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The Final Fantasy franchise boasts countless memorable places. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has found a cherished place in fans' hearts, who celebrate the unique idiosyncrasies that make these worlds so unique. But, if one setting that warrants greater recognition than the others, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its stunning design, but also for being a truly bizarre school.

The Absolute Blockbuster Moment

Before, let's mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden turning into an airship and escaping from a missile attack was pure cinema. This institution was not just intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that enables them to create new tactics and move, based on the requirements of those in charge. Many easily regard it as one of the best airship concepts in the series, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

The change of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most unforgettable moments in gaming history.

The Initial View of a Gloomy Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial look of the environment this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot begins from the ground of the school and ascends to focus on the staggering magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears futuristic, but also angelic. The rounded structures evoke a specifically late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the golden accents on the building and the extended trails of light coming from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was created to be a serene place — too peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

An Catchy Theme Song

Complementing the calmness that the appearance of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s theme song. One of the dearest memories I have from childhood is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spraying water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head constantly. Whenever it returns to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to make it stop playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

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

A Intriguing Institution

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting as well as an establishment. For starters, it accepts kids from 5 to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a massive church. There are numerous military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Ironic Philosophy

If you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you find out that the credo of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the impression that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, given that the training area, where students find living monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the entire school available at all hours during the day, maybe that’s what they intend by “playing.” While combat preparation is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is terrible, since students are consuming so many frankfurters that the personnel have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Policies

Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we should expect from a combat school, but conversely seems weirdly humorous. First, there’s no dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the evenings, except it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they lag in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is really concerned about its students’ romantic activities. The school formally recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not fighting with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Appearance

Starting with the delicate futuristic design of the building to the ironies and debatable practices of the institution, there are countless aspects of Balamb Garden to admire. Many of us like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than simply aesthetics.