I gotta say, the early part of FFVIII is easily my least favorite part of the game. Until the end of the SeeD Exam, it's pretty boring. Part of that is probably a side effect of having played the game so much and the fact that you spend so much time in Balamb Garden over the course of the game ("Balamb Garden" is a fine song until you've had to listen to it for hours' worth of playtime, and then you start to get a little tired of it). I do enjoy the banter of the various NPCs around Garden though. They have some neat stuff to say, and I like that they made an effort to make groups of NPCs "converse" with each other. I also enjoy the part in the Cafeteria at the very beginning where Zell runs in to get hot dogs, only to find out that they're sold out, and then Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin decide to chase him down for speeding. Fujin giving Raijin the first of many shin kicks is great as well.
I like the little exchange at the beginning between Squall and Quistis where Quistis makes fun of Squall for being able to predict what he'll say. His "I'm more complex than you think" is the truth, but he's not willing to reveal that complexity. The course of the game reveals that Quistis doesn't understand him as much as she thinks she does, and I kinda respect Squall for being willing to be misunderstood. I have a hard time with that. If someone misinterprets something I'm saying, I have a hard time not trying to correct them, but he's willing to let it go. Props for that.
The little "tour" Squall gives Selphie at the beginning is kinda neat, too. I like the part where Selphie tries to recruit Squall to be on the Garden Festival Committee, and Squall's like, "Let's just continue" without skipping a beat. I like reading some of the stuff at the student terminal, too. I knew this Squall fansite whose layout was based on that thing, but I think it's shut down now. I tried to find it not too long ago but to no avail. Oh well. Good fansite, too.
Also, I gotta wonder about this Fire Cavern prerequisite of acquiring a low-level GF thing. Is the Fire Cavern like some sort of mass production factory where they churn out a bunch of Ifrits or what? Where do they get all these GFs for SeeD candidates and stuff? I dunno. It's a mystery!
--
http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2011/8/22/2094c2de-bae8-4f5b-9f27-67eaff0aaeaf.jpg