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This Final Fantasy franchise includes numerous unforgettable locations. Starting with Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has earned a special place in fans' hearts, who celebrate the unique details that make these worlds so remarkable. But, if one place that warrants more recognition than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but also for being a incredibly bizarre school.

An Pure Blockbuster Scene

First, we must highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden turning into an airship and fleeing from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This institution was not just designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that permits them to create new tactics and relocate, based on the demands of those in control. I readily consider it as one of the coolest airship creations in the series, together 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 most unforgettable moments in gaming history.

A First View of a Brooding Home

When we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first look of the environment this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the ground of the school and rises to focus on the awe-inspiring magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears advanced, but also somehow heavenly. The curvy structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s concept of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded accents on the building and the long trails of light coming from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was built to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an academy that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Soundtrack

Matching the calmness that the design of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s background music. One of the most cherished memories I have from being a kid is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spraying water, and hearing to the lullaby-ish theme song. The catch is that it keeps playing in your head forever. Whenever it returns to my mind, I’m forced to look up on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to get it out of playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Gentle tune that sticks in your mind
• Main area with water features
• Nostalgic associations for countless players

The Compelling Academy

Balamb Garden is compelling as a setting and also an institution. First, it accepts kids from 5 to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a enormous church. There are a lot of military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Contradictory Motto

If you access the Balamb Garden Network using one of the in-game terminals, you find out that the slogan of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the sense that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, considering that the facility, where students find real monsters they can battle, is the only place in the whole school available at all hours during the day, perhaps 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 terrible, since students are consuming so many frankfurters that the staff have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Policies

Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we would expect from a military school, but conversely seems strangely humorous. For example, there’s no dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the evenings, unless it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they lag in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely worried about its students’ romantic activities. The school formally advises that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not battling with gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

More Than Only Aesthetics

Starting with the elegant futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and debatable practices of the institution, there are numerous aspects of Balamb Garden to celebrate. We all like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.