Balamb Town

Balamb is a town located on the country of the same name in Final Fantasy VIII.

A peaceful seaside town, Balamb is a popular tourism spot and is connected to the Galbadian continent via a transcontinental railway.

The town was originally founded by those in pursuit of a rare type of fish named the Balamb Fish. Considered a delicacy, the Balamb Fish attracted fishermen and seafood chefs to the area, and soon a small community began to take root. The town's naturally large harbor was the perfect home base for fleets of fishing vessels, as well as commercial passenger ships. Before long, word spread among Galbadians about Balamb's beautiful coastline and refreshing atmosphere, as well as its top-notch food.

As a result, Balamb blossomed into a resort destination, hosting tourists from all over Galbadia. An underwater railway was built to aid the transport of both people and supplies, and the elegant Balamb Hotel was built to house vacationers and serve the best Balamb Fish dishes the town had to offer. Small souvenir shops and other tourist-related stores also sprung up around town, and Balamb thrived as a sparsely-populated, politically neutral island nation.

Story
Balamb town's dominance on the island was diminished twelve years before the start of the game, when Balamb Garden, a training center for the elite military force SeeD, was erected. Although being the only other major population center on the island, Balamb's residents and Garden students do not often cross paths, and the townspeople take little notice of its large neighbor.

Because of its isolated location, Balamb residents often revel in their ability to ignore military conflicts going on in the rest of the world, and to some extent, resent that the Garden's presence serves as a reminder of those problems. The townspeople attach a great deal of respect to those who choose to attend the Garden, which they see as a school for the gifted.

Balamb's role as a haven for peaceful existence is shattered during Sorceress Edea's rule of Galbadia. Edea, under the control of Sorceress Ultimecia, orders Galbadian troops to seize the town and hold its residents hostage while they search for a woman named Ellone. The military overruns the Balamb Hotel, barring the owners from entering the town and using it to house their troops. The Galbadians cut off supply lines, diverting food and other shipments directly to the troops at the hotel, denying local shops and people access to necessary items. The military leaders threaten to burn the town to the ground if anyone protests their actions or attempts to subvert their authority.

A group of SeeDs from Balamb Garden, led by Squall Leonhart, infiltrate the town by claiming to have information which could lead to Ellone's capture. Once inside, Squall, along with Balamb native Zell, find and defeat both the Galbadian commander, Fujin, and the Galbadian captain, Raijin. With their leaders in retreat and no sign of Ellone, the Galbadian troops withdraw from Balamb.

Location
Balamb Town, located on the south-western edge of the Balamb continent. It is a small port town to the south west of Balamb Garden. Is ideal for oceanic voyage and is also connected to the Transcontinental Railroad of Galbadia.

Layout
Located at the town entrance. The player can rent a car for a small fee. Although one can avoid random encounters on the field in a car, it needs fuel to keep running.
 * Car Rental:

The main street is bordered by residential houses, one of them being Zell's. The junk shop is found here if one wants a weapon remodeled.
 * Residential District:
 * Draw points - Thunder

Linked to the transcontinental railroad that leads to Galbadia, this train features a special cabin for SeeD use.
 * Train Station:
 * Items - Timber Maniacs Magazine (disappears if the player picks the magazine in the hotel).

The Balamb Hotel, the tourists' destination overlooking the sea. Laguna Loire once stayed here during his travels and wrote about it in an article of Timber Maniacs. A location involved in Zell and Pigtail Girl's sidequest.
 * Balamb Hotel:
 * Items - Timber Maniacs Magazine (disappears if the player reads the magazine at the station), Combat King 003

Home to Zell Dincht and his mother. Although the lower level of the house is free to travel, Zell is protective of his room, located upstairs from the main room, and only reluctantly allows the party enter after it is discovered the Galbadian army has occupied the hotel. A save point can be found in Zell's room.
 * The Dincht's:

The Balamb harbor is a public facility, allowing Balamb Garden to dock its water-based vehicles here for missions, exams and other events.
 * Harbor:
 * Draw points - Cure (After the player has witnessed a G-soldier drop money in the water during the time Galbadian forces occupy the town, this draw point also gives gil).

Shops
The junk shop can be found opposite of Ma Dincht's house, and the item shop is outside the train station.

People Associated With Balamb

 * Zell Dincht, grew up downtown.
 * Ma Dincht, local resident, mother of Zell.
 * Queen of Cards, often found outside the train station.
 * Big Bad Rascal, local resident, friend of Zell.
 * Fujin, Galbadian Commander during occupation.
 * Raijin, Galbadian Captain during occupation.
 * Hotel Owner, owner of the Balamb Hotel.
 * Hotel Owner's Wife, wife of the Balamb Hotel owner.

