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The FF series features many unforgettable locations. From Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has earned a cherished place in players' hearts, and they admire the unique quirks that make these areas so remarkable. But, when it comes to one location that warrants more attention than the others, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its elegant design, but also for being a truly strange school.

The Absolute Blockbuster Reveal

First, we must highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden transforming into an airship and escaping from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This institution was not only designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that enables them to develop new tactics and move, based on the needs of those in charge. I easily consider it as one of the coolest airship creations in the franchise, 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 video game history.

The First View of a Brooding Home

As we start 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 begins from the floor of the school and ascends to focus on the staggering scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels advanced, but also divine. The rounded structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s vision of how the future would look. Meanwhile, because of the gilded details on the building and the extended trails of light coming from the massive glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a giant angel. It was designed to be a peaceful place — excessively peaceful for an academy that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Melody

Complementing the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s theme song. One of the dearest recollections I have from my youth is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spraying water, and hearing to the lullaby-ish theme song. The problem is that it continues playing in your head indefinitely. Once it returns to my mind, I’m forced to look up 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.

• Soothing music that remains in your mind
• Central hub with fountain features
• Sentimental feelings for countless players

The Intriguing School

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a location and also an organization. First, it accepts kids from five to fifteen years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it appears like a enormous church. There are numerous military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Paradoxical Motto

When you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you learn that the motto of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the feeling that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. However, considering that the training area, where students encounter real monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the entire school accessible at all hours during the day, maybe that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the key part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are devouring so many hot dogs that the staff have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Rules

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we should anticipate from a combat school, but conversely seems oddly funny. For example, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they fall behind 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 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 love affairs, not battling with gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Good Looks

From the refined futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and dubious actions of the academy, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to admire. We all like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than only aesthetics.