Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

[@heorotlinea]

Detailed description: 0:00 - Game Load 0:06 - Balamb Region The party resumes outside Balamb Garden in the Alcauld Plains. Zell has the GFs Brothers, Diablos, and Carbuncle junctioned; Squall has Quezacotl and Ifrit; and Rinoa has Shiva and Siren. Squall and Rinoa junction Blizzaga to Elem-Atk and Thundaga to Elem-Def. Rinoa junctions Sleep to ST-Atk. The party enters Balamb Garden. 1:18 - Balamb Garden The party goes north to the second area of the Front Gate (1:26). An event with a Garden Faculty member takes place. Whoa, Cid is being hunted? Cor blimey. The party heads north to the screen with the outdoor stairway (1:58). They continue upstairs to the screen with the plaza (2:05). An event with another Garden Faculty member takes place. Relations between Cid and the faculty seemed tense earlier, but it seems they have reached a breaking point. Squall must choose whether to declare allegiance to Garden Master NORG, whoever that is. He chooses "(...I don't get it)". Of course, this angers the Garden Faculty. An event battle with a Caterchipillar and a Grat takes place (2:52). Nothing difficult. GF Ifrit reaches Level 19. GF Siren reaches Level 8. The party continues north to the reception zone in the south of the Hall area after the battle (4:00). There, they talk to the collapsed SeeD a couple of times. He gives them a Mega Potion. The party continues north into the 1F lobby (4:40). They approach the directory for a scene with Raijin and Fujin (4:47). Squall's group must continue their search for the Headmaster, but they also have to be careful of the Garden Master's goons. The elevator is currently blocked off. The party earns a SeeD Level 13 salary of 11,000 gil. The party takes the northwestern exit to the western section of the Hall (7:03). They take the southwestern exit towards the Infirmary (7:11). An event takes place as they approach the Garden Faculty member in the Hallway to the Infirmary (7:15). The party chooses to help. An event battle against a Granaldo takes place (7:34). Nothing too hard about this big bug. GF Quezacotl reaches Level 22. The event continues after the battle (8:27). Amid this mayhem, Dr. Kadowaki is a voice of reason. Another event takes place in the Infirmary proper (8:53). Perhaps the party should try to find Xu. The party talks to Dr. Kadowaki (9:49). She gives them an Elixir for their help. The party backtracks to the Hallway (10:14). There, Squall can learn the name of the fourth person who passed the SeeD exam with him, Zell, and Selphie. Interesting. The party returns to the Hall (10:55). They exit northwest to the first screen of the Quad (11:09). An event takes place as the party approaches the Quad's interior (11:19). A Garden Faculty will retreat. The party talks to the Garden Faculty before this individual escapes (11:24). This triggers an event battle against a Glacial Eye and a Bomb. Squall reaches Level 20. Rinoa reaches Level 12. GF Shiva reaches Level 23. The party continues to the second screen of the Quad (12:35). They approach the set for a scene with some SeeDs (12:41). The party must declare their side. They choose, "I'm with the headmaster's faction". This avoids a fight. The party talks to the southern male SeeD at the Quad (13:30). He gives them an X-Potion. The party backtracks through the Quad and returns to the Hall (13:54). They head northeast to the Hall's northern screen (14:03). The party exits northwest to the Hallway to the Cafeteria (14:09). They talk to the Garden Faculty in this Hallway (14:15). An event battle with a Bomb takes place. What a blast. The party continues to the first screen of the Cafeteria (15:10). An event with the SeeDs there takes place. Someone had a pretty good idea. There is a Demi draw point in the Cafeteria at the moment (15:49). Rinoa stocks a small order of Demi spells. If Zell is in the party, the party can talk to the second SeeD from the left for a humorous scene (16:06). Sorry, buddy! The party talks to the second SeeD from the left again (16:32). She gives them a pinch of Gysahl Greens. Uh ... there are chocobos in this game? At this point in the playthrough, I have yet to see them. The party backtracks through the Hallway to the Hall (17:31). They take northern exit to the Hallway to the Dormitory (17:43). They talk to the Garden Faculty in this Hallway (17:47). This triggers an event battle