Closing the Box (Lunatic Pandora)

If Rinoa was in your party, junction up the new member in it, but make sure to keep Rinoa's HP, Vit and Spr at relatively decent levels; you'll see why in a moment.

To the right you should be able to see a structure you can climb to get to the top level of the Lunatic Pandora. Climb both ladders to get to a Break draw point, before going back down the second ladder and running off to the left to scale the white pole. At the top, turn right and head into the next screen; Siren's Move-Find ability should uncover a save point. Use it and generally prepare yourself for a tough fight. Follow the path all the way along to find Adel's chamber...

After a rather surreal FMV of Time-Compression, you'll find yourself inside the Presidential Palace in Deling City. Walk to the save point and a whole bunch will suddenly appear; only the one you initially walked to is real, so use that and heal up your party before making your way to the doorway...

You'll now be in the Orphanage, but it's littered with the corpses of several Sorceress SeeDs. Make your way throughout the building, making sure to nab the Triple draw point, until you reach a large chain stretching out towards Ultimecia's Castle. Walk onto the chain and ignore the first two doors; head to the third and press X to jump onto the ledge in front of it before entering.

Fourth Disc Extras (Various)

You should find yourself close to the Great Grandidi Forest; equip Diablos' Enc-None to save yourself the hassle of having to fight through hoardes of monsters such as Malboros and Hexadragons, and head north-east into the Chocobo Sanctuary. Take a Chocobo and ride it south along the Esthar coastline until you reach the southern tip, and then cross the shallows that link up to the Kashkabald Desert. Use the beach on the south-eastern side to get onto dry land and then head towards the center of the continent to find the Ragnarok. If you're having difficulties locating it, bring up the map; the Ragnarok will appear as a red dot on it.

Inside the Ragnarok, you should find those members of the CC Group that you defeated back in disc two; the exception here is the Joker, who'll turn up regardless of whether you beat him or not. They hold all but five of the cards in the game, so it's worth playing them to get the ones you need. Note that they all play by different regions rules, making some of them very difficult to beat. Finally, note that if you mod a card, you can challenge the CC Group members to card games in which they'll play the card you modded. This is a good way to max out the really good items if you want to, but bear in mind they're going to be really tough to beat. Locations and rules are as follows:

Fly the Ragnarok to the Estharian continent, and land south of the wall near Tear's Point. On the southern-most top of the Abadan plains, you should be able to find where the Lunar Base crashed. Note that it isn't visible on the World Map, you'll just have to stumble onto it. If you came here in disc three after that happened, you'd find Piet here. Now however, it is where the Card Queen is located. She holds the last five cards in the game: Chubby Chocobo, Doomtrain, Irvine, Kiros and Phoenix. Be warned though, she plays with every rule in the game, so she's even tougher to beat.

As a note, you could get those five cards on the third disc, but the quest for that is a gigantic headache; I find doing it this way is far easier.

Hit the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell to stock up on spells and to make sure that the rest of your party is at least level with Squall, if not higher that him, since you're going to need them all soon.

Ultimecia's Castle

Head to either the gateway in the Great Grandidi Forest, Kashkabald Desert (where you found the Ragnarok), Serrengetti Plains (on the Centran Continent) or just east of the destroyed Galbadia Missile Base, to get back to the chain. Follow the chain all the way along to reach Ultimecia's Castle.

Use the hidden Flare draw point on the right and the save point on the left before trying to enter the castle proper. You'll have to split the party up into two groups of three; I recommend Squall, Rinoa and Zell in one, Quistis, Selphie and Irvine in the other. Inside, the following abilities are locked:

• Item - You can't use items in battle or in the field
• Magic - You can't use magic in battle or in the field
• GF - You can't summon GFs
• Draw - You can't draw from enemies or draw points
• Command Ability - You can't use any command abilities, e.g. Devour
• Limit Break - You can't use any Limit Breaks
• Resurrection - You can't revive players, even if you have Item or Magic unlocked
• Save - You can't save

To unlock these abilities, you have to defeat the eight bosses lurking within Ultimecia's castle, one ability of your choice unlocked per boss. You start by only being able to attack. If you've got all of the GFs, I recommend unlocking Magic first; otherwise, Draw would be best, since you can get the Siren, Carbuncle, Leviathan, Pandemona, Cerberus, Alexander, and Eden GFs here if you hadn't beforehand.

