The Official Final Fantasy VIII Rumble

[feralanima]

Trabia Mountain Pass

[IDX]

Hmm... Trabia Mountain Pass. Slideshow ftw

[Agent0042]

Trabia Mountain Pass - 3
Islands Closest to Hell/Heaven - 5


Closer than I would have thought, but the Islands Closest to Hell/Heaven go on to Round 2. Next up...


Basement of Balamb Garden (The party visits here in the hope of finding a way to save Balamb Garden from the incoming missile attack. There's an oil stratum here with enemies that are weak against fire. You encounter a couple of puzzling areas here before eventually fighting bosses called Oilboyles. Then, you discover the secret of Balamb Garden.)

vs.

Tear's Point (This area here mainly has to do with the storyline. When the Lunatic Pandora arrives over Tear's Point, it instigates the Lunar Cry. If you visit it, however, you can find the Solomon's Ring, which, if you have certain items, allows you to gain the valuable Doomtrain GF.)

[IDX]

Basement of Balamb Garden

[arthurgolden]

Basement of Balamb Garden

[Szczepan]

Tear's Point

[Zak]

Tear's Point

[The Anti-Existence]

Basement of Balamb Garden

[Smarty]

Basement of Balamb Garden

[feralanima]

Basement of Balamb Garden

[ravenous19]

Basement of Balamb Garden

[Agent0042]

Okay, so that's...


Basement of Balamb Garden - 6
Tear's Point - 2


So not a total blowout there, but pretty one-sided. Now, the final battle of the round...


Obel Lake (A lake in the Timber area. There really isn't all that much going on here. However, there is a sidequest involving a shadow. You have to hum for him and agree to help him, then skip a stone many, many times. After that, you have to find the monkey in the forest and get him to throw a stone at you. Then, if you return to the lake, the shadow will start giving you rumors. Eventually, once you get all the stones from various locations, they will spell out a message.)

vs.

Deling City Sewers (A maze of sorts underneath the streets of Deling City. Quistis, Zell and Selphie end up in these after managing to find a way out of the Caraway Mansion. You then have to navigate through them in order to eventually get them to where they're supposed to be for the sorceress assassination mission. Enc-Half or Enc-None are recommended, as this area can be difficult enough to navigate without having to stop to deal with random battles.)

[The Anti-Existence]

Obel Lake if only because he Deling Sewers absolutely murdered the atmosphere the story had been building.

[arthurgolden]

Deling City Sewers

[Zak]

Come on, Deling City Sewers. I liked how they were mostly more linear than you'd expect and how they held some secrets...

[ravenous19]

Deling City Sewers

[Smarty]

Deling City Sewers

[solidsnake999]

Deling City Sewers

[Szczepan]

Deling City Sewers

[jakob]

Deling City Sewers

[Solaris]

Deling City Sewers

[feralanima]

Deling City Sewers

[Agent0042]

Okay, that wraps up the first round...

Obel Lake - 1
Deling City Sewers - 8


Here's what's left for the second round:


Balamb Garden
Trains
Deling City Sewers
D-District Prison
Galbadia Missile Base
Basement of Balamb Garden
Fisherman's Horizon
Centra Ruins
Shumi Village
Great Salt Lake
Esthar City
Lunatic Pandora
Ragnarok
Cactuar Island
Islands Closest to Hell/Heaven
Ultimecia's Castle


As always, you can check the updated results in the first post of the thread. And here's the first battle of the round:


Trains (Selphie: "I love trains. ... Train Train Take Us Away / Take Us Away Far Away / To the Future We Will Go / Where It Leads No One Knows."

vs.

Shumi Village (Specialist: "Hello, and welcome. Specialist is surprised they let you in. Usually, only merchants are permitted to come into our village. This is our negotiation table. This is where we exchange minerals with outside traders." Squall: "You mine for minerals?" Specialist: "Of course. You think we built a village 323 meters underground just for fun? Actually, there was a little fun in it.")

[IDX]

I would have to say Shumi Village on this one.

[arthurgolden]

Shumi Village