing "censored" when I used the Devour
     Command? 
A:   It was just like that! ^_^;
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
13.  Question on Card Games
A:   Well, it consists of a huge portion of my e-mails. Here is a 
     section for it:

     Rare Cards - it is true that there is only one version of rare
     cards, not after time compression has occurred. To get back the
     lost rare cards, you need to defeat the CC Group Members at 
     Ragnarok airship in Disc 4. (provided that you have defeat them 
     in Disc 2.). You can get them back even after you have refined the
     card using Quezacotl's Card-Mod.
   
     Card Queen - the Card Queen is really tough as she changes the
     card rules and moves from areas to areas, which made her an 
     extremely tough opponent. If you need more help, get FF8 FAQ
     Part II at http://www.gamefaqs.com and refer to the Card Queen's
     Side Quest.

     Obtaining cards - besides getting it by winning the card game, 
     you can also get cards by defeating enemies or using the card 
     command to convert dying enemies into cards [does not work on
     BOSS and human beings]

     Card Rules - It will be very difficult to explain the rules in
     a few sentences, hence there is a need to read the Card section
     of FF8 FAQ Part II.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
14.  Tough Battles - answers found at my Monsters FAQ @ GameFAQs
A:   It seems that a lot of people are having trouble regarding combat
     in FF8. There are a few reasons for the toughness and one of them 
     is that monsters levelling up as your character does. There are 
     few methods to be stronger than your enemy:
     The hints are:
     - by remodelling the characters' weapons 
     - get stronger spells via item refining. 
     You can get a lot of rare items via cards. This means if you want 
     an easy life in the game, play cards often!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
15.  Can I get into the cities during Disc 4?
A:   There is no way that you can get into the cities in Disc 4. Those
     barriers do not allow you to make contact with the city. I know
     the following question will definitely pop up if this happens...
     * how do I remodel my weapons? - you can remodel your weapons by 
       using GF Tonberry's Call Shop or Call Item Shop menu ability via
       the Ability menu. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
16.  I have sold the Magicial Lamp. Is there any other way to get it?
A:   Finally found the answers for this... You can't draw Diablos from
     any of the bosses [bosses at Lunatic Pandora and Boss Sphinxaur in 
     Ultimecia's Castle]. Once you sold it, you got to reset if you 
     don't own a Pocketstation or Gameshark. It is still possible to 
     complete the game without GF Diablos, but it will definitely be 
     tougher.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
17.  Where are weapon monthly magazines?
A:   You don't need these items as it is compulsory to remodel your 
     characters' weapon. In fact, the weapon's name will appear in the 
     Junk Shop's menu once you have obtained its requirements. Here is a 
     short list of weapon magazines:

     Weapon Monthly March  - you will get this by defeating Elvoret at
                             Dollet's Communication Tower in Disc 1.
     Weapon Monthly April  - you will get this from Squall's desk after
                             completing the sequence in Training 
                             Center. (after the ball dance)
     Weapon Monthly May    - you can find this in the sewers while 
                             controlling Rinoa. Refer to walkthrough for
                             more information.
     Weapon Monthly June   - defeat BGHZ51F2 at Missile Base
     Weapon Monthly July   - found it in Balamb Garden's Training Center
                             after Disc 2.
     Weapon Monthly August - found it near the Gargoyle in Trabia 
                             Garden.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.  Why I can't get the second vase piece (found at the statue) in 
     Winhill?
A:   Well, this is really my error and thanks to those whom have help me
     in solving this and that is you really need to have Irvine in your 
     party. I guess it was perhaps due to the itching hands of 
     Irvine ^_^;) Remember the time when he messes up the guns in Zell's
     room [for those whom have Irvine in your party]
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
19.  Where can I locate the Tomb of Unknown King?
A:   It seems that this type of question is one of hardiest for me to
     answer. Imagine explaining the location using words. It was 
     actually located on a peninsula, which is northeast from Deling. The
     tomb is quite small in size and if you still have the problem, get
     the world map found at <http://risland.virtualave.net>.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.  How do I use the character's Limit Breaks?
A:   First of all, your characters need to get to "Crisis" conditions. 
     It will be fulfilled when:
     - the character's HP turns red/yellow
     - Aura is being cast on the character

     Next to use the Limit Break, just tap Circle button (menu button)
     and you will eventually see a golden triangle on the right side of
     "Attack" or "Mug". Press right and you will be able to execute the
     Limit Break.

     General Tip on getting Aura.
     Aura is a magic that allows your character to get Limit Breaks
     easily. To get Aura magic, you need to get Fury Fragments which 
     can be mugged from Blue Dragon found at the mountains near Shumi
     Village. [you don't need to stand on the mountain, just go near 
     it]. Next just convert the Fury Fragment into 5x Aura magic 
     through Leviathan's Supt Mag-RF
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things can't be done without a gameshark/pocketstation:
- Get Apocalypse magic before the fight against True form of Ultemicia.
- Get another Magical Lamp besides the one you get it from Cid.
- Get Ribbon/Mog's Amulet/Friendship item.
- Rare GF Abilities such as Supt Mag-RF, Discount, Awarness, etc.

Things that never can be done...
- Enter towns in Disc 4
- Find the gateways to the chain road in front of Ultemicia before Disc
  4.
- Find the white SeeD Ship after come back from space visit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, let's proceed onto this epic RPG journey..
 _____
/ 1.0 \_________________________________________________________________
========================================================================
Introduction - Story of Final Fantasy VIII                    ffviii_005
========================================================================

My personal review of FF8
--------------------------
Well before I begin the speech.. I have 5 words to say "Final Fantasy
VIII is great!". Indeed it is great.. for those whom can stand long
time training, I guess your opinion will be different. As I gotten my
US copy on the 10th of September, I was very eager to play and the game
was simply a fantastic piece of work. As you guys know that I have 
replay this game more than 10 times for Japanese version, I have managed
to did it for the NA version. The only key in completing the game, is
your determination in stocking of spells, training and best of all, 
attention. The script of FF8 is really exciting and a couple of humorous
jokes from characters. It also shows the development of characters in
the game. The Junction System is easy to learn for NA version as there
are online tutorials about it! The draw system seems a bit tiring but it
is worth the try. There are also a couple of things that I did not try 
out in the Japanese version, such as getting Occult Fan III and Occult
Fan IV, the bone quest at Dollet, recovering lost GFs, Zell's love quest,
Obel Lake's Mystery at Morded Plains, Chocobo Forest Quests and much 
more. Here are the ratings of the categories:

Storyline: 9 /10 - it is really great! 
Graphics: 7.5/10 - the graphics is not too nicely rendered unlike those
                   PC screenshots as compared to the PSX screenshots.
Music 7.5/10 - the soundtrack is nice and fantastic. Especially, Faye 
               Wong's Eyes on Me!
Game Play 7/10 - the Junction system is really good, if you managed to
                 understand. There are sub quests such as the card game,
                 chocobo forests, UFO.... more than 10 hours of leisure.
                 For those whom own the Pocketstation, you can get to
                 enjoy the Chocobo World sub quest..
Overall: 8.0 /10 - it really deserves it...
Learning Curve: Medium - quite hard.. Otherwise, I don't have to come up
                with such a long FAQ...
 _____
/ 1.1 \_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi folks, Final Fantasy VIII US version is finally out! The long eagerly
awaited FF8 has finally arrived and we die-hard RPG fans can enjoy this
epic RPG! It has been about 2 years since the release of Final Fantasy
VII.(well, 7 months for those whom have brought the Japanese version) 
Here is the story of Final Fantasy VIII:

A member of the Elite mercenary Squall is forced into the conflict 
beyond imagination. To survive, he must contend with a desperate rival, 
a powerful sorceress, and his own mysterious dreams.