You should also be able to see a bright green glowing circle; use these to switch between the two groups; you'll need to do this several times throughout this dungeon, so keep your eyes peeled for them.

Once you're ready, walk to the monster you can see on the stairs; this is the first of the eight bosses.

Go up the stairs and head to the right, going down the spiral staircase. Ignore the bell at the bottom for the moment, but keep it in mind; we'll be back here later to ring it. Go through the door in the background and you'll find yourself in the Art Gallery. On the walls, there are thirteen paintings; five on the first floor, and eight on the second, along with a Meltdown draw point. Ignore the big painting to the left and examine the other four on the first floor before going up the stairs and checking the other eight. The paintings all have names on them; take note of these. Head back to the first floor and note the big clock painted on the floor. The hour hand is pointing to eight, the minute hand to four, and the seconds to six. Check the big painting, and a box will pop up with the names of all the paintings in; you can enter three painting names. Worked out which ones yet? Well, this table should help:

The Roman numerals for eight is VIII, four is IV, and six is VI. Now, note how all the obvious words are in the correct order, e.g. Vigil is VII, which is seven. No Roman numeral has two V's, so eliminate the second one in Vividarium to get VIII, or eight. Also note that no Roman numeral has four I's, but also that four is IV, which are the first two numerals in the word; thus, Intervigilium must be IV.

Enter the correct words in the order of Hour, Minute, Seconds - Vividarium, Intervigilium and Viator; the painting will now read "Vividarium et Intervigilium et Viator," meaning "In the garden sleeps a messenger."

Behind you, the second boss will appear. Junction Tornado to your Elem-Atk-J and then walk into it.

Make sure that all your characters now have GF in their combat menu, and unjunction Tornado from your Elem-Atk-J; it's better off on a stat for now. Leave by the other door and note the party switcher, before continuing through the next door. Walk through the door to the left and you'll get locked into the cell. Examine the corpse and you'll find a key, upon which another boss turns up.

Go back to the party changer you passed, and use it to switch to the secondary group. Change over the junctions, this time putting Thundaga on Elem-Def-J. Walk up the stairs where Sphinxaur was and go through the door to the north. Go onto the chandelier and it will crash to the floor of the Great Hall; when you get to your feet, examine the hatch and a prompt will come up. Choose to open it and walk down into the Wine Cellar. Head south and you'll find the next boss, a flying creature.

There's a hidden Aura draw point among the barrels on the north end, so make sure to nab that. Junction on the command abilities you want and then go back to the Great Hall and enter the door at the back to get into the Courtyard. There's a Slow draw point to the north-west, and the chapel to the north, which is where you want to head. Inside there's a Dispel draw point and a big organ (It took every muscle in my body to stop from making the obligatory joke here); check it and it'll pop up a scale, with the different buttons for each note. Hit all eight at the same time and then press Start to exit, before going up the stairs to the right; you'll see a key on the bridge but as you run to it, it will fall off, or, if you walked across the bridge, then you can just pick it up normally.

Back to the courtyard, and go to the top-right; if you played the Organ correctly, the big spikes barring the path will have gone. If not, just try playing the organ again until they have. Go back to the Party Changer in the Great Hall and switch to Squall's party; note that you'll force a lever down, stopping the chandelier from falling again.

Back with Squall, the key that fell off will wash up in the water south of the bridge going to the right; grab it and then junction Holy to Elem-Atk-J, as well as make sure someone has the Treatment command, coupled with Berserk, Confuse, Death and Sleep junctioned to St-Def-J. If you can, junction them all up like that; if you have to miss any out, skip Sleep since that has less damaging repercussions. Also, junction Blind to your St-Atk-J. Enter the Armoury to the right, and you'll find the next boss.

Go back to the Party Changer, and switch over. From the Great Hall, head left and through the corridor, to get back to the entrance room. Go up the stairs and turn left this time; go down the stairs, noting the Party Changer at the bottom, and go through the door in the background. In this room, use the left-hand Party Changer.

Outide of the Floodgate, head up the stairs to the left, ignoring the save point and step on the Elevator on the right, before switching back to the secondary party. They'll now be up on the second floor if your party balance is right; in the primary group you need two guys and a girl, and in the secondary group, you'll want two girls and a guy to get the balance right on the elevator.

