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The Final Fantasy franchise includes many memorable settings. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has secured a cherished place in players' hearts, who love the distinctive details that make these locales so special. But, if one place that deserves greater attention than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its elegant design, but also for being a truly weird school.

An Absolute Blockbuster Reveal

First, let's highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and fleeing from a missile attack was pure cinema. This place was not only designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that allows them to establish new tactics and reposition, depending on the needs of those in control. I easily consider it as one of the best airship concepts in the franchise, alongside 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.

The Initial View of a Brooding Home

As we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first view of the environment this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the floor of the school and rises to zoom in on the staggering magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel advanced, but also somehow angelic. The curvy structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s vision of how the tomorrow would look. Conversely, because of the golden features on the building and the long beams of light emanating from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was built to be a serene place — too peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

An Memorable Soundtrack

Matching the serenity that the design of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s theme song. One of the most cherished memories I have from being a kid is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spouting water, and listening to the soothing theme song. The issue is that it continues playing in your head constantly. Whenever it returns to my mind, I’m compelled to search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to make it stop playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Soothing melody that lingers in your mind
• Main hub with water features
• Nostalgic feelings for many players

The Intriguing Institution

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting as well as an establishment. First, it enrolls kids from 5 to 15 years old to transform 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 Ironic Slogan

If you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you find out that the motto of the school 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 any time during the day, perhaps that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is poor, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the personnel have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we should expect from a military school, but on the other seems oddly humorous. For example, 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 seem like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely worried about its students’ sex life. The school formally recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real threat of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not fighting with weapons and cutting 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 contradictions and debatable practices of the school, there are countless elements of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.