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The Final Fantasy series boasts numerous unforgettable places. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has earned a cherished place in players' hearts, and they celebrate the distinctive idiosyncrasies that make these worlds so unique. However, if one place that deserves more recognition than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its stunning design, but additionally for being a truly strange school.

The Absolute Cinematic Scene

Before, let's mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden turning into an airship and fleeing from a missile attack was pure cinema. This location was not just designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that allows them to establish new strategies and relocate, based on the requirements of those in command. I easily view it as one of the best airship designs in the series, alongside 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 memorable moments in gaming history.

The Initial Glimpse of a Brooding Home

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial glimpse of the location this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the ground of the school and ascends to zoom in on the impressive size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears advanced, but also somehow heavenly. The flowing structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s vision of how the future would look. Meanwhile, because of the golden features on the building and the extended beams of light emanating from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a giant angel. It was designed to be a serene place — too peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Melody

Matching the calmness that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s background music. One of the fondest memories I have from being a kid is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spurting water, and hearing to the gentle theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head indefinitely. Once it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to look up on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to end playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Gentle music that sticks in your mind
• Central area with water features
• Sentimental associations for countless players

The Fascinating School

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

The Paradoxical Slogan

When you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the sense that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, considering that the training area, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the whole school accessible at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the key aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are devouring so many frankfurters that the personnel have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Policies

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, on one hand, we would anticipate from a military school, but conversely seems weirdly humorous. For example, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their rooms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they fall behind in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is really concerned about its students’ romantic activities. The school officially advises that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not battling with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Appearance

Starting with the delicate advanced design of the building to the contradictions and dubious actions of the academy, there are many features of Balamb Garden to appreciate. We all like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.