with a Caterchipillar. Squish it like a bug. Zell reaches Level 18. GF Carbuncle reaches Level 17. You go, Carby. The party continues north to Squall's Dormitory Single (18:48). They rest and save. The party goes south through the Hallway to the Hall (19:15). In the northeast, they exit to the Hallway to the Parking Lot (19:28). The party talks to the Garden Faculty in this Hallway (19:33). This triggers an event battle with a Grendel. Where's Beowulf when you need him? Fortunately, my party doesn't. The party continues to the Parking Lot (20:50). An event with some clever SeeDs takes place. It's good to see that the party has a few competent NPC allies in this game. The party talks to the northern SeeD in the Parking Lot (21:15). He gives them a Tent for their help. The party backtracks through the Hallway to the Hall (21:33). They exit southeast to the eastern section of the Hall (21:40). The party exits northeast to the Hallway to the Training Center (21:47). They continue into the Training Center. 21:55 - Balamb Garden - Training Center As the party enters the Training Center, an event with a Garden Faculty and some goons takes place. The party follows them north. Another scene takes place in the Training Center's lobby (22:10). The little kid has spunk. When presented with an option, Squall chooses, "Help them". This triggers an event battle against a T-Rexaur (22:49). This one's actually dangerous. Having Blizzaga junctioned to elemental attack and Sleep junctioned to status attack will be helpful. After the battle, Squall talks to the female SeeD (24:47). She gives him a Remedy for his help. The party goes through the Training Center. In the eastern screen, they can find the Man from Garden, who has items to sell. There is also still a Blizzard draw point. The party earns a SeeD Level 13 salary of 11,000 gil. In the northern screen of the Training Center, the party saves. Afterwards, they backtrack out of the Training Center. 26:31 - Balamb Garden The party goes through the Hallway to the eastern screen of the Hall (26:36). They head southeast to the Hallway to the Library (26:47). The party talks to the Garden Faculty in this Hallway (26:54). This triggers an event battle against a Grat. Oh yes, Faculty; this is such a fearsome monster. Not. GF Siren reaches Level 9. GF Diablos reaches Level 11. The party continues east to the first screen of the Library (27:57). There are a few SeeDs there. With Zell in the party, a scene takes place when they talk to the Library Girl with a Pigtail (28:37). She gives the party a Mega Phoenix! A Mega Phoenix revives all characters from KO. This continues the Zell Love Quest. Note that if Zell is not in the party, she will reward them with a Remedy instead. The party backtracks through the Hallway to the Hall (29:24). They go south to the 1F lobby (29:29). An event takes place. They must follow Xu to the elevator. The party follows Xu upstairs to the elevator (19:38). A brief event takes place. The party takes the elevator up to the 2F Hallway (29:44). They go west to the corridor outside the Classroom (30:01). The Classroom is locked for now. The party continues north to another part of the corridor (30:13). A scene with Xu takes place. Quite a clever scheme she thought up to protect Cid. Now, the party must follow her to the Headmaster's Office. The door to the left is suspicious. The northern door leads up to a Deck (31:06). Interesting place for a deck. The guy out here is oblivious. The party returns inside and backtracks through the 2F Hallway. They take the elevator up to floor 3F (31:44). As they arrive, an event with Xu takes place. The party goes north into the Headmaster's Office (32:11). A cutscene with Headmaster Cid takes place. He seems to have a thought on dealing with the missiles, but it appears he isn't up for doing it himself. Squall talks to Headmaster Cid (33:51). Another scene takes place. Cid gives the party an elevator key and asks them to investigate the control system on the MD Level. Talking to Cid again causes the menu to open. Squall and Rinoa junction Firaga to Elem-Atk and Blizzaga to Elem-Def. There are enemies vulnerable to fire where the party is going. Instead of Stop, Rinoa junctions Blind to ST-Def. Outside the office, the party boards the elevator (37:15). They start their descent to the MD Level. An FMV plays (37:24). Time is pressing. The description is continued in a reply.

