List of Final Fantasy VIII locations

Throughout the course of Square Co., Ltd.'s computer role-playing game Final Fantasy VIII, the player will likely encounter most of the following destinations:

Balamb Island
Balamb Garden: A military academy at which SeeDs are trained. Balamb Garden is second largest of the three Gardens (Galbadia, Balamb, and Trabia). Balamb Garden was founded by Cid Kramer, who became its headmaster, using funds donated by a Shumi named NORG. Characters Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, Seifer Almasy and Selphie Tilmitt all attended this military academy, the latter being a transfer student from Trabia. Quistis Trepe stayed at the facility after graduation to teach. The hidden secret of the facility is its construction as a mobile fortress, able to hover at low altitudes and move freely over lowlands and sea.

Balamb Town: A small town on the southern coast of the island, not far from the Garden itself. Zell Dincht lived here with his adoptive parents. Ferries travel between Balamb Town and Dollet, on the mainland.

Fire Cavern: The site used by Balamb Garden for the final individual evaluation of potential SeeD students, and the resting place of the fire-elemental Guardian Force Ifrit who must be beaten in combat. It was outside this cavern that rivals Squall and Seifer are seen fighting in the game's introductory sequence, and where both receive the scars on their faces.

Western Continent (Galbadia)
Dollet: A coastal town on the northern arm of the continent. The SeeDs-in-training from Balamb Garden are taken here for the final examination; a live-combat situation in which they are tasked to perform flush-and-hold operations while experienced SeeDs fight off an invasion of the town from Galbadian soldiers.

Timber: A coastal town near the eastern edge of the continent, occupied by Galbadian forces. Many of the town's residents oppose the occupation and have formed various resistance groups. Rinoa Heartilly is a member of one of these resistance groups. The town's most noteworthy feature is its TV station, from where President Vinzer Deling of Galbadia first announces his nation's alliance with Sorceress Edea.

Galbadia Garden: The largest Garden in the SeeD co-operation, located towards the centre of the continental landmass. Sorceress Edea Kramer chose Galbadia Garden as her base of operations when she took power over the Galbadian Military forces. Galbadia Garden has the same flight capability as Balamb Garden. The player may visit Galbadia Garden only twice during the game, once when it is a building and still under the Garden scheme's control, and then again when it is an airship and under the control of Sorceress Edea. It is a tough place on both occasions with strong enemies to fight. The final major playable character, Irvine Kinneas, joins the party from Galbadia Garden.

Winhill: A quiet village near the continent's southern tip. Laguna Loire moved here after leaving the Galbadian army and began a relationship with a local woman, Raine. It is likely, though not certain, that he fathered Squall Leonhart while living here, though events drew him away before the child was born.
 * Deling City
 * Tomb Of The Unknown King
 * D-District Prison
 * Galbadia Missile Base

Shumi Island

 * Shumi Village
 * Chocobo Forest

Eastern Continent
Trabia Garden: The smallest of the three Gardens, located in the northern polar regions of the eastern continent, Selphie Tillmitt studied at this academy before being transferred to Balamb.

Fisherman's Horizon: An artifically constructed atoll built equidistantly between the western and eastern continents, home to ex-pats and wanderers. A railroad runs across the central ocean, through Fisherman's Horizon, and was in use until Esthar withdrew itself from interaction with the rest of the world.


 * Dried Salt Lake/Salt Flats

Esthar: The capital city of the technologically advanced and isolationist country of the same name. Laguna Loire's world travels eventually lead him to Esthar, where events transpire to leave him president of the city-state.


 * Research Facility

Lunar Gate: The base of Esthar's space programme. Essentially a spaceport with a catapult-like launch assist system for surface-to-orbital vessels.


 * Tear's Point

Lunatic Pandora: A mysterious artifact orginating from the planet's moon. During a preceding Lunar Cry event this artifact, originally called the Crystal Pillar, fell to the surface, destroying the Centra civilisation in the process. It was captured and moved to Esthar for study, where it became known as Lunatic Pandora. After the studies were abandoned, the Pillar was re-excavated by the Galbadians and used as a mobile attack platform.


 * Chocobo Forest(s)
 * Chocobo Sanctuary

Southern Continent

 * Edea's House
 * Chocobo Forest

Centra Archipelago

 * Centra Ruins

White SeeD Ship: A sailing ship crewed by a special group of SeeDs, responsible solely for the protection of Ellone, whom was moved to the ship in order to keep her from the Sorceress Ultimecia. The ship hides amongst the jagged, rocky remains of the Centra continent.


 * Chocobo Forest

Other
Moon: While not a location that the player may actually visit, the unnamed planet's moon plays a big role in the Final Fantasy VIII story. It is revealed through play that the moon is the original home and breeding ground of the monsters that infest the planet. A natural event called a Lunar Cry occurs periodically, in which masses of monsters converge towards a single area of the moon and are subsequently drawn from its surface and towards the planet itself in a flux tube (the massing of monsters on the moon's surface gives the satelite the appearance of an eye when observed from the planet, crying tears down towards the surface). Despite bringing monsters to the planet, Lunar Crys are not in themselves destructive, however during a previous Cry the Crystal Pillar also fell from the Moon, with an impact so violent it annihilated the continent of the Centra civilisation, liquifying much of the central landmass and flinging it out to cool into long, jagged island chains that radiate from the impact site.


 * Ultimecia's Castle

Deep Sea Research Facility: A mysterious construction that exists seperately to the main storyline. Not shown on the game map, but located at the extreme southwestern corner of the map projection, the research facility was built to allow access to, and subsequently seal away, an extremely dangerous monster known as Ultima Weapon.


 * Island Closest To Hell
 * Island Closest To Heaven