> Realistic detail characters and background enhanced by a breathtaking
  musical score.
> An epic story based on the theme of love, set in a massive new world.
> New Junction System allows characters to be customized with powerful
  magic spells drawn from enemies.
> Nearly an hour of stunning motion-captured CG cinemas seamlessly 
  integrated into the game play.
 ______________________________________________________________________
/                                                                      \
|--------------------<<< Final Fantasy VIII Data >>>-------------------|
|                                                                      |
|Genre:                      Role-Playing (RPG)                        |
|Memory blocks requirement:  1 ~ 15 blocks                             |
|Company:                    Squaresoft                                |
|                            Square Electronic Arts. L.C.C             |
|Release Date:               9th of September 1999                     |
|Discs:                      4                                         |
|Support:                    Analog Control Compatible                 |
|                            Vibration Function Compatible             |
|Age Group:                  Teen                                      |
|                            - Animated Violence                       |
|                            - Mild Language                           |
|                            - Suggestive Themes                       |
|                                                                      |
|-----------------F i n a l   F a n t a s y   V I I I------------------|
\_____________________________________________________________________/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
PC Version of FF8
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some information on the PC version of FF8.

Minimum system requirement:
Window 95/98 Compatible System
Intel or 100% Compatible CPU
Pentium 200 [Pentium II 266 recommended]
32MB RAM [64MB recommended]
8MB 3D Accelerator Graphics Card [16MB recommended]
8x CD-ROM
Direct 6.1 [Included]
DirectSound and DirectMusic compatible sound card

Thanks to my readers:
Note that the PC version contains the "Choco World" Pocketstation 
sub-game. It contains about 5 discs (hopefully, my memory isn't that 
bad.) One is for installing the game and the remaining 4 discs are 
gaming discs. 

Note:
I myself does not owned the FF8 PC game. The above information is 
gathered from Final Fantasy: Worlds Apart (http://www.ffnet.net). The 
gameplay regarding the PC version is the same but there are several
minor differences compared to the FF8 for PSX. Hence, don't ask me any
questions regarding FF8 for PC.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 _____
/ 1.2 \_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Characters of Final Fantasy VIII
------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are the characters who will depart on your strange adventure...
Well.. here is the character bestiary. I have also added the characters'
Limit Break and Initial Weapon equipment info.

                        List of Character Bestiary
 ______________________________________________________________________
/----------------------------------------------------------------------\
|         Main Party               |           Dream Party             |
|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|1.2.1             Squall Leonhart | 1.2.7                Laguna Loire |
|1.2.2             Rinoa Heartilly | 1.2.8                 Ward Zaback |
|1.2.3                 Zell Dincht | 1.2.9                Kiros Seagul |
|1.2.4              Irvine Kinneas |                                   |
|1.2.5             Selphie Tilmitt |                                   |
|1.2.6               Quistis Trepe |                                   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                Others                                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|1.2.10             Sorceress Edea |1.2.11               Seifer Almasy |        
|1.2.12                     Fujin  |1.2.13                      Raijin |
|1.2.14                 Cid Kramer |1.2.15                      Ellone |
|__________________________________|___________________________________|
\______________________________________________________________________/

                         M A I N   P A R T Y 
 _______
/ 1.2.1 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S q u a l l    L e o n h a r t
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            17
Sex:            Male
Height:         5'10" [177 cm]
Birthdate:      August 23
Blood Type:     AB
Weapon:         Gunblade
Limit Break:    Renzoukuken
Initial Weapon: Revolver
Occupation:     SeeD Mercenary (Balamb)
Description:    The story's hero unsociable and expressionless. The hero
                of the game, a cadet in the SeeD Special Forces attached 
                to Balamb Garden. Antisocial and stone-faced. Besides 
                his aloof personality, he is very self centred and a 
                person who hates influenced deeply by strangers. 
 _______
/ 1.2.2 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
R i n o a    H e a r t i l l y
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            17
Sex:            Female
Height:         5'4" [163 cm]
Birthdate:      March 3rd 
Weapon:         Blaster Edge
Limit Break:    Combine
Initial Weapon: Pinwheel
Occupation:     Princess of "The Forest Owls"
Description:    A beautiful and enigmatic woman, kind-hearted and 
                driven to succeed. A cheerful girl who possesses a 
                "mood-making" liveliness and gentleness that touches 
                people without discrimination. She's honest about her 
                feelings and readily speaks what she thinks. However, 
                in time, she ends up becoming warped... By the way, 
                Rinoa has a pet dog called Angelo.
 _______
/ 1.2.3 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Z e l l     D i n c h t
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            17
Sex:            Male
Height:         5'6" [167cm]
Birthdate:      March 17th
Blood Type:     B
Weapon:         Glove
Limit Break:    Duel
Initial Weapon: Metal Knuckle
Occupation:     SeeD Mercenary (Balamb)
Description:    A master of comprehensive wrestling skills whom was 
                admitted to the Garden. He has entered the Garden when 
                he was only 13 years old out of admiration of his 
                grandfather, who was an excellent soldier. He is the 
                type who does everything with enthusiasm, but the 
                reason is his weak point. However, at heart he is 
                gentle and has a serious personality.
 _______
/ 1.2.4 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I r v i n e    K i n n e a s
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            18
Sex:            Male
Height:         6'0" [185cm]
Birthdate:      November 24th
Blood Type:     O
Weapon:         Shotgun
Limit Break:    Shot
Initial Weapon: Variant
Occupation:     SeeD Mercenary (Galbadia)
Description:    A young man, well-liked by women who's strongest point 
                is his marksmanship. A cadet at the Galbadia Garden, he 
                self-styles himself as the "No. 1 gunslinger in the 
                Garden" His shooting arm seems sure and he is the girls' 
                favourite because he is full of confidence. He seems 
                callous to simple men, but in truth, he is unexpectedly 
                sensitive and seems to have a serious personality.
 _______
/ 1.2.5 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S e l p h i e    T i l m i t t
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            17
Sex:            Female
Height:         5'1" [157cm]
Birthdate:      July 16
Blood Type:     B
Weapon:         Nunchaku
Limit Break:    Slots
Initial Weapon: Flail 
Occupation:     Trabia Cadet -> SeeD Mercenary (Balamb)
Description:    A naive girl with flightily nature and capable 
                character. A girl with skilled personality to the extent 
                that you can't believe that she's a student at the 
                military academy. Usually she has a carefree way of 
                speaking and is frequently disturbed by the pace of her 
                surroundings.
 _______
/ 1.2.6 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q u i s t i s    T r e p e
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            18
Sex:            Female
Height:         5'6" [172cm]
Birthdate:      October 4
Blood Type:     A
Weapon:         Whip
Limit Break:    Blue Magic
Initial Weapon: Chain Whip
Occupation:     Instructor -> SeeD Mercenary (Balamb)
Description:    An Elite who serves as Squall's advisor. She has joined
                SeeD at the age of 15 and is now the guidance counsellor
                of Squall and his friends. In opposition to her cool 
                spirit and strong facade, she gets depressed easily 
                about trivial matters since she is unused to setbacks.


