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The Final Fantasy franchise boasts numerous unforgettable places. Starting with 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 fans' hearts, who love the unique idiosyncrasies that make these worlds so remarkable. However, if one setting that merits greater attention than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its stunning design, but also for being a absolutely strange school.

An Pure Cinematic Scene

First, let's highlight the obvious. Balamb Garden transforming into an flying vessel and fleeing from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This place was not just designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that allows them to establish new plans and move, based on the requirements of those in control. I easily regard it as one of the coolest airship creations in the franchise, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

This transformation of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more memorable moments in video game history.

A First Look of a Brooding Home

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our initial glimpse of the location this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot starts from the ground of the school and rises to focus on the staggering size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel futuristic, but also somehow divine. The rounded structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the gilded details on the building and the extended beams of light emanating from the massive glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a massive angel. It was built to be a serene place — too peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Soundtrack

Complementing the serenity that the appearance of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s background music. One of the dearest memories I have from being a kid is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spraying water, and hearing to the soothing theme song. The issue is that it continues playing in your head constantly. Once it returns to my mind, I’m compelled to search on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to get it out of playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Soothing melody that remains in your mind
• Main hub with fountain features
• Sentimental feelings for many players

A Intriguing Institution

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a location and also an establishment. For starters, it accepts kids from 5 to fifteen years old to mold 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 none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Ironic Motto

When you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you discover that the credo of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the sense that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. But, given that the facility, where students encounter real monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the whole school available at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the most important part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is poor, since students are consuming so many frankfurters that the faculty have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Policies

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we should anticipate from a military school, but on the other seems oddly funny. First, there’s no dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student may be dismissed if they fall behind in their curriculum, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might 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 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.)

Greater Than Only Good Looks

From the delicate advanced design of the building to the paradoxes and questionable actions of the academy, there are many features of Balamb Garden to admire. 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.