The story of Final Fantasy VIII: summarized by me after three straight hours. Dx
A duel between two students at Balamb Garden is where the story of Final Fantasy VIII begins. Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy are the two characters first introduced, both with scars on their faces to prove what took place. Squall is taken to Dr. Kadowaki, the Garden nurse, and from then on taken under by the guidance of Instructor Trepe, also known as Quistis. Galbadia, known to have the greatest political power as well as military, sought out to conquer land over in Dollet. The SeeDs of Balamb Garden are called out to help out the town of Dollet, and the task is used as a final exam for the students. Squall, Zell, and Seifer set out to take down the opposition, and they do so. However, Seifer abandons the team at some point, resulting in strict punishment while the other two members graduate. Selphie, another SeeD, also graduated with Squall and Zell, due to the fact she took Seifer's place after he left the group at Dollet. Dollet was saved, Squall obtained a higher rank of SeeD, and a graduation ball was held to commerate those who passed. At the ball, a young girl catches Squall's attention after he notices a shooting star in the night-sky, realizing that they both caught a glimpse of it at the same time. The girl's name is Rinoa, but he wasn't able to get her name after a magnificent dance between the two. He later meets her in Timber where a group called the Forest Owls, which are against Galbadia intrusion, is currently located. They learn that Edea, a wicked Sorceress, is the reason for most of Galbadia's latest actions.
Squall, Selphie, Zell, Irvine ( a lone shooter they met at Galbadia Garden ), Quistis, and Rinoa all set out to assassinate Edea due to orders by the Galbadia Garden ( which is neutral ) and Balamb Garden. Unfortunately, Seifer is alongside Edea, and this bewilders Squall to no end. Rinoa tells Squall of a particular past between her and Seifer, for she is afraid for his life. Squall remains casual as usual, telling her that if it comes to it, he would have to kill Seifer. Rinoa accepts this, as Irvine fires a shot towards the Sorceress but fails. Squall decides to use another option to destroy Edea, face-to-face. But he is then badly injured, and the team is sent away to a prison where Squall learns that Seifer is Edea's shield for protection. The team eventually escapes, thanks to Rinoa, since her father owns the Prison.
An attack on Trabia Garden by Edea gives fright to those that now fear Balamb's future, and so they split into two groups of three. Selphie's group travels to the Missile Base to stop the launch from continuing it's course of action, but they're too late. At Balamb Garden, a crisis is occurring inside the hallways due to the Garden's financier, NORG. Squall's group takes NORG down and persist on finding a way to escort Balamb Garden into another location. They do so in a risky attempt, crashing into Fisherman's Horizon.
A search for a young girl named Ellone causes a dispute when Galbadia invade Balamb, where she was hiding. She escapes to Esthar and tells Squall that she is the reason for why he and his allies have been having occurring flashbacks of Laguna, Kiros, and Ward. Laguna was once part of Galbadia, but is now the President of Esthar. It turns out that Laguna is after all Squall's father and his mother is Raine Loire, who was engaged to Laguna but died after Squall's birth. Later, the team ventures to Trabia Garden to take a look at the devastation. During this time, Squall and the others relieve old memories that take them back to an Orphanage ( owned by Edea ) that they had completely forgotten due to the Guardian Forces. (GF) Rinoa was not part of the memory, though. Another battle occurs, bringing Seifer and Squall against each other as well as Galbadia and Balamb. The two Gardens ready themselves, Balamb achieves victory, and the story of an evil Sorceress named Ultimecia is brought into the picture. It turned out that Edea was actually just a puppet for Ultimecia. Ultimecia's only wish is to compress time into a single moment, and that is why Ellone is in the trouble she is in, due to her great power to send people back and forth through time.
Ultimecia's powers are transferred to Rinoa, causing her to fall into a coma and a worried Squall. While carrying Rinoa on his back, he travels to Esthar, but at the same time he tells Rinoa ( while she's still in a coma ) things that he wouldn't share with anybody else. We see a new side of Squall, as he believes that Rinoa will come back one day. Squall and Rinoa are brought into Space where she is taken care of, but Ultimecia uses her body to free Sorceress Adel. ( Long ago, Sorceress Adel once had controlled of Esthar, and was the reason for why the Sorceress War between Esthar and Galbadia even started. Her body is locked away in a seal in outer space, all thanks to Laguna. ) Seifer activates the Lunatic Pandora to retrieve Adel, along with monsters that rained from the sky. ( Lunatic Pandora - a crystal pillar that fell from the moon 80 years ago. It was designed by Dr. Odine under Sorceress Adel's rule, who wanted to use it as a weapon for the Sorceress War. ) Rinoa is lost in space after Ultimecia transfers her powers to Adel, but Squall rescues her and they returned home through a starship. She is then taken away from Squall, and he rescues her once again, believing that no matter what happens next, he'll save her.
Squall, Rinoa, and the others head forth to the Lunatic Pandora. There, they meet Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin. The three are defeated but Seifer escapes with Rinoa in his arms, giving her to Adel who uses her in a battle against Squall and the group. They were victorious in their fight, and Rinoa was once again saved. Rinoa draws Adel's Sorceress powers inside of her so Time Compression could commence, and thus, bringing the group to Ultimecia's time. They defeated Ultimecia as the world fixes time itself so they could return to the present. However, Squall is lost in time and meets a young Edea. Ultimecia appears from the future, badly injured from the fight. As Ultimecia disappears into Edea's body, Squall informs her of her own creation of Balamb Garden and SeeD. He regains every last memory and is then brought back to the present when Rinoa finally discovers him, lying on the ground motionless. He awakens soon after, and the story goes through with Laguna taking a trip to Raine's grave, as well as Seifer with Raijin and Fujin, happily together.
The story ends with a celebration at Balamb Garden. On the balcony, Squall and Rinoa share an enchanting kiss together under the moonlit sky. The Knight and his Princess.
