The party awakens to find a car waiting for them. Upon arriving at the Presidential Palace, Dr. Odine agrees to help if Rinoa is left behind for observation. [Odine holds Ward’s card, btw.] Speak to Odine’s Assistant, who suggests taking a look around the city before heading over to the Lunar Gate. Exit the room then move right down the hallway until you reach a transport pod. Ride it up to exit the Palace.

Once on top, move forward until you reach the next screen. Esthar City is massive with many ways of reaching the same locations. The directions below are meant to give you an overview of different areas, but feel free to take optional routes. Your current goal is to learn how the city is laid out, as you will be moving through it later on a very tight time schedule.

Starting at the entrance of the Presidential Palace, use the Blizzard DP then head west. Continue forward until you reach another transport pod. There a several pods like this one scattered throughout the city, offering shortcuts to different areas. Until you become familiar with the city, I suggest walking instead of using them – but I will note where each one takes you as a reference. The pod in front of you goes to Odine’s Lab via either the Air Station or Inner Skyway.

Continuing west on foot brings you to a pod, which sits below a yellow tube. This one goes to Odine’s Lab or the Presidential Palace. There’s a short set of stairs on the right. Continue south until you reach another pod, which’ll take you to the Palace, City Entrance or Air Station. There are 3 paths to choose from here. Going south brings you to Odine’s Lab, which you can’t enter yet. Use the Quake DP in front of the guard then return to the previous pod area. Head west to a Save Point in the middle of the road. Note the green light that envelops it as you pass by. Continue past the Save Point to the next screen.

The pod here goes to Odine’s Lab or the Presidential Palace and there are 2 more paths to choose from. Heading west takes you to the Air Station, which is temporarily closed, so take the northern path. In the next area, you should see a dog running around and have a choice of continuing north or heading east. Going north will take you back to the very first transport pod you saw (near the Palace) except you’ll be approaching it from a different path. Instead, head east from the dog area, onto an overpass that runs above the yellow tube you saw earlier.

Continue heading east until you reach a group of locals taking in the view from the City’s Center. One of them mentions the Lunar Cry being inevitable. Another asks how you got to the city. If you tell her you walked, she’ll mention having friends in FH. Keep moving east until you reach a series of stairs. Use the Curaga DP on the right before heading down. At the bottom, you can either go north or south. Going north ultimately leads to a dead-end, though you can veer off before that to get back to the yellow tube area (you’ll pass another pod that travels to either the Palace or City Entrance, also).

From the bottom of the staircase, head south to reach a T-intersection. Continuing forward takes you to the City Entrance where you can either rent a car or use the elevator to leave the city. For now, head right to get to the Shopping Mall. Use the Tornado DP in the lower left corner then move over to any shop to bring up a Store Directory menu. Some of the shops are open for business. Others are closed, but repeat visits will usually open them to purchase rare items, potions and tools. Here’s a list of the 6 Esthar stores and what they offer:

1. RinRin’s Pet Shop – Buy Pet Pals, Vol. 5 & 6 plus GF recovery items and scrolls
2. Cloud’s Item Shop – Stock up on potions and ammo
3. Johnny’s Item Shop – Currently closed, but come back later to buy rare potions
4. Don Juan’s Junk Shop – Upgrade your weapons here
5. Karen’s Book Store – Buy any magazines you don’t already have
6. Cheryl’s Store - Currently closed, but come back later to buy rare items & tools

When you’re done shopping, board the nearby pod and ride to the City Entrance. Head south and either rent a car or step on the center platform to exit the city.