Esthar City



Esthar City (エスタシティ) is a location in Final Fantasy VIII. The capital city of the reclusive nation Esthar, Esthar City spans almost the entirety of the Great Plains of Esthar. It, along with the rest of the country, is hidden behind an OCS (Optical Camouflage System) barrier, an invention that cloaks Esthar from view of the outside world.

Story
For a long time, Esthar was governed by the cruel sorceress Adel. With the help of Dr. Odine, she sought a child to whom she could give her powers to. She set her sights on Ellone, but Laguna Loire used Ellone as bait to seal Adel's powers and launch her into space. After this, Laguna was hailed as the hero of the Esthar revolution, and was elected president, with his two friends Kiros and Ward working together with him. The Sorceress War was thus abruptly ended, and with no explanation, Esthar sealed its borders and shut itself off from the rest of the world, even constructing an optical camouflage system around the entire perimeter of the country to visually conceal it from outsiders.

By the time of Final Fantasy VIII, Squall arrives in Esthar carrying the unconscious Rinoa on his back. Seeing only the Great Salt Lake, and no city in sight, they begin to think the reclusive Esthar no longer exists. They end up discovering that most of the continent is hidden by a cloaking device, enter the city, and meet with Dr. Odine. He advises them to go out into space, and Esthar's Lunar Base, to talk to Ellone about going back into time to find out Rinoa's fate. Squall splits his group into two; his group will go into space, while Zell's group protects the sorceress Edea who has traveled with the party seeking a cure for her sorceress powers.

Later on, Seifer and the Galbadian army have raised the Lunatic Pandora from beneath the ocean, and steer it over Esthar towards Tears' Point. Zell devises a plan to board the Lunatic Pandora, and successfully does so, only to be thrown right out. The Lunatic Pandora reaches Tears' Point and initiates the Lunar Cry with disastrous results; the city becomes overrun with monsters and many civilians are killed as the Esthar Soldiers stationed in the city are overwhelmed. Only the presidential palace remains untouched.

Layout
The limits of Esthar City actually takes up the entire western side of Esthar. While the city can be explored on the World Map the player only gets to enter the city's central districts closest to the Presidential Residence.

Located south-west in prospective to the Presidential Residence this laboratory is Odine's primary labs where he conducts sorceress research. While in his other labs outside the city; the Lunatic Pandora Laboratory, he conducts research on the Lunatic Pandora.
 * Dr. Odine's Laboratory:
 * Draw points: Double (never refills), Flare (hidden, never refills), Quake (outside the lab)

West in prospective to the Presidential Residence the airstation provides docking privileges for aircraft such as the Ragnarok.
 * Esthar Airstation:

Home of the Esthar presidential staff and the president himself. Sorceress Adel once ruled from this palace and now her stasis chamber is shaped in the Presidential Residence's image. The residence serves as president Laguna's abode.
 * Presidential Residence:
 * Items: Occult Fan IV magazine (the player must leave the palace after Dr. Odine takes Rinoa to his care, and then return there before going to space to find the magazine).
 * Draw points: Blizzard (outside the palace)
 * Triple Triad: A presidential aide has the Phoenix card as part of Queen of Cards sidequest.

The streets of Esthar are much more expansive than in any other location in the game. Items: Combat King 004 (obtain from a soldier on a bridge during the Lunatic Pandora incident) Draw point: Curaga (on a junction near entrance)
 * Streets:

The shopping mall is a place for shops. The shopping is conducted by operating the terminals. Items: Rosetta Stone (Cheryl's Shop; the shop is closed but will randomly give a Rosetta Stone when the player attempts to access it) Draw points: Tornado Located at the city entrance cars can be hired here for a small fee. Although one can avoid Random Encounters on the field in a car, the car needs fuel to run.
 * Shopping Mall:
 * Rent-a-Car:

Shops

 *  - Items only appear with the Familiar ability.

Location
The largest location in terms of size on the World Map, Esthar City covers the entire western portion of the Esthar continent. Players can enter the "location proper" by either landing on the airstation or driving/traveling to the Presidential Building on the world map.

Transportation services
Esthar City is served by a platform shuttle service that runs throughout the inner city.

Rare Magazines
There are two rare magazines that can be found in Esthar City. The first one is Occult Fan IV. To get it, the player must leave Rinoa in Dr. Odine's care in the palace. Later, the player can talk to a presidential aide near the Airstation, who leaves the screen. Returning to the palace the player can find the presidential aide has left a stack of magazines on the floor, among which the player may find the Occult Fan IV.

During the Lunatic Pandora chase, the player can obtain the Combat King 004 by talking to a soldier on a bridge near the Airstation.

Triple Triad
Estharians play with Esthar region rules, where Elemental and Same Wall are the starting rule. However, Same Wall doesn't appear in games unless the player spreads the rule Same to the region first.
 * Phoenix card can be won off a presidential aide in the palace as part of the Queen of Cards sidequest.
 * Ward's card can be won off Dr. Odine.
 * Squall's card can be won off the president of Esthar in the palace or on the Ragnarok before the final battle at the Lunatic Pandora.

Enemies
Esthar City, peaceful as it is, may be overwhelmed with monsters, and this will happen permanently due to the Lunar Cry. Before the Lunar Cry, monsters may be encountered on the overworld map of Esthar only, but after the said event, monsters can be found inside.

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Before Lunar Cry

 * Overworld
 * Bite Bug
 * Gayla
 * Glacial Eye
 * Malboro
 * Mesmerize
 * valign="top" |

Lunatic Pandora Attack

 * City Interior
 * G-Soldier
 * Elite Soldier
 * GIM47N
 * GIM52A
 * SAM08G
 * valign="top" |

After Lunar Cry

 * City Interior
 * Elnoyle
 * Behemoth
 * Iron Giant
 * Turtapod
 * Torama
 * Imp


 * Overworld
 * Behemoth
 * Imp
 * Iron Giant
 * Torama
 * Turtapod
 * Elnoyle (on certain streets)
 * }

Musical Themes

 * "Silence and Motion" - Esthar's theme. It is an ambient composition of electronic synth whistles and chimes that give the impression of technological progress and marvels that Esthar is abundant with. A piano arrangement of the theme is included on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VIII album.
 * "SeeD" - Played during and after the Lunar Cry incident in Esthar.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Esthar City appears as the battle locale during the "The Man with the Machine Gun" Battle Music Sequence of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

Trivia

 * The protagonist of Final Fantasy VII, Cloud Strife, is referenced in the shop title; Cloud's Shop. However, this is not the case in the original Japanese version of the game, where the shop is called "Esthar Shop" (エスタショップ).