                          D R E A M    P A R T Y
 _______
/ 1.2.7 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
L a g u n a   L o i r e
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            27
Sex:            Male
Height:         5'11" [181 cm]
Birthdate:      January 3rd
Blood Type:     B
Weapon:         Machine Gun
Limit Break:    Desparado
Initial Weapon: Machine Gun
Occupation:     Soldier --> Journalist --> President of Esthar
Description:    A hot-blooded man who fights with a pen instead a sword.
                Kind out of compassion for humanity, he's a man full of
                courage who helps the faint-hearted and crushes the 
                arrogant. A journalist of military origins, he swapped
                his sword for a pen and fights boldly against the evils 
                of the world. 
 _______
/ 1.2.8 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
W a r d    Z a b a c k
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            25
Sex:            Male
Height:         217 cm
Birthdate:      February 25th
Blood Type:     A
Weapon:         Harpoon
Limit Break:    Massive Anchor
Initial Weapon: Harpoon
Occupation:     Soldier --> Janitor --> Minister of Esthar
Description:    Ex-Galbadian soldier. He is one of Laguna's best pals.
                You can only use him in battles during Laguna's Dream
                Sequences. Don't look down on him, as he looks huge 
                and scary. He has work as a janitor in the D-District
                Prison.. (funny guy huh?)
 _______
/ 1.2.9 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
K i r o s   S e a g u l
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            23
Sex:            Male
Height:         191 cm
Birthdate:      July 6th
Blood Type:     O
Weapons:        Daggers
Limit Break:    Blood Pain
Initial Weapon: Katal
Occupation:     Soldier --> Minister of Esthar
Description:    Ex-Galbadian soldier. He is one of Laguna's best pals.
                You can only use him in battles during Laguna's dream
                sequence. He is rather a helpful lad in Laguna's friend. 
                He is considered as Laguna's most concerning friend 
                where he consults Laguna for his failure in love with 
                a pianist called Julia Heartilly.


                               O T H E R S
 ________
/ 1.2.10 \______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S o r c e r e s s    E d e a 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edea, wife of Cid Kramer is the sorceress of the game. She possesses the
great power of magic and is consider the best user when comes to magic.
She is rather mysterious and secretive. As if she is final boss, you 
will find out soon.....

Limit Break: Ice Strike
Weapon:      Magic.
Occupation:  Matron --> Sorceress --> Matron 
 ________
/ 1.2.11 \______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S e i f e r    A l m a s y
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age:            18
Sex:            Male
Height:         6'1" (188 cm)
Birthdate:      December 22nd
Blood Type:     A
Weapon:         Gunblade
Limit Break:    Cross Sword >> No Mercy
Initial Weapon: Hyperion
Occupation:     Balamb Cadet -> Sorceress' Knight
Description:    A troublemaker who views Squall as his rival. A SeeD 
                cadet who is treated as a problem child because he 
                lacks composure and the ability to follow orders, even 
                though he has the disposition to excel. On the other 
                hand, he appreciates Squall's abilities highly and 
                adamantly considers him a rival. 
 ________
/ 1.2.12 \_____________________________________________________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
F u u j i n
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A groupie that usually mess around with Seifer and Raijin. She is 
really hot-tempered and no person whom you can mess with. Always kick
Raijin's ankle when Raijin say something wrong.. She has a strong 
affection with powerful of the Wind.

Weapon:     Shuriken
Elemental:  Wind
Occupation: Balamb Garden Discipline Committee
 ________
/ 1.2.13 \_____________________________________________________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
R a i j i n
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Although appearing huge and strong, this guy really has a brawn brain.
Always laugh if he find something funny and of course always get 
kicked by the fury Fujin. He has a strong affection with the powerful
of Thunder.

Weapon:     Pole
Elemental:  Thunder
Occupation: Balamb Garden Discipline Committee
 ________
/ 1.2.14 \____________________________________________________________
----------------------------------------------------------------------
C i d   K r a m e r
----------------------------------------------------------------------
An influential man and a person whom is meant for extremely long talks
He is the headmaster of Balamb Garden, Cid Kramer. As we know that Cid
is a character that appears in all Final Fantasies.. but this Cid is
not the battle-sort type. He has build up the Garden to produce 
training for the SeeD, the elite military mercenaries.

Weapon:      n/a
Occupation:  Headmaster of Balamb Garden
 ________
/ 1.2.15 \______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
E l l o n e
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Addressed Laguna Loire as "Uncle Laguna". Have been in close 
relationship with Laguna since young. Living in a Pub found in Winhill 
with a close friend called Raine. Have the powers to bring people back 
to the past.. Currently under the protection by the Sorceress' SeeD.

 _____
/ 1.3 \_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes between Japanese Version and English Version
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the changes that I have found after completing the game. There 
are rather a lot of changes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Control Configuration Changes
   Affects: All Discs
I was really frustrated when I keep on pressing Circle while there is
no response.. then I refer to my manual and I was really bluffed.. It 
is X that is the action button (p:). You can find new control 
configuration in the next section

------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Online-Tutorial
   Affects: Disc 1 only
Well, I guess Online Tutorials only last until Disc 1 ^_^;. You will be
given Tutorials about junctioning, Squall's Renzokuken, Zell's Duel,
Rinoa's Limit Breaks, Elemental Arts, Status Magic Junction, etc. It 
will be rather nice to pay attention to them.. if you are too lazy,
Section 2.0 should answer most of your questions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. New name inputs
   Affects: Disc 1 only
You can only change the names of these two characters.. Squall, Rinoa
and her dog Angelo. You will be allow to input the following letterings

- English (well, if you don't understand this, you won't be able to read
  the FAQ ^_^;)
- Symbols 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. New Icons..
   Affects: All Discs
This rather interesting.. Icons are used to represent elementals shown
by the Scan Analyse Screen and also there is a lot more changes in the
GF menu icons. For example, in the Japanese version, the icon for 
Junction Ability represented by "J" however it is represented by a 
"UP" for the US. Fortunately the icons for items remain unchanged.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. New colouring for Gerogero 
   Affects: All Discs
Well, if you are observant enough (like me..), you will noticed that
the colour of this monster, Gerogero (the monster that Fake President
has morphed into) has changed from red to blue.. this also applies its
cards.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. No more bugs for Centra Ruins.
   Affects: All Discs
Hmm, this is good if you are very frustrated in getting the Odin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Different draw spells at different areas...
   Affects: All Discs
There are too many to emulate.. For example, in the Japanese version,
you can get to draw Life from the draw point found in the main 
compound of Centra Ruins. Now instead, you will draw Drain from it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Junction Bug doesn't exist for North American version
   Affects: All Disc.
Well, as the discs are free of bugs and it makes sense that it does not
exists. ^_^;

------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Re-Draw of GFs at Ultemicia Castle
   Affects: Disc 4
If you have forgetten to get the GFs that obtained through this method,
you can re-draw them back in Ultemicia's Castle. Great if you want to 
get Eden from a easier boss, Tiamat instead of the Ultima Weapon.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 _____
/ 2.0 \_________________________________________________________________
========================================================================
Basic Tutorial                                                ffviii_006
========================================================================
Here you will find broad guideline to guide you beginners in great 
players for this epic RPG game. If you already understood, skip this
section and proceed to the main walkthrough.
 _____
/ 2.1 \_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basics stuff that you should know...
------------------------------------------------------------------------

<<< Playing the Game from the Beginning >>>
Point the cursor at the first Option [NEW GAME] and enter your decision 
with the X button. You will need to press any button to skip the Staff
Introduction Movie to proceed to the title screen.

<<< Continue from Save Data >>>
When you want to play using SAVE DATA to continue from the previous
point, select the 2nd option [Continue] and press X. You will be 
brought to the Save Menu. You can only save up to a maximum of 15 slots

Have fun with your Memory Card:
If you view your Memory Card from the Playstation, you will find 
pictures of the characters in Final Fantasy VIII. Here is the list of
the pictures. Thanks to Steven Juwono (squall_lh@hotmail.com)

 _______________________________________
/---------------------------------------|
Slot   |  Picture                       |
----------------------------------------|
1      |  Squall Leonhart               |
2      |  Zell Dincht                   |
3      |  Irvine Kinneas                | 
4      |  Quistis Trepe                 |
5      |  Rinoa Heartilly               |
6      |  Selphie Tilmitt               |
7      |  Seifer Almasy                 |
8      |  Sorceress Edea                |
9      |  Laguna Loire                  |
10     |  Kiros Seagul                  |
11     |  Ward Zaback                   |
12     |  Raijin                        |
13     |  Fujin                         |
14     |  Cid Kramer                    |
15     |  Angelo                        |
_______|________________________________|

------------------------------------------------------------------------

<<< Changing Disc Warnings >>>
As you proceed through the adventure. Do NOT turn off your Playstation 
Console. Just open the Playstation Lid and pop in the next disc and 
the game will automatically resumes itself.
 _____
/ 2.2 \_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playing the Game
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Main Menu is a very important section as it allows you to use 
items, view stats of your characters and GF, saving your game, adjust 
game settings, etc. Read this if you have any enquires about the game.

