Why would Final Fantasy VIII battle not load

it entirely depends on which battle doesnt it, although final fantasy 8 was possibly the worst game for freezes in the series and had a tendence to create impossible situations for the player that could only be overcome by reverting to an old save. the second reason may be that in fact the battle was with a final fantasy "white card", one of the enemies that can be beneficial to the party if given a rare item etc. battles with these "white cards" can take a few seconds more to load, but it can be enough to convince the player of a freeze all the best It could also be due to the fact that your disc has scratches on the shiny side, or in my case, a deep groove, as it was used/borrowed from a friend. Dust could be the problem too, or anything else that is on the shiny side, that has to be read by the laser of the ps1/ps2 scanner. Check your disc, and if it needs cleaning, clean it with a slightly damp rag (that doesn't leave any residue or lint) in individual strokes, starting at the very center of the disc, coming straight out from the center to the edge, and do that all the way around, but take your time, as you don't want to rush it, or mess your disc up worse than before.