Head left into the Storage Room, and you'll find a Curaga draw point, and the Water Gate key. Go back to the Party Changer and switch to the primary team. Walk off the elevator, bringing the secondary party back down, and then make your way to the Floodgate. By the bottom-right corner of the cell should be a lever; press X to insert the Water Gate key and then press X again to push it. This will begin the process of draining all the water from the castle. Head to the Courtyard and search the fountain to find the Treasury key, before using the Party Changer in the Great Hall.

Switch your junctions over and junction either Quake or Water to Elem-Atk-J, and Thundaga to Elem-Def-J. Head south and check the door to use the Treasure Vault key. Inside you'll find four coffins, and a Holy draw point. Consider the coffins as being numbered from one to four, starting from the left; close Coffin 1, then Coffin 4, then Coffin 2, and finally Coffin 3. The boss will appear; examine it to fight it.

Make your way back to the Chandelier, and now that you've pushed the lever in the Great Hall, you can walk across it quite safely. Put Recover and Revive in your commands and makine sure that your Spr is high, before entering to find the next boss.

Go to the foot of the East Stairwell where the bell is, and use the Party Changer. Switch your junctions over and junction either Firaga and Thundaga to your Elem-Def-J, or Flare; I recommend the prior since Flare is useful for boosting stats. Make your way to the courtyard and take the north-east path that you unblocked earlier; the water will have drained from here so make your way through and you'll find a Rosetta Stone. Go back to the Courtyard and this time enter the Chapel; walk up the stairs to the right and cross the bridge. Enter the Clock Tower and make your way around the winding path 'til you reach the bell. Position yourself at the edge and wait 'til the bell is as close to you as possible, and then press X to hurl yourself at it. Go through the door you land in front of and you'll find the next boss.

Now we're almost done in Ultimecia's Castle; check to find a hidden Triple draw point, and then head back down to the base of the clock tower. Using Siren's Move-Find ability, you'll find a save point; use it. Trust me, you NEED to use it.

Now, this next bit is optional, and extremely hard, but if you want to do everything, then you'll definitely want to do this sidequest. Make your way back to the Party Changer in the Great Hall, but don't use it yet, instead sorting out your junctions. Junction Death to St-Def-J, Defend to every characters Combat Menu, make sure that at least one of your characters has 9,999 HP if not all three of them in the party, Triple on Spd-J, Ultima on Str-J, Meltdown on Vit-J, Curaga on Spr-J, Meteor on Mag-J, Full-Life on HP-J and nothing on Elem-Atk-J. Make sure you have the Recover and Revive commands on someone as well.

My GF setup was as follows:

I recommend either a combination of Squall, Zell and Rinoa, or Squall, Zell and Irvine for the upcoming boss; if you're using Rinoa, set her up for the Meteor Angel Wing trick described in the Limit Break section, or stock up on Pulse Ammo for Irvine. Also, buy as many Mega Phoenixes as you can and customise your GFs so they boost your characters as much as possible. You should still have all ten Holy Wars you got from card modding the Gilgamesh card; you may well want to use them in the upcoming battle.

Finally, make sure you know exactly where all of your commands are in the Combat Menu; you do not want to hesitate at all in the upcoming battle, or you're dead meat!

Switch over to the secondary party, and examine the bell to ring it; a message will pop up and a timer will start. Switch back to the primary party and run into the Chapel as fast as you can; you'll find Omega Weapon in front of the Organ.

Wow, finally done it! Admittedly, I pulled it off on my first attempt, but that's more down to me being a fluky git, than me being better than you if you had a lot of difficulty here. Once you've defeated Omega Weapon, head back to the save point in the Clock Tower and prepare your junctions: you can either spread your GFs and magic over all six characters, or keep it to your best three party members; the second option is far smarter in my opinion, since you'll be incredibly vulnerable without your usual compliment of GFs and magic. Stock back up on Mega Phoenixes and Megalixirs if you wish, though I don't think you'll really need to. Make sure that someone has the Treatment command, that you don't have any Draw commands, and that you've got as many Aura's as possible. Once you're ready, re-enter the Clock Tower and climb all the way to the top, ignoring the bell this time. You should find yourself amongst the gears and cogs making the clock run; use the Stop draw point and walk across the clock hands to the ladder. Climb down and follow the path until you find a save point. Use it and enter the final room in the game. The next few boss battles are actually all one fight, but it's easier for me to seperate them up =P

And that's it, you've completed FFVIII! Now prepare yourself to watch a very long and good end sequence; it's actually my favourite end sequence of any Final Fantasy game.

Disc Three - The Hidden World