<< MAIN MENU >>
Here is the brief explanation of the functions of the sub-headings of
the main menu.

Junction:      Allows you to set up your Guardian Forces and abilities
Item:          Allows you to use items or rearranged your items
Magic:         Allows you to use and trade magic with other characters
Status:        Allows you to view the stats of your characters.
GF:            Allows you to view the Guardian Force's level and to 
               develop your monsters' job skills.
Abilities:     Allows you to use the abilities learned by the G.F.
Party Change:  Allows you to change your party at the World Map or at
               the Save Point.
Cards:         Allows you to view the cards that you have.
Configuration: Allows you to adjust your game settings.
Tutorial:      A very precise learning guide on how to play FF8.
Save:          Allows you to save your game. This option will only be 
               selectable if you have approached a Save Point and at
               the World Map.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diagram 2.2A: The Main Menu 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ____________________________________________________________________  
|Help                                              |                 | 
|__________________________________________________| Junction        | 
|Status                                            |                 | 
| Zell       LV 22    HP: 2411 / 1922              | Item            | 
|--------------------------------------------------|                 | 
|Status                                            | Magic           | 
| Squall     LV 31    HP: 2415 / 2551              |                 | 
|--------------------------------------------------| Status          | 
|Status                                            |                 | 
| Rinoa      LV 20    HP: 1100 / 1930              | GF              | 
|--------------------------------------------------|                 | 
|  Irvine                 Quistis                  | Ability         | 
| LV 20 HP 977         LV 22 HP 1059               |                 | 
|       ---------            ---------             | Switch          |
|                                                  |                 |
|  Selphie                                         | Card            |
| LV 17 HP 824                                     |                 | 
|       ---------                                  | Config          |
|                                                  |                 |
|                                                  | Tutorial        |
|                                                  |                 |
|                                                  | Save            |
|__________________________________________________|_________________|
 _________________________________________________ | Play 24:15      |
|                                                 || S.LV   30       |
|  B-Garden - Training Center                     ||    446470 G     |
|_________________________________________________||_________________|

Well, recently just discovered this... You can actually change your 
characters' formation. Squall is not necessary needed to stand in the
middle. Just select the character that you wished to switch and you can
have some fun!
 _______
/ 2.2.1 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
J u n c t i o n   M e n u 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
Diagram 2.2B: Junction Menu
    _______________________________________________________________
   |   Junction     Remove        Auto      Ability   |   Junction |
   |__________________________________________________|____________|
 _________                                               __________
| Photo   |     Squall                                  |  Command |  
|  of     |                                             |  Attack  |
| Squall  |     Lv 31 |^|                               |  Magic   |
|         |                                             |  GF      |
|_________|     HP 2415 / 2551                          |  Item    |
 _______________________________________________________|__________|
|     HP     Blizzaga      2551 [ST-Atk] [ST-Def]  [E-Atk] [E-Def] |
|    Str     -------------  78    Spd    ---------------   25      |
|    Vit     -------------  20    Eva    ---------------   2 %     |
|    Mag     -------------  45    Hit    ---------------   225     |
|    Spr     -------------  35    Luck   ---------------   17      |
|__________________________________________________________________|

Meaning of Abbreviations - this are the abbreviations used by 
                           Squaresoft!
 _________________________________________________________________
|        |                     |        |                         |
| Str    |   Strength          | Hit    | Hit %                   |
| Vit    |   Vitality          | Luck   | Luck                    |
| Mag    |   Magic             | ST-Atk | Status Attack           |
| Spr    |   Spirit            | ST-Def | Status Defense          |
| Spd    |   Speed             | E-Atk  | Elemental Attack        |
| Eva    |   Evasion/ Evade    | E-Def  | Elemental Defense       |
|________|_____________________|________|_________________________|

What is their purpose?

** Strength **
This factor affects the attacking power of your character. The higher 
the stats, the more damage your character will inflict with the Attack 
Command.

** Vitality **
This factor effects the defensive power of your character. The higher 
the defensive stats, the lesser the amount of damage inflicted by your
opponent.

** Magic **
This factor effects the magic attacking power of your character. The
higher the stats, the more damage your character will inflict when 
using magic. 

** Spirit **
This factor effects the magic defensive power of your character. The 
higher the stats, the lesser the amount of damage inflicted by your
opponent when it uses magic. 

** Speed **
This factor effect the speed of your time bar or ATB (also known
Active Time Bar). The higher the stats, the faster the ATB is.

** Evasion/ Evade **
This factor effect the rate whether your character will escape from an
enemy's attack [causing a MISS in the opponent's attack]. The higher
the stats, the more chance your character will dodge from an attack.

** Hit **
This factor effect the rate whether your character will hit your 
opponent with the Attack Command. The higher the stats, the lesser 
chance that your character will miss an attack. Gunblades have 255%
hit rate.

** Luck **
This one I not quite sure. But I think that it will effect the rate 
whether the Odin will appear. It also effect the rate whether your
character could escape from status ailments such as death. If you have
the luck stats of 100+, you will be able to see the Gilgamesh in 
between battles! I guess it also affects the critical hit rates.

** Status Attack **
This is similar to FF7's Elemental combo on your character's weapon
Your character will inflict damage and also causes status ailments 
on your opponent. For example if you want to cause Sleep with your
character attack, junction Sleep to your Status Attack with ST-Atk-J.
The above-mentioned combo is the key to survive for this game.

** Status Defense **
I myself preferred this than status attack. This works like FF7's 
Elemental combo on your character's armor. Your character will receive 
protection against the status that you have junctioned. For example if 
you want your character to be protected against Confuse, junction 
Confuse to your status defense (ST-Def-J)

** Elemental Attack **
This is rather USELESS. If you want to do more damage against Fire-
based monsters such as the Bomb, junction Blizzard to your junction as 
Blizzard works well against Fire. However, ice-based monsters will 
nullifies the attack, thus you are helping them to restore lost HP! 
The Elem-Atk is pretty helpful if you know about the BOSS beforehand.

** Elemental Defense **
This is much preferred against Elemental Attack. As you can received no
damage from elementals or nullifies it and restore your HP. This 
ability could make your life easier. If you junction 100x Ultima to your 
Elemental defense, you will be able to nullify any kind of magic. For
example if you want your character to protect well against Fire, 
junction Fire to the character's Elemental Defense. (Elem-Def-J)

Well, since you already know what the abbreviations stands for, I will
now proceed to the sub-menu headings

J u n c t i o n
----------------------------------------------------------------------0
Once you have chosen Junction, you will have this menu. Press X and 
choose the "Junction" tap. The top tool bar will have the following 
options:

Diagram 2.2C: Junction Tab
 ___________________________________________________
|             |
| Junction    |  <  GF  >      <  Magic >
|_____________|_____________________________________

< GF  >
This allows you to set the GF monsters that you would like the character 
to use and this will lead to the Auto and Ability Menu. After selecting 
this command you will have the following screen:

Diagram 2.2D: Guardian Force selection tab.
______________________________________________
                                              | Well, let's get started.
G.F Page No. 1       G.F Page No. 2           | Here is the layout of 
 _________________    __________________      | all the GFs. [] 
|Quezacotl     [] |  |Brothers          |     | represents a character
|Shiva            |  |Diablos           |     | has already picked the
|Ifrit         [] |  |Carbuncle         |     | GF If you point the
|Siren            |  |Leviathan         |     | cursor next to it, you
|_________________|  |__________________|     | will see the name of
                                              | the character that the 
G.F Page No. 3       G.F Page No. 4           | GF is currently 
 _________________    __________________      | equipped with. Press 
|Pandemona        |  |Bahamut           |     | D-Pad right or left
|Cerberus         |  |Cactaur           |     | to change pages. Press
|Alexander        |  |Tonberry          |     | X to select the GF and 
|Doomtrain        |  |Eden              |     | Press Circle after you
|_________________|  |__________________|     | you have equipping your
                                              | Guardian Forces
______________________________________________| --> Auto Menu.

