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The Final Fantasy franchise features numerous unforgettable locations. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has secured a special place in players' hearts, who love the distinctive idiosyncrasies that make these worlds so unique. However, if one place that warrants greater praise than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its elegant design, but also for being a incredibly weird school.

The Pure Cinematic Reveal

First, let's highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden transforming into an flying vessel and escaping from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This place was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that enables them to establish new tactics and reposition, depending on the requirements of those in command. Many readily consider it as one of the best airship concepts in the franchise, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

The transformation of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more iconic moments in gaming history.

A Initial Glimpse of a Brooding Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first look of the place this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping 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 feels advanced, but also divine. The curvy structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s vision of how the future would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded accents on the building and the long trails of light coming from the enormous glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a giant angel. It was built to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

An Catchy Theme Song

Matching the tranquility that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the most cherished recollections I have from my youth is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spouting water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head indefinitely. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m compelled to search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to get it out of playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Lullaby melody that lingers in your mind
• Central area with water features
• Nostalgic memories for countless players

A Compelling Academy

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location as well as an institution. First, it enrolls 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 Slogan

When you access the Balamb Garden Network using one of the in-game terminals, you find out that the motto of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I never have the sense that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, given that the training center, where students encounter living monsters they can kill, is the only place in the whole school available at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they intend by “playing.” While combat preparation is the key aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is awful, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the personnel have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Policies

Students are controlled by a strict set of rules, which, for one, we should expect from a combat school, but conversely seems weirdly humorous. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their rooms in the evenings, unless it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they lag in their studies, 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 officially suggests 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 gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

More Than Only Good Looks

From the refined advanced design of the building to the paradoxes and dubious actions of the school, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to appreciate. Many of us like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than just aesthetics.