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This Final Fantasy franchise boasts countless memorable locations. From Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has earned a special place in players' hearts, and they celebrate the distinctive idiosyncrasies that make these locales so remarkable. However, if one place that merits greater attention than the others, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a truly strange school.

An Pure Cinematic Scene

First, we must address the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden turning into an flying vessel and escaping from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This location was not only designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that enables them to create new plans and relocate, depending on the needs of those in command. I easily regard it as one of the coolest airship concepts in the series, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

This change of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more memorable moments in gaming history.

The First Glimpse of a Gloomy Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial view of the place this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the floor of the school and ascends to focus on the awe-inspiring size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels futuristic, but also divine. The flowing structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the future 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 ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a giant angel. It was built to be a serene place — too peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

An Unforgettable Soundtrack

Matching the serenity that the appearance of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the dearest memories I have from my youth is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those aquatic statues spraying water, and listening to the gentle theme song. The issue is that it keeps playing in your head forever. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to look up on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to make it stop playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Gentle tune that sticks in your mind
• Main courtyard with water features
• Sentimental feelings for many players

The Intriguing Institution

Balamb Garden is intriguing as a location and also an institution. For starters, it enrolls kids from five to 15 years old to turn 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 not one look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Ironic Motto

If you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you discover that the slogan of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I didn't have the feeling that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. But, given that the training center, where students encounter living monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the whole school accessible at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the staff have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Regulations

Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, on one hand, we would anticipate from a combat school, but on the other seems oddly humorous. First, there’s no dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their rooms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they lag in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is truly worried about its students’ relationships. The school officially recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true threat of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not battling with gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

More Than Only Appearance

From the refined futuristic design of the building to the paradoxes and questionable practices of the school, there are many aspects of Balamb Garden to appreciate. 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 good looks.