Liberating Balamb
After the events in Fishermans Horizon the party learns Galbadia has occupied Balamb. Zell is a mandatory party member for this part, and will force himself into the formation if he is not already in the party when the player enters Balamb. Talking to the guard lets the player into the town. The Galbadian forces will not allow Squall and friends leave Balamb once they are in, but there is a little sidequest that allows the party to exit before concluding all the events there. The player should talk to the Big Bad Rascal in Zell's house twice, and speak to Ma Dincht, go to the hotel and talk to the guard, who will tell Squall to look for the captain. At the harbor, the player must wait a few minutes then head to the house next to Zell's, and talk to Big Bad Rascal here, then go to the town exit. The player must talk to the guard who won't let them leave, and keep the text window open so that Big Bad Rascal can sneak to the Hotel Owner. Back in town the player can can now exit with the help of Big Bad Rascal.

This way the player can get the Pandemona card slightly earlier as the girl in Zell's neighbor's now has her father's cards.

The guards outside the hotel tell Squall to look for the captain. There is an NPC called Tabloid Guy behind the cars at the docks, but his hints are pricey and unnecessary. Since the group can't stay in the hotel Zell will let the crew in his room. If the third party member is Selphie and Squall implies Selphie is being annoying, she deducts a SeeD rank from Squall. Quistis will make a note of Zell's T-board and relate a humorous story where Zell crashed into the girls' restroom with it. Irvine marvels at the guns Zell has hung up on the wall and wants to try one of them. Rinoa is simply impressed Zell's room is so tidy.

On the docks the guards have a dog and after talking to them and going back to Zell's house there is smoke coming from the door. Ma Dincht will tell the captain was there cooking fish. There are two options of finding the captain, either by boarding the train, or using the dog from the docks. Using the dog gives a higher SeeD ranking. To board the train the player must simply go to the train where the soldiers are knocked out. Talking to a knocked-out soldier enough times he'll keep moving away from the stairs that lead to the train. Boarding the train in this manner awards 65 SeeD Exp.

To use the dog, the player should head to the docks and talk to the dog and then follow it to the train. This gives 100 SeeD Exp.

Which ever way the player uses to find the captain, they must return to the hotel for the boss fights.

Combat King 003
The player can get the Combat King 003 magazine for Zell by staying at the hotel ever since Balamb has been liberated. In the morning Zell will be gone and the player will find him downstairs, where he receives the magazine from the Library Girl with a Pigtail. The player can trigger various scenes concerning the two by visiting the Balamb Garden library. The dialogue is more complete the more scenes in the sidequest the player has witnessed.

Triple Triad
The town of Balamb uses Balamb rules, of which the default rule is just Open. The student found on the docks of Balamb clears all the rules the player is carrying with them, stopping rules from spearing when playing new opponents.
 * Zell's card can be won from Ma Dincht.
 * Pandemona's card can be won from the hotel owner after the town has been liberated from the Galbadians.

Queen of Cards is also found in Balamb outside the train station, whose sidequest the player can do if they send her to Dollet.

Musical Themes
Played upon entering the town; "Breezy" is considered Balamb's theme tune. During Galbadia's occupation the tune.

"Intruders" was played from the same soundtrack.

Trivia

 * Entering Zell's room activates a series of short discussions between the characters which reveal more about Zell. Which discussion that occurs depends on which characters are in the party.
 * The town is famous for two types of fish; the first is the Balamb Fish, a large fish with turquoise scales, which is a delicacy; the second is the Badamb Fish, which numbs its victims and makes consumers ill when eaten.
 * The Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania guide reveals that due to the Balamb Fish's amazing flavor, it is known as one of the three Great Delicacies of the World. Among the other three Great Delicacies of the World are the Wind Cacti that dwell in Galbadia's arid regions, also known as the famous West Cactus. The sweet pulp of its flesh is highly valued in the desert region. The third one is never named.
 * During the beta-testing of Final Fantasy IX, developers used a fully-modeled Balamb Town to test town features.
 * When Squall, Zell and Selphie are heading for Timber, the player can talk to the a mechanic at the Car Rental to trigger a scene where Zell boasts of having done a hundred pull-ups on the gas station sign.
 * After Balamb has been liberated, if the player talks to a chef on the harbor with Selphie in the party, they can trigger a scene where Selphie reveals her favorite food.