Final Fantasy VIII

Esthar (Disc 3)

You have completed the last lame dream sequence with Laguna and now you can begin exploring the huge city of Esthar with your team.

Squall will promise to leave Rinoa with Dr. Odine and the Doctor’s Aide and you can now wander around Esthar.

At this point you can challenge Dr. Odine to a cards in order to win the Ward Card. As long as you do not allow the rules to be mixed the game will be relatively easy to win as there are no crazy rules like Plus/Same/Random in Esthar. Just make sure not to spread Centra rules to this region by declining the game every time the Dr. says “Zat iz a rule unfamiliar to zis region. We shall play with Centra’s rules and ours.” Say no. Say no every single time until he does not ask and then accept the game.

Exit the Presidential Palace Hall (the room you start off in) and you can go either right or left. To the left is a doorway which you do not have access to yet, so head to the right and ride the floating platform.

There are quite a few things you should do whilst in Esthar, though you should spend some time exploring the city to get used to the layout. All around the city are floating pads that will transport you to various parts of the city. Use the following map and screenshots in order to navigate Esthar City.

Here are the things you can and should do while in Esthar:

1) Obtain [Occult Fan IV]:
Make your way to Area (3) near the Airstation and talk to the man in the white and blue robes speaking to the woman. To add to this and to be more specific, you are looking to speak with the Presidential Aide who will tell you that he is on break and he will ask you how you are enjoying the city. Talking to the Presidential Aide is the first step and is requirement before you can proceed.

Head over to the Presidential Palace again (or hop on the floating platform for a shortcut) and go inside. Speak to the person standing in front of the door and she will walk away revealing [Occult Fan IV].

2) Obtain [Combat King 004]:
You do not actually receive [Combat King 004] now but in order to receive it later there are some steps you can take care of right now.

Make your way to the top level of Area (14) on the map. You will have to get there by traveling through Area (15) or Area (13) because Area (14) has both an upper level and a lower level and you need to be on the upper level. Here is how to get there from the Presidential Palace: Head left into Area (1), then left again into Area (2). Then head to the right into Area (15) and continue across Area (15) directly onto the top level of Area (14).

Talk to the Esthar Soldier – all he will say is “Oh yeah. That’s right.”

3) Shopping Mall Rewards (Rosetta Stone): Make your way over to the Shopping Mall area in between area 8 and area 9. If you have been doing these steps in order and you just spoke to the Esthar Guard, just head to the right into area 12 (don’t forget the Curaga draw point!) and then right again into area 7. Head right one more time to reach the shopping area.

Touch one of the shops and you will gain access to a directory of all of the shops that are available. A few of the shops are closed but more importantly a few of the shops will sometimes give you a gift when you try to open them. Namely, Cheryl’s Store has the potential to give you a [Rosetta Stone] when you enter it. It may take several (as in 50 or even 100) attempts to enter the store before you finally receive the item. Just be aware that you do not need to re-enter the screen or re-enter the shops in order to get the item. Just keep trying to enter Cheryl’s Store and eventually you will receive it.

The Rosetta Stone is an incredibly powerful item that allows a Guardian Force you to learn “Abilityx4” allowing the player who equips that Guardian Force to utilize 4 abilities rather than 2 (the default) or 3 (which is an ability that some Guardian Forces naturally learn).

Make sure to grab [Pet Pals Vol. 5] and [Pet Pals Vol. 6] from the pet shop. You may also want to buy some Power Wrists and Hypno Crowns from Rinrin’s Store. You can use Siren’s “Tool-RF” ability to refine each item into 10 Aura Stones and then you can use Leviathan’s “Supt Mag-RF” ability to refine Aura Stones into Aura magic. Aura magic is one of the most incredibly powerful magics in the game. When cast on a player, Aura magic gives a small chance that they will be able to use their Limit Break without having low health.

Infinite Gil Trick

At this point in the game you can utilize the Infinite Gil trick (or cheat, depending on how you look at it). Check the cheats section for more information, however if this is your first playthrough you should avoid cheating entirely. It will ruin the game!

Time to leave the city… Make your way to the section marked “Entrance / Exit” on the map provided above.