Deep Sea Research Center

The Deep Sea Research Center, also known as Battleship Island, is a hidden island located far out in the middle of the ocean, in the south-west corner of the world map of Final Fantasy VIII. It is an abandoned, half-sunken laboratory formerly used to research draw effects, however, other, less commonly known research may have been going on.

Deep Sea Research Center can be found as early as disc 2 when Balamb Garden becomes mobile, but it cannot be entered. The party must wait until gaining access to Ragnarok to land on top of the structure to get inside.

Story
If Zell is in the party he will tell about the place's history. Known as "Battleship Island", researchers working at this facility were attempting to develop another draw system, gathering different energy and materials for their study. They were in pursuit of a large draw point said to be found somewhere on the planet. It is said their research used Guardian Forces for their experiments. It can be deduced the researchers found what they were looking for, and left fearing the power they had found.

Inside the facility there is a blue pulsing core and in the middle the party can find the Guardian Force Bahamut. Traversing to the bottom of the facility lets the party find the most powerful Guardian Force in the world, within a powerful monster that seems to have been sealed away by the researchers.

Obtaining Bahamut
There is a flashing blue pillar in the middle of the first room. If the core is in the middle of a pulse and the party moves, they enter a random battle. When the party approaches the core, a voice asks them a question (So you wish to challenge me?). If answered correctly (It's not our will to fight), the party will fight a Ruby Dragon, and if the party wins, the next question (Begging me for mercy?) is asked, and the correct answer is "Never".

If the party answers correctly they will fight another Ruby Dragon, but if any are answered incorrectly the party will be warped back to the entrance and they will have to start over again. The trick is that on the final question (Damned imbeciles. Why do you wish to fight?), there is a hidden answer, below the main two (revealed to be "It's our nature"). If the hidden option is selected, Squall and the party will fight the Guardian Force Bahamut.

Deep Sea Deposit
When Bahamut is defeated the blue core is destroyed. If the party leaves the area and returns, the site allows access to the facility's lower levels by a vine structure. There are a series of floors leading down to the excavation site, called the "Deep Sea Deposit". Squall must open up each door using units of pressure, but must conserve enough units for the final lock at the bottom of the excavation site.

The party starts with a set number of units, and must conserve ten if they are to fight Ultima Weapon. There is a point where the party can gain more units. If the party uses the pressure units to access the excavation site, the Enc-None ability can be used to traverse the site. If the party uses Zell to force open the jammed door leading into the excavation site without using up units, the party encounters a number of scripted battles which cannot be avoided using Enc-None.

When the party reaches the bottom, Squall will use the last of his pressure units. After a pause, sounds emanate from above and the air gets heavy. The party is thrust into a battle against Ultima Weapon, said to be the second most powerful opponent in the game (behind Omega Weapon). Ultima Weapon, carries the strongest GF in the game, Eden.

Steam pressure units
There is a terminal buried underneath the rubble in level 1 and examining it gives the player 20 energy units. Four units are spent opening the door to level 2. On level 2, the player should expend 2 units to access sector 2. On level 3, they should expend 4 units to access the steam room and use the terminal to gain 7 extra units, then return to sector 2 and expend 1 unit to access sector 6.

From then on the player should expend no more than 1 unit each floor until reaching level 6, where they can expend 4 units to access the excavation site and still have 10 units left over to use at the bottom. Alternatively, the player can ask Zell to open the last door without expending any units, but it will wake up the monsters and the way down will be plagued by encounters against strong opponents that can't be avoided with Enc-None.

Location
The Research Center is located far from any land mass out in the vastness and serenity of the sea. The corner of the map is a recurring location for secret locations in the games.



Layout
The blue light in the middle warns visitors with a message "blue light leads to death". Those who reach the center and answer the mysterious voice's questions fight Bahamut to claim him as a Guardian Force.
 * Blue Light:
 * Guardian Force: Bahamut

After defeating Bahamut a hole appears on the ground. The player can't initially descend, but if they leave the Deep Sea Research Center and initiate a conversation with a character or NPC (such as talking to party members inside the Ragnarok), a save point will appear and they can advance down the hole.
 * Cavern:

After defeating Bahamut the party can descend deeper into the facility. The player can access the next floor by expending units of steam pressure. The deeper the player advances in the complex the different fish they can see through the windows.
 * Floors:
 * Draw points: Dispel (level 2)

If the player expends the correct amount of steam in each floor they open access to the steam room on level 3 where they can get more steam pressure units.
 * Steam Room:
 * Items: 7 steam pressure units
 * Draw points: Esuna

In the elevator room the door takes four pressure units to open, or the player may ask Zell to open the door without using any units if he is in the party. Using Zell wakes up the monsters in the lower parts of the facility. The player needs to conserve ten units to have enough to fight Ultima Weapon at the bottom.
 * Elevator:

In the areas after the elevator the player will encounter many strong monsters. The first area has a save point.
 * Depths:
 * Draw points: Triple (third area, hidden), Ultima (fifth area, hidden, never refills)

The bottom floor has a hidden save point and a device that requires the use of ten steam pressure units to summon the Ultima Weapon.
 * Bottom Floor:
 * Guardian Forces: Eden

Enemies
When calculating the enemies' levels, the game uses the normal formula, but adds 15 levels. If the player has Zell open the door to the deeper levels of the facility, the enemy encounters will be unavoidable even with Enc-None equipped. After Ultima Weapon has been felled enemy encounters in the facility cease.


 * Anacondaur
 * Bomb
 * Blood Soul
 * Buel
 * Oilboyle (Steam Room only)
 * Blue Dragon (Steam Room only)
 * Imp
 * Torama
 * Grendel
 * Tri-Face
 * Ruby Dragon
 * Behemoth
 * Iron Giant
 * Elnoyle (very low chance to encounter in the bottommost floors)
 * Bahamut (Boss)
 * Ultima Weapon (Boss)

Musical themes
The Deep Sea Research Center's theme is "Junction".

Trivia

 * Battleship Island (Gunkanjima in Japanese, alternately called Hashima) is a small island near Nagasaki, Japan famous for the abandoned city of Hashima built around a coal mine that went into decline after Japanese power plants switched to using petroleum. Both the real Battleship Island and the one in Final Fantasy VIII house ruined structures.

Forschungsinsel Isola di ricerca sottomarina