That strange shaped building in the game that serves as a school for soldiers. It is called the Garden, Squall is a trainee in the school. It is a private school for kids from 6 to 19 years of age. If a kid doesn't pass the graduation exam during the ages of 15 to 19, the kid will be expelled from Garden. Only graduates of the Garden are the ones able to use magic.
SeeD
A much harder goal than passing the graduation exam is to become a member of SeeD. SeeD is a special force like the French Foreign Legion. Only highly capable trainees have a chance to try out for SeeD. Squall is hoping to become a member of the squad. While Squall was an excellent pupil of Garden, Seifer (an upperclassman to Squall) was so reckless and warlike he was not allowed to become a member of SeeD. His envy of Squall led to his decision to choose him for the training duel (where he used illegal tactics against Squall, leading to the scarring.
Balamb
Balamb is a large island, comparable to Australia. Balamb Garden is one of many Gardens throughout the world; there seem to be different Gardens in other countries. Balamb Garden is treated as a school, with depicted areas such as the nurse's office, corridors, a restaurant for the students, and the main gate (these have been shown in Japanese game magazines). Though students are required to enter and exit through the main gate, there seems to be a secret path some students use to meet with their sweethearts.
Plot Elements
Squall attends a school by the name of GARDEN. It's a military school for young and late teens, which teaches them many skills, most notebly the teaching of Magic, which is seen as a great and rare skill to possess, as well as hard to learn. Students are given an exam in their later years to determine wether they stay enrolled in the school, or are expelled out. Students who successfully graduate from this school get the option of joining a special forces group known as SeeD. One of Squall's main goals is to indeed, become a member of SeeD.
Field Graphics
When you are playing the game, all characters will appear on the field graphics, instead of just the one member who is leading the party. Characters will be considerably bigger than Final Fantasy 7's field characters.
Battle System Elements
New commands added to the Final Fantasy 8 battle system are said to make the battles even more outstanding than ever, and also intended to add more challenge to the game, as well as offering something fresh.
The GunBlade
Squall uses the Blade Combo, which may remind you of a Limit Break. Its a series of slashes, which if you hit the R button at a certain time, can top it all off with firing of the Gun portion of the blade.