< Magic > 
If you have acquired junction abilities [icons with "UP" sign], you will 
find that you can junction magic to bolster your character's stats. This 
is rather difficult and here is a part of it. Press X and you will see 
the Magic Inventory Pages on the right of character's photo.

Diagram 2.2E: Magic Inventory fused with Junction Menu

A portion of the screen...
-------------------------------------------
 ________    __________________
|        |  |Magic P1     Num  |  I have "cut" the screen to a small
| Photo  |  |Fira         100  |  part as what I am saying will be
|   of   |  |Blizzard     100  |  focusing on within this area. For
| Squall |  |Thunder      100  |  example if you want to junction 100x
|________|  |Blizzaga     100  |  Fira to your Strength [provided that
    ________|__________________|  you have acquired Strength J]. Select
   | <-- Elem-Atk/Elem Def     |  Str and select the magic from the
   |___________________________|  character's magic pages [1~8]. Press
                                  Left and you will see the following  
                                  screen [below]. You will also see a
                                  "[]" next to the magic. 

Elemental Attack/ Defense Junction Window
------------------------------------------

    ___________________________    Tip: Press Left to change back to
   |<-- ST Atk/Def    ABILITY >|        Status chart. Press Right to
   |___________________________|_____________________   Return..
                  |  Fire     100%    Poison     0 % |
  Elem-Atk -----  |  Ice       0 %    Wind       0 % |
|>Elem-Def Fira   |  Thunder   0 %    Water      0 % |
  Elem-Def -----  |  Earth     0 %    Holy       0%  |
                  |__________________________________|

Status Attack Junction Window
------------------------------------------
    ___________________________     Tip: Press Right to change back to
   |            Elem Atk/Def-->|         Elemental chart.
   |___________________________|__________________________________
                  | Death             0%     Zombie         0%    |
|>ST-Atk  Silence | Poison            0%     Sleep          0%    |
  ST-Def  -----   | Petrify           0%     Slow           0%    |
  ST-Def  -----   | Blind             0%     Stop           0%    |
                  | Silence         100%     Confuse        0%    |
                  | Berserk           0%     Drain          0%    |
                  |_______________________________________________|

Status Defense Junction Window
------------------------------------------
    ___________________________   Tip: Press Right to change back to
   |            Elem Atk/Def-->|         Elemental chart.
   |___________________________|__________________________________
                  | Death             0%     Zombie         0%    |
|>ST-Atk  Silence | Poison            0%     Sleep          0%    |
|>ST-Def  Confuse | Petrify           0%     Curse          0%    |
  ST-Def  -----   | Darkness          0%     Slow           0%    |
                  | Silence           0%     Stop           0%    |
                  | Berserk           0%     Confuse      100%    |
                  |                          Drain          0%    |
                  |_______________________________________________|


Occasionally, if you junction 100x of a spell to the characters' 
attributes defense, you will see a green-colour star. This marks that
the spell being cast on the equipped character will be absorbed. A
green star marks 100% protection against the spell [which means it does
0 HP damage.] Over 100% will instantly absorb the spell.

Thanks to fuuie for his precise guide on magic junctioning.

R e m o v e
----------------------------------------------------------------------0 

<Mag> 
Removes all the spells are set using the Junction Menu. Your character
stats will change back to it's original. The numbers of the stats also
decreases. You will be given a message box, if you have junctioned 
magic to the character's maximum HP through HP-J.

<All>
Removes all equipped Commands [GF command, Magic command, Item command, 
Draw command, GFs command such as Recover set that is by using the 
Junction Option. And of course the magic spells that are junction to 
your character's stats. It removes the equipped GFs. This option works
well when you want to transport all GFs to another character.

A u t o       
----------------------------------------------------------------------0

<Atk>   
Optimises the spells by configuring according to the attacking power.
The character's attacking stats are the highest by using the best 
spells to Str-J (if available)

<Mag>
Optimises spells for the highest magic attack and defense. Junction
better magic [also giving you better results] to the Mag-J (if
available)

<Def>
Optimises spells for highest defensive power. Junction the better magic 
[also giving you better results] to the character's Vit-J (if available)

A b i l i t y
----------------------------------------------------------------------0
 
This option is the only way to configure what other actions, that your
character could perform besides the normal attacks and special attacks.
Once you have equipped a GF, you will have 4 four commands being set.
Here is the list of "Basic" commands [all GFs have it and mastered 
them!]

<Magic>
Allows your characters to cast the spells that you have drawn from 
opponents or Draw Points. Must have the draw command in order to 
draw magic!

<GF>
Allow you to summon the Guardian Forces. There you will see the HP of
the GF replacing the HP of the commanding character. There is a time
bar in blue. The monster will automatically being summoned as all the
blue bar has been used up. This can be cancel if the monster's HP 
reaches zero, being under Confuse/Silence/Sleep/Berserk status.

<Draw>
|One of the most important commands used in the game. With this command,
|you can "draw" magic such as Fire, Fira and much more from enemies. 
|NOTE: You must have this command in order to draw magic from the Draw
|      Points [purple translucent bubbles]. 
|----[Stock]
|Saves the magic for later use. Up to the maximum number of 9 spells 
|that can be drawn, this will depend on the level of your opponent, the
|level of your character and your luck. It will work better if you tap
|X repeatedly (it works for me..)
|
|----[Cast]
|One charge can be drawn in this way, but the spell will immediately
|expelled. The spell is being used at half of the damage. But this 
|situation is good for if you want to cast a spell that you have not
|drawn before. There is a high possibility of failure for you to draw 
|hidden spells from enemies.

<Item>
Allow you to use items such as Potions, Phoenix Downs when engaged in
combat. These are pretty handy when your character is unable to use
magic [e.g. being silenced]. Also allow you to summon some special
monsters or guardians such as the Phoenix and Moomba.

For the usage of other commands, refer to Part II for more details.
 _______
/ 2.2.2 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I t e m 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Items apparently are one of the most important factors in FF8. They 
will help you to restore HP, cure status disorder and helps in battles,
allow GFs to learn new abilities, get GFs etc. I have classified them 
into six major groups

MEDICINE : Healing items such as Potions, Phoenix Downs and Elixirs.
JUNK     : Items such as M-Stone Piece, Magic Stone and Screws.
           These items cannot be use through the item command, however
           some of them provide some Limit Breaks for Quistis. These
           items are also important for Weapon Upgrading. They can also 
           refine into magic through Magic Refinement Menu Abilities
           like T-Mag RF. You can't view items such as Naughty Magazine
           as it is a junk item.

GF       : Item used in restoring GF's lost HP or Life and allows GFs
           to learn new abilities. Provide that you have enough space..

BATTLE   : Items that are only useable through the item command. One
           good example is the Gyshal Greens.

FIELD    : Items that are group-based type, and only useable at Save
           Points, examples are Tents, Pet Houses and Cottages.

BOOKS    : Useful booklets which tells you requirements on Weapon
           Upgrading, new moves for Rinoa and new moves for Zell. Press
           X to view them. 

AMMO     : These items are only use battles through Irvine's Limit
           Break, Shot. Most of them can be gotten through Ammo-RF

Drawing a full ASCII Art of the Item menu requires time, so I have only
draw out the Tool Bar.

