Our Final Fantasy VIII walkthrough is the ultimate guide for players who want to progress through the game and uncover all of its secrets. It provides detailed instructions and expert strategies for navigating the game’s challenges and enemies—including a breakdown of each area. We’ve presented each section in the recommended order of exploration. You’ll also learn where to find every item in the game.
Final Fantasy VIII also has a variety of sidequests that can help you gain additional items, experience points, and other rewards. We’ve got all the information you need on these side quests in a separate section, including suggestions for the best time to tackle each one.
Disc 1
Choose a location from the list below to access our full walkthrough for that area in Final Fantasy VIII. You can find detailed information and strategies for each area in the links provided.
- Opening and Balamb Garden
- The Fire Cavern
- The SeeD Exam
- The Inauguration Ball
- The Trip to Timber
- The Forest Owls Mission
- The Timber TV Station
- The Trip to Galbadia
- Galbadia Garden
- Deling City
- Tomb of the Unknown King
- The Assassination in Deling City
Disc 2
- Winhill
- The D-District Prison
- The Galbadian Missile Base
- Balamb Garden Crisis
- Fisherman’s Horizon
- Liberating Balamb
- Trabia Garden
- Battle of the Gardens
Disc 3
- Edea’s Orphanage
- The White SeeD Ship
- Laguna Loire, Movie Star
- The Great Salt Lake
- Lunatic Pandora Laboratory
- Esthar and The Lunar Gate
- Boarding the Lunatic Pandora
- Lunar Base
- The Ragnarok
- The Sorceress Memorial
- Infiltrating the Lunatic Pandora
Disc 4
- Time Compression
- Ultimecia’s Castle
- Sphinxaur/Sphinxara
- Tri-Point
- Krysta
- Trauma
- Red Giant
- Gargantua
- Catoblepas
- Tiamat
- Omega Weapon
- Ultimecia
Multi-Disc
Due to each of the sidequests in Final Fantasy VIII needing to be completed across multiple discs, we’ve placed them all in one big article. Check it out for help with every sidequest as well as for recommendations on when to do each one.
- Sidequests
