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The FF franchise includes countless memorable places. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has found a special place in players' hearts, who celebrate the unique details that make these worlds so special. But, if one place that warrants more attention than the others, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its stunning design, but also for being a incredibly bizarre school.

The Pure Blockbuster Reveal

Before, let's address the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and fleeing from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This location was not just intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that permits them to create new strategies and reposition, based on the needs of those in charge. Many readily consider it as one of the best airship creations in the series, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

A First Look of a Brooding Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first view of the location this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the floor of the school and rises to focus on the impressive scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears futuristic, but also somehow divine. The rounded structures bring to mind a specifically late ‘90s vision of how the tomorrow would look. Conversely, because of the gilded details on the building and the extended beams of light coming from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a massive angel. It was designed to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

An Memorable Theme Song

Complementing the tranquility that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s theme song. One of the dearest memories I have from being a kid is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spurting water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The issue is that it continues playing in your head forever. Once it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to get it out of playing inside my head is to have enough of it.

• Soothing melody that lingers in your mind
• Central hub with fountain features
• Nostalgic feelings for countless players

A Compelling Academy

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

A Ironic Philosophy

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you discover that the slogan of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, 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 find living monsters they can battle, is the sole place in the whole school accessible at any time during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is poor, since students are consuming so many hot dogs that the personnel have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Policies

Students are governed by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we would anticipate from a combat school, but on the other seems strangely funny. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they lag in their curriculum, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely worried about its students’ romantic activities. 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 fighting with gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

Greater Than Only Good Looks

From the elegant futuristic design of the building to the ironies and dubious actions of the academy, there are many elements of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than just aesthetics.