Diagram 2.2F: Item Menu
  __________________________________________________________________
 |   Use        Rearrange         Sort          Command  | Item     |
 |_______________________________________________________|__________|

<Use>
This will enable you to use the items directly from the item menu. 
Only healing items such as Potions can be used from here. You can also
view books, activate the item, Magical Lamp to fight the Diablos from 
here! To summon GF Doomtrain, use the Solomon's Ring through this 
command. [make sure you have met the requirements. You can also use 
items to let Quistis to learn special moves, improve GF compatibility
by using GF compatibility items, upgrade character's stats with Str Ups
and allows you to view booklets like Occult Fan I ~ IV.

<Rearrange>
Allow you to arrange the items in your preferred way. Doing this 
will be much easier while in searching for the items that you
wished to use. You can arranged the items by switching places and
placing them in a blank space. There are about 25 item pages.

<Sort>
This will cause the computer to arrange the items. Useable and 
important ones will be the top of the menu, while those unusable ones 
will be arranged at the lower section. Practically it is arranged in 
this order:

[MEDICINE]-[GF]-[BATTLE]-[FIELD]-[AMMO]-[JUNK]-[BOOKS]

<Command>
This section allows you to arrange what you want to appear at the 
item pages [through item commands] Allows you to arrange the items
in your own preference. Well looks something like this:
 ________________________
|ITEM P1            NUM. |   To change it's position, just simply 
|Potion             100  |   the item on the top left screen and select
|Phoenix Down       20   |   another item [the spot where you want to
|Remedy             6    |   place the first item] There are about 10
|Gyshal Greens      1    |   pages for items. You can use stones such
|________________________|   as Holy Stone as you are casting Holy!

 _______
/ 2.2.3 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
M a g i c
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Magic apparently is an important factor in battles. Magic does decent
amount of damage and some does massive amount of damage to a group of
enemies, e.g. the Ultima Magic. Well, here is the ASCII Toolbar of the
Magic Menu.
 ______________________________________________________________________
|    Use         Exchg             All         Rearrange    | Magic    |
|___________________________________________________________|__________|

<Use>
Allows you to use magic from the menu directly. NOTE: You can't use 
attacking magic such as Thunder, Fira, Blizzaga, Aero, Ultima, Protect,
etc. You can only use all healing magic except for Regen. Usable magic 
will have white-colour fonts. 

<Exchg>
|Allows you to trade magic even a particular member is not currently in
|your present party. There are a total of 3 commands from this section
|
|----[Give All]
|Gives all the amount of a particular magic from an existing character 
|to the selected character in the lower row. Firstly select your 
|character and then select the magic spell you want to trade and then 
|select the character you want to give to and select the space where 
|you want to put the magic [All the amount of the current magic will be
|given to the other character, e.g. If Squall has 3 Cure magic and you
|trade Cure with Quistis, Quistis will have all the 3 Cure magic]
|REMOVE MAGIC!!! by Mark Andrews. Press Square to move the whole stack.
|Note: upon removing the magic, you can't get them back!
|
|----[Take All]
|Gives the top character to receive the amount of a particular spell 
|from the character at the bottom row. E.g. Squall is the top character, 
|and Quistis is the lower character. Select Quistis and the spell you 
|want to trade to Squall. Squall will have all the selected spell that
|Quistis originally has.
|
|----[Split]
 A better command. This option allows you to specify the number of magic
 that each of the character will receive. It is NOT necessary for that
 character to have that spell in his/her own magic inventory. Press UP
 to increase and DOWN to decrease.

<All>
Allows the above character to receive all the magic from the bottom
character. Very useful if you want to transfer all the spells from a 
character whom isn't in your party to the other character. Well, I 
simply love this as it save you the trouble for getting magic for ALL
characters and you need to get magic for ONLY three characters. Save
50% of your time.

<Rearrange>
A very common command used in arranging placing your magic in order for
easy access during combat. Each character has 8 magic pages for Magic.
To remove magic, press Square to discard it! [you will remove the entire
lot..]
 ___________________
|MAGIC P1      NUM  | Manual
|Ultima        45   | Attack   . Restore  . Indirect
|Thundaga      100  | Restore  . Attack   . Indirect
|Firaga        100  | Restore  . Indirect . Attack 
|Triple        100  | Indirect . Attack   . Restore
|___________________| Indirect . Restore  . Attack
 _______
/ 2.2.4 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S t a t u s
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This menu allows you to view the various abilities of your characters.
Press the X button to open the Status Window. You can switch your
characters with L1 or R1 buttons. 

<<<< Status 1st Window >>>>
 ___________________________________________
|Help                              | Status |
|__________________________________|________|
| ______                        _________   |
||Photo |  Squall              |Command  |  |
|| of   |  Lv 7                | Attack  |  |
||Squall|  HP: 486 / 486       |         |  |
||______|                  ____|_________|  |
| Current EXP:   6500p    |   Revolver   |  |
| Next Level:     500p    |______________|  |
| Str   17    Spd    21                     |
| Vit   8     Luck   10                     |
| Mag   6     Eva     1%                    |
| Spr   5     Hit   255%                    |
|___________________________________________|

This allows you to get to know your character's basic abilities points
like your character's name, level, current HP vs. its Maximum HP, the
amount of EXP your character has gained, the experience points needed 
to reach the next level, attributes, the weapon that they are 
currently equipped with and the ability that they have acquired.

<<<< Status 2nd Window >>>> Elemental/Status Chart
This allows you to view the character's resistance against elements
such as Poison and Blizzard. It also allows you to view their 
resistance against magic that causes status disorder such as Sleep 
and Blind. Occasionally you will see a star at your character's Elemental 
Defense stats. That means that your character can nullifies that kind of 
elemental damage or protect from the status ailment 100%!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elemental Resistance Chart
------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________________________________________
|                      |                       |
|       Fire           |       Poison          |
|       Ice            |       Wind            |
|       Thunder        |       Water           |
|       Earth          |       Holy            |
|______________________|_______________________|

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elemental Chart Explanation
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fire          :   Fire magic is weak against Fire-based monsters,
                  but is good against Cold/Ice/Water-based monsters.
Ice           :   Ice magic is weak against Cold/Ice/Water-based 
                  monsters, but is pretty good against Fire-based 
                  monsters.
Thunder       :   Thunder elemental is weak against Thunder-based
                  monsters, but great against mechanical beasts. Well,
                  common sense, you will get electric shock as metal
                  conducts electricity.
Earth         :   Earth elemental is useless against flying creatures
                  but great against standing opponents except for 
                  Earth-based monsters.
Poison        :   Poison elemental is useless against mechanical beast
                  but great against humans except for Poison-based 
                  monsters.
Wind          :   Wind elemental is great against flying creatures, 
                  but weak against wind-based monsters. Sometimes,
                  Wind does not work well against flying creatures
                  like Thrustaveis
Water         :   Water elemental is great against monsters located
                  at desert and mechanical beasts. Water works well 
                  against Fire-based monster.
Holy          :   Holy elemental works well against the undead ["false
                  HP"]. Cure is an example of Life/Holy Magic. If you 
                  junction this to your character's Elemental Attack..
                  heee....

