Squall, a cold person in some ways is going to Balamb Garden, an Academy to train elite warriors, called SeeD, who are sent around the world and hired to carry out plans and fight. Squall is one of the newest SeeDs and with him, Zell and Selphie get hired to do a job for the Timber Owls and here Squall meets Rinoa, nicknamed 'the princess', she is a part of the timber owls, what he doesn't know is how much she will affect his life.
Seifer (Squall's rival) tries to kill the President of Galbadia. Seifer is taken by Galbadia's new ambassador, Sorceress Edea, a ruthless sorceress bent on finding Ellone, a mysterious girl whom everything seems to surround. Seifer claims himself to be the sorceress' knight after these events, and will die fighting for her.
Squall and his friends become involved in a callous war between the Sorceress, using Galbadians as her pawns, and the rest of the world.
As if this weren't enough Squall and his party keep having dreams about a man named laguna and his two friends Kiros and Ward who used to be Galbadian Soldiers.