Great Salt Lake



The Great Salt Lake (大塩湖) is a location in Final Fantasy VIII. It is where Squall and the party manage to enter the hidden city of Esthar.

Its name is sometimes confused with "The Salt Flats", which is the title for the location's music.

Story
The Great Salt Lake used to be what its namesake stands for, but some sort of experiments conducted by the nearby country of Esthar destroyed all life, leaving behind huge fossils and an undead boss, Abadon. The former image was taken during Laguna's time and he used the picture in one of his Timber Maniacs articles. However, during the time the player party passes through the area, the lake is dried up and the city looming in the horizon has vanished.

Squall, carrying the unconscious Rinoa on his back, passes through the Great Salt Lake accompanied by Zell, Selphie, Edea, Quistis, and Irvine on their trip to Esthar to find out why Rinoa has fallen unconscious. After defeating the undead boss, Squall and the party arrive at a dead end; a cliff overlooking an endless landscape of salt.

When they try to find a way down, the party notice a strange flicker at one end of the cliff. Touching the flicker, a ladder appears out of thin air, leading to a dark chamber. Without hesitation, the party climbs up the ladder into a chamber filled with hexagon panels, learning it is part of Esthar's Optical Camouflage System (OCS) used to hide the entire city from outside view.

Layout

 * Seaside Station

An abandoned station at the end of the Horizon Bridge. Just a few miles from it lies the Great Salt Lake.

The lifeless landscape is ridden with dinosaur skeletons and Draw Points can be found by walking along the paths formed by them.
 * Salt Flats
 * Draw points: Meteor (hidden), Thundaga (never refills)

The monster Abadon hides in the depths of the old lake to challenge those who try to cross its flats.
 * Canyon

At one of the dead ends of the cliff the player can find a hidden Save Point.
 * Dead End

Location
Located just west of Esthar City, the Great Salt Lake is on the western side of Esthar's camouflage wall that hides the city from the outside world.

Monsters

 * NB: This list applies to the monsters found within and around the Great Salt Lake area.

All

 * Vysage
 * Lefty
 * Righty
 * Abadon (Boss)

Before Lunar Cry

 * Mesmerize
 * Malboro
 * Hexadragon
 * Caterchipillar
 * Glacial Eye
 * Gayla
 * Bite Bug

After Lunar Cry

 * Imp
 * Torama
 * Behemoth
 * Iron Giant
 * Turtapod
 * Forbidden
 * Cockatrice
 * Ruby Dragon

Musical Theme
"The Salt Flats" is the area's theme music.

Großer Salzsee Grande lago salato