[@heorotlinea]

Description continuation: 37:36 - Balamb Garden - MD Level The cutscene continues aboard the elevator. After a power surge, the lift comes to an abrupt halt. That's inconvenient. Squall chats with his companions (37:45). He also examines the control panel (38:04). After this, Squall can open a hatch set in the floor (33:12). Nifty. The party climbs onto a ladder in the elevator shaft (38:24). They descend the ladder. The party continues to the lower screen of the elevator shaft (38:33). The elevator shifts, but just keep moving! The party reaches a hallway a level below (38:47). Looks like they won't be taking the elevator back up. The party examines the hatch to the south (39:07). Lift with your knees, Squall. The party hops down to an oil stratum (39:16). An event takes place. In case we need it, Squall provides a tutorial on junctioning to Elem-Atk. As he indicates, many enemies in the area are weak to fire. Of course, having Enc-None equipped makes getting through here relatively painless. The party follows the pipeline north (40:15). They reach a ladder. They descend the ladder to the middle level of the shaft (40:27). The party takes the southwestern door (40:38). They reach a small maintenance room. The party examines the large wheel handle in the room (40:42). The player must hit the appropriate button repeatedly for 10 seconds to open the valve. To start out, Squall will try doing it alone. It will be impossible with him alone. Then, a party member will join him, and the player can try again. This is doable, but still not easy. If they fail in the second attempt, the third party member will join in, and the player can try a third time. On this attempt, I manage it with Squall and Zell. The party exits the maintenance room (41:40). The floor has opened, and another ladder leads into the depths. The party takes the ladder down the shaft to the next level (41:56). They reach a catwalk with stairs leading further down. The party continues downstairs (42:15). They reach a large, open room with a column in the middle. There is a Full-life draw point in the east (42:23). Squall stocks some Full-life spells. The party goes to the west side of the central column (42:34). A cutscene takes place near a ladder going up the column. Squall can choose whichever option he wants. He chooses, "(We have no choice, let's go)". But whichever option he selects, he will be going up the ladder by his lonesome. Squall goes up the ladder (43:41). He continues up to the next screen. An event takes place as Squall continues up the ladder (43:52). Fears about the ladder's condition are well-founded. We really must talk to Cid about properly maintaining this place. Serendipitously, Squall lands in a control room (43:55). There is a door in the west, but it is unusable. Squall examines the control panel in the east (44:11). An event takes place. Squall examines the ladder (44:30). He chooses, "(Climb down now)". He rejoins his team on the floor below for a scene. Another option is presented. Squall chooses, "(Yeah)". The party reforms. In the southwest of the screen, Squall examines a gate with a flashing light (45:17). He opens the gate. The party takes the ladder beyond the gate down a level (45:32). There is a welcome save point below, so the party saves. The party earns a SeeD Level 13 salary of 11,000 gil. The party examines the lever near the save point (46:15). This opens the door to the northeast. A brief event takes place as the party starts across the bridge to the northeastern door (46:26). Oh, how disgusting. It is boss time against two Oilboyles (46:30). Their Oil Blast attack reduces a target's HP by 62.5%. Oil Shot can inflict Darkness. Sonic Wave hits the entire party and may inflict Curse. The enemies' spell draw list contains Esuna, Blind, Confuse, and Cure or Cura, depending on their level. Each can drop 8 Wizard Stones, or the party can mug 4 Fuels apiece. Having Firaga junctioned to Elem-Atk and Holy junctioned to Str will trivialize this battle. It also helps to inflict Sleep or Slow on them. In case someone gets hit with a status ailment, draw-casting Esuna on the afflicted party member is an option. GFs acquire 20 AP at the end of the battle. The party regains control after the battle (48:22). A brief event takes place. At the save point, the party uses a Tent and saves. A lot of stuff is about to take place, so they will kick it off next time. Thanks for watching!

[@heorotlinea]

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLIZ8kn0xML24xxIC8AiKtZt6DeqZywHwj