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This FF franchise boasts many unforgettable places. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has found a cherished place in players' hearts, who celebrate the distinctive quirks that make these areas so special. But, if one setting that deserves more attention than the others, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its elegant design, but additionally for being a incredibly strange school.

The Absolute Movie Reveal

Before, we must mention the obvious. Balamb Garden turning into an flying vessel and escaping from a missile attack was pure cinema. This institution was not only designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that allows them to establish new strategies and relocate, depending on the needs of those in control. I readily consider it as one of the coolest airship creations in the series, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

The conversion of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more iconic moments in video game history.

The First View of a Brooding Home

When we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first view of the environment this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot starts from the ground of the school and rises to focus on the awe-inspiring size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel advanced, but also somehow heavenly. The flowing structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the gilded accents on the building and the extended trails of light coming from the enormous glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was built to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an establishment that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Memorable Melody

Complementing the calmness that the design of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s theme song. One of the most cherished recollections I have from childhood is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spouting water, and listening to the gentle theme song. The issue is that it keeps playing in your head constantly. Once it comes back to my mind, I’m compelled to look up on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to make it stop playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Soothing tune that sticks in your mind
• Central courtyard with water features
• Sentimental feelings for countless players

The Fascinating Academy

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a location as well as an establishment. For starters, it enrolls kids from 5 to fifteen years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it looks like a enormous church. There are numerous military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Contradictory Philosophy

If you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the sense that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. However, given that the training center, where students find living monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the whole school available at all hours during the day, maybe that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the most important part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is poor, since students are eating so many frankfurters that the personnel have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Regulations

Students are governed by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we would expect from a combat school, but on the other seems strangely humorous. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student may be dismissed if they lag in their curriculum, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is really concerned about its students’ sex life. The school officially recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true risk of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not battling with weapons and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

More Than Just Aesthetics

Starting with the delicate futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and questionable practices of the institution, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to appreciate. Many of us like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than just surface appeal.