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Disorder Resistance Explanation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ________________________________________________
|                        |       Zombie          |
|        Death           |       Sleep           |
|        Poison          |       Slow            |
|        Petrify         |       Curse           |
|       Darkness         |       Stop            |
|        Silence         |       Confuse         |
|       Berserk          |       Drain           |
|________________________|_______________________|

* Curse only appears under the ST-Def-J screen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Disorder Chart
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death:         Your character will be killed instantly, HP drops to
               zero. Very damaging. Instant KO Status
Poison:        A green cloud appears on head of your character. HP 
               drops in chunks as the character reaches his turn. This
               status aliment also occurs in the field and the battle.
Petrify:       The character becomes a solid stone and ATB stops [which
               means that you can't used that character.] Game over if
               all characters are petrified.
Darkness:      A black cloud surrounds the forehead of your character.
               Your character will misses his/her attacks frequently.
               Hit rate decreases tremendously.
Silence:       A tiny bubble speech that says "..." Your character can
               only use Attack Command and the GF's Abilities Command.
Berserk:       Steam rushes out from the red-hot character. You will 
               lost the control of the effected character as the 
               character just attacked with the ATTACK command.
Zombie:        The affected character will turn greenish and becomes an
               undead and causes them to be weak against healing magic
               or life magic.
Sleep:         The character's ATB will stop and "zzzz" appears from 
               the character. The character will only awake when under
               attack or a Remedy or Esuna is used on him/her
Curse:         The colour of the character darkens and thus ATB bar 
               slows down. [There isn't any magic that you can junction
               to your Elementals attack, that's reason why this status
               is being left. Cast Aura to remove the status ailments.
               It also prevents your character from using his/her
               Limit Breaks.
Slow:          The ATB gauge [or known as the Time Bar] moves slower,
               changing purple in colour. [about at 1/2 the time of the
               regular ATB..]
Stop:          The ATB gauge freezes as the effected character stopped
               moving [even the super hyperactive Zell stops shaking!]
Confuse:       Your character turns around in circles and will attack
               your party even himself/herself!
Drain:         Finally found the usage. This depends on character's
               defense against life drain attacks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

<<<< Status 3rd Window >>>>
Allow you to glance through the GF that the characters have currently 
being junctioned. Also allow you to view the GF's compatibility.
towards the equipped character. The GF affection ratings can be 
improved by using GF affection items such as Dynamo Rock, refer to
Part II for more details. GF affection could also be improved by 
summoning a couple of times. Regular summoning of a particular GF
will improves affection with the character. The higher the compatibility
the faster the GF will be summoned.

<<<< Status 4th Window >>>>
This allows you to view the names of the character's Limit Breaks and 
set to auto-function. You can press Square to access it. 

*  Limit Break
   For the case of Squall, you have trigger into the box, you will 
   receive the amount of hits from 0 to perfect. If Squall has more
   than one hit, he will then perform his Limit Breaks. For Zell, you 
   have to input keys to inflict more damage to your enemy. If you
   want the input to be done automatically, move the cursor to ON, 
   and decide with the X button. Refer to Part II for more 
   details.
- TIP: You could press Square to jump to this status window. 
 _______
/ 2.2.5 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
G u a r d i a n   F o r c e s 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

GF stands for Guardian Forces. Guardians are just the summoned monsters 
from FF7 and FFT [Final Fantasy Tactics]. They possesses powerful and 
devastating magic. Use them wisely. There is a difference between FF7 
and FF8 is that now summoning a guardian will requires time as a blue 
bar will overleap your present time bar and the HP of the Guardian will 
be covering the character's HP. Last of all, summoning a monster does 
not required to use MP anymore! Select your monsters and this will 
lead to the Learn sub-menu.

<Learn>
|As you battles, you will gain AP, which is mentioned in Part II. AP is
|similar to FFT's job points, which allows you, gain when the job is 
|being completed. Guardians also gain EXP to level up and AP to gain 
|new abilities. In this screen, you will be given a lot of list, which 
|the GF required to learn and how much AP is needed.
|--- [Junction]
|    Allows spells to be selected through the Junction and Magic menu.
|    This will increases you character's statistics. The more amount of
|    magic you have, the greater your character's stats will increase.
|    Note: NOT all characters can be boosted by the same spells. Auto
|    effect when a GF is being junctioned to the character.
|----[Command]
|    This can be selected through the Junction's sub-menu Ability
|    for the use in combat. More commands in other words. A character
|    can have up the maximum 4 commands [including the Attack command]
|----[Character] {C}
|    This can be selected through the Junction's sub-menu Ability
|    but these are selected on the bottoms abilities window. Your 
|    character's ability will automatically in effect when selected.
|    You can get better results, such as equip Str +40% and Str +20%
|    This will result that the character's Strength increases by 60%.
|
|----[Guardian Force]{GF.}
|    No need to be selected. In fact, it will take effect once they 
|    were learnt. Boost is a crucial ability
|----[Menu] {M}
     Menu abilities can be selected directly from the main menu. 
     Different Guardian Forces will serve different functions.

The symbols will be seen in the icon next to the ability. Details 
about these abilities will be described in detail in Part II
 _______
/ 2.2.6 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A b i l i t y
------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the beginning of the game, the option is being greyed out. To 
use this menu, learn GF's Menu abilities and you will be able to use
it. This menu allows you to make items such as Ammo for Irvine and
Tools. It also allows you to change card into items. Refer to Part II
for more details.
 _______
/ 2.2.7 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S w i t c h 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exchanging of party members can only be done at a Save Point or at the
World Map. This option is available after Rinoa has joined you. Just
select a party member at the stock and choose the character that you
want to replace with. Sometimes the character are compulsory, the 
picture of the character will grey out [which means that you can't have
that character's misplaced.]

SPECIAL ABOUT FF8
There are special sequences called Laguna's Dream sequences, where you 
will be transported to the past and you will sometime sees an arrow like 
which present character [part of Squall's team] is replacing whom in the 
past [part of Laguna's team, Kiros and Ward] for Laguna Dream Sequence #
4. 
 _______
/ 2.2.8 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C a r d
------------------------------------------------------------------------
For this section, you will be able to view the card. The card origins 
from a psychic called Orlan where they will be able to play cards. To 
know more about the rules, refer to Part II or the Tutorial Section.

BTW, here is a brief idea explaination of the Triple Triad.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott's Explaination on the card game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objective of the Card Game: To own as many cards as possible

Accessories:                Each player requires a minimum of 5 cards to
                            start a card game. Next press Square button 
                            to talk to a person to play a card game. 

The card game is being played on 3 squares by 3 squares board [i.e. a 
total of 9 squares]. The objective is turn over the opponent's card to
your side. To do this, your card's attacking number must be larger as
compared to your opponents' defending number. Each card contains 4 
numbers, and the numbers ranged from 1 to A. However as you can into 
later part of the game, you experience intermediate rules being added to
the card game, and the game will become much tougher, refer to FAQ 
Part II, where details of the card game are being explained in detail.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
   [a]        [b]
 _______   _______      Let's says Card [b] is the attacking card.[i.e.
|   9   | |   9   |     second card to be placed on the 3x3 board] As
| 8   5 | | 7   2 |     the left number of card [b] (which is number 7)
|   1   | |   3   |     is greater/bigger than card [a]'s number 5. 
|_______| |_______|     Well, if you don't understand a dime of what I
                        am talking, let's zoom into the focus:
 DEFENSE   ATTACK
 ______    ______
|      |  |      |      Clear? As you see the attack side's no. 7 is
|    5 |  | 7    |      definately larger than 5. Remember that in FF8,
|      |  |      |      the largest is A [which represents 10] and the
|______|  |______|gamga     smallest is 1. 

SCENARIO A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 _______                BTW, take note on how the attacking is done. 
|   9   |    [a]        You can attack the side from four directions 
| 8   5 |  DEFENSE      based on where the defending card is being 
|   1   |               placed.
|_______|               Note the numbers that are involved in this
 _______                scenario. It's card [a]'s 1 and card [b]'s 9.
|   9   |               Simple huh?
| 7   2 |    [b]        I guessed you may think what will happened if 
|   3   |  ATTACK       the SCENARIO C happens? Will Card [b] be able to
|_______|               turn the card over?

