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The Final Fantasy franchise includes many unforgettable settings. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a special place in fans' hearts, who admire the unique quirks that make these worlds so remarkable. However, when it comes to one place that warrants greater recognition than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but also for being a absolutely strange school.

The Absolute Cinematic Reveal

Before, we must address the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and escaping from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This location was not only designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that enables them to develop new strategies and relocate, based on the demands of those in charge. Many easily consider it as one of the coolest airship creations in the franchise, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

This transformation of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most memorable moments in video game history.

The First Look of a Brooding Home

As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first glimpse of the location this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the floor of the school and ascends to zoom in on the staggering scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels futuristic, but also heavenly. The curvy structures recall a specifically late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the golden accents on the building and the long trails of light coming from the immense glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a massive angel. It was built to be a tranquil place — too peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

An Memorable Soundtrack

Complementing the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s background music. One of the fondest memories I have from being a kid is strolling around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spurting water, and hearing to the soothing theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head indefinitely. Once it comes back 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.

• Gentle tune that sticks in your mind
• Main hub with fountain features
• Sentimental memories for countless players

A Compelling Academy

Balamb Garden is compelling as a setting and also an institution. First, it enrolls kids from 5 to 15 years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it looks like a massive church. There are a lot of military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Ironic Motto

When you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I never have the impression that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, given that the facility, where students encounter real monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the whole school available at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the most important part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are consuming so many hot dogs that the staff have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Rules

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, on one hand, we should anticipate from a combat school, but conversely seems weirdly funny. For example, there’s no dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student may be dismissed if they fall behind in their curriculum, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is truly 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 true risk 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 Only Appearance

Starting with the refined advanced design of the building to the ironies and debatable actions of the institution, there are countless aspects of Balamb Garden to appreciate. We all like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than just good looks.