SCENARIO B
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   [b]       [a]        Before I begin my explaination, which are the
 ATTACK    DEFENSE      cards that you should be focus on? 
 _______   _______      [a] 2 & 8   [b]  9 & 9   [c] 7 & 5
|   9   | |   9   |
| 7   2 | | 8   5 |     It is card [b]'s 2 and card [a]'s 8. 
|   3   | |   1   |     For this case, no cards will be flipped over!
|_______| |_______|     Unless [b] is defending card [if this happens
                        [b] will turn over to [a]'s side.]
SCENARIO C
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 _______                
/ 2.2.9 \_______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C o n f i g 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can now change your settings during the game, but NOT during 
battles, except for ON/OFF the vibration if you have a Dual Shock
controller. Here is the section down the list:

1.  Sound:           You can switch between Stereo and Mono
2.  Controller:      You can set the settings on Normal [default] or 
                     Customize [assign the buttons by yourself]
3.  Cursor:          Cursor is automatically being placed at the last
                     command. [Initial or Memory]
4.  ATB:             Switch between [Active] where they flow normally 
                     or [Wait] where the time bar stops automatically 
                     while selecting a command.
5.  Scan:            Choosing the second option, the labeller will 
                     appear for those monsters/enemies that have been 
                     labelled once.
6.  Camera Movement: Allows you to regulate from 0 % to 100 %. Higher 
                     percentage, the better the camera view is.
7.  Battle Speed:    Regulates the speed of the battle.
8.  Battle Message:  Regulates the speed of messages during battle.
9.  Field Message:   Regulates the speed of messages during on the field.
10. Analog Input:    Regulates the reaction speed of the stick input
11. Vibration:       Turns the vibration ON/OFF (applies to only Dual
                     Shock controllers.) The controllers vibrates when
                     you are summon GFs.
 ________
/ 2.2.10 \______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
T u t o r i a l
------------------------------------------------------------------------

A precise guide in playing FF8. Teach you to play FF8, explain on 
how play the card games. The TEST will only be selectable after you 
have received the first progress sheet [the time when Squall is 
officially an SeeD member.] This section is crucial when comes to 
getting money for your games ^_^;)

Basic Operation
Battle Operation
Online Help - you will get more sections as you progress
Card Game Rules - how to play the card game!
TEST - the SeeD test about 30 or so and you can also do a re-test!
Review - The test reviews.
Icon Explanation - Squaresoft has used a lot of icons in this game..
Information - more and more as you play card players like CC Card. Also
includes Magician Joker and The Battler Masters at D-District Prison. 
This is where you find the Battle Meter and GF information, etc.

 ________
/ 2.2.11 \______________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S a v e
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saves your game in a Memory Card. Well you can used two memory cards for
your console.. But I would recommend the normal 15 blocks memory card
for the others are very unstable.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2.3]    Basic Configuration
------------------------------------------------------------------------

**** Direction Pad **** 

Field Screen    1) Moves your character in the Field Screen or in the 
                   World Map screen. 
                2) Select your options / messages
                3) Select items while in a shop
Menu Screen:    1) Moves the cursor. It is used to switch attack,
                   defense status and Junction attribute attacks / 
                   Defense menus when Junction Magic is present from
                   the Junction Menu
Battle Screen:  1) Use to move your cursor to select your commands
                   during combat.
                
**** Start button ****

Field Screen    1) Use to pause the game and provides the Help Function
                   and use to turn on/off the vibration 
Menu Screen     1) N/A
Battle Screen   1) Use to pause the game and provides the Help Function
                   and use to turn on/off the vibration

**** Select Button ****

Field Screen    1) Turns on the World Map when you have a vehicle.
Menu Screen     1) N/A
Battle Screen   1) Turn off the command menu display when being 
                   pressed only.

**** X Button ****

Field Screen    1) Use to talk to people
                2) Use to attempt to draw magic from Draw Points
                3) Selecting your commands.
                4) Use to examine items, examine a ladder, press Up to
                   climb up the ladder and Down to climb down the 
                   ladder
                5) Confirms the selection of the items that you want to
                   sell or buy in the shops.
                6) Allows your character to board the elevator.
Menu Screen     1) Use to confirmed selected command
Battle Screen   1) Use to confirmed selected command

**** Circle Button ****

Field Screen    1) When holding O, it will cause Squall and party to 
                   walk slowly, in a serious manner!
Menu Screen     1) Cancels your commands
Battle Screen   1) Cancels your battle commands

**** Square Button ****
Field Screen    1) Use to challenge opponents to play the Card Game 
                   [available after receiving the cards from the man 
                   near the elevator of 2nd Floor of Garden Academy.]
Menu Screen     1) Allows you jump between menus.
Battle Screen   1) Use to raise the GF attacking strength when 
                   pressed with a good timing, available after learnt
                   GF ability's "Boost"

**** Triangle Button ****
Field Screen    1) Activates the Menu Screen
Menu Screen     1) N/A
Battle Screen   1) Change to the character whom still be able to 
                   accept commands.

**** L1 Button ****
Field Screen    1) Rotates the camera view
Menu Screen     1) Switches target character/G.F. [right direction]
                2) Switches language from Katakana, Hiragana, English
                   during input your character's name. [towards left]
Battle Screen   1) Uses to turn on/off the Target window.

**** R1 Button ****
Field Screen    1) Rotates the camera view
Menu Screen     1) Switches target character/G.F. [left direction]
                2) Switches language from Katakana, Hiragana, English
                   during input your character's name [right direction]
Battle Screen   1) Trigger [in Squall's Limit Break]

**** L2 Button ****
Field Screen    1) Rotates the camera view
Menu Screen     1) N/A
Battle Screen   1) Escape from battles [hold together with R2 button]

**** R2 Button ****
Field Screen    1) Rotates the camera view.
Menu Screen     1) N/A
Battle Screen   1) Escape from battles [hold together with L2 button]

Now you are ready, let's begin with the walkthrough!
 _____
/ 3.0 \_________________________________________________________________
========================================================================
WALKTHROUGH FOR DISC 1
========================================================================
What a mess, I have created for my previous FAQs. Tons of translations
needed to be corrected. However this FAQ will be a totally different
walkthrough from the previous one! This walkthrough has removed the 
following areas:
- CGIs - someone told me that describing this spoils the game..

Added the following areas:
- Monster List Bestiary - only draw points, and location.
- Items Summary - even there are no treasure chest.. this turn out be
  amazed me! There are tons of items for you collect!
- GF Recruit - so that you will be mentally prepared to get that GFs.
  Now need to read the walkthrough..
 _____
/ 3.1 \_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Familizing yourself with Balamb Garden                        ffviii_007
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 front yard [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 who want to be fully pledged SeeD mercenaries] 
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 needs 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)                     |  Committee 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 Committee    \  |  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 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.
  ____________________________________________________________________
 /                                                                    \
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                M a p   o f   B a l a m b   G a r d e n               |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|

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]                           |------------
           Cafeteria   [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 changed 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 are 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. [Fujin 
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.
 ______________________________________________________________________
/                                                                      \
------------------------------------------------------------------------
G e t t i n g   S t a r t e d ....
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part I

1.1  "Squall's Renzokuken"
When Squall's HP is low (you will see that his stats are coloured (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 "Renzoku-
ken". 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 available 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):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  ________                                Select Draw command and select
 |Command |                               the spell that you wished to 
 |Attack  |     _______       ________    stock. Next you will see the
 |Magic   |    |Fire  <| --> |Stock   |   box on the extreme right. You
 |GF      |->  |Scan   |     |Cast    |   can choose either one (refer
 |Draw   <|    |_______|     |________|   to Basic Tutorial for more
 |________|                               info. If it is a new spell, it
                                          is marked by "????"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<< 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 makes 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 those spells 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 get 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 for the maximum.

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. Classification 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 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.
 _____
/ 3.2 \_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fire Cavern - The Field Test                                  ffviii_008
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Items:     4x G-Returners, 1x Ifrit's Card
Magic:     Fire - on the right path of the three-way path of the