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This FF franchise includes many iconic places. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has secured a special place in players' hearts, who admire the distinctive details that make these worlds so unique. However, if one location that warrants more praise than the others, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but additionally for being a truly strange school.

An Pure Cinematic Scene

Before, we must address the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and fleeing from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This location was not only intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that permits them to develop new tactics and relocate, based on the demands of those in command. I easily regard it as one of the best airship concepts in the series, alongside 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 most memorable moments in gaming history.

A Initial Look of a Gloomy Sanctuary

When we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first view of the place this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot begins from the ground of the school and rises to focus on the impressive scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel futuristic, but also divine. The curvy structures evoke a specifically late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the golden details on the building and the long beams of light emanating from the massive glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was created to be a peaceful place — excessively peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Soundtrack

Matching the serenity that the design of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the fondest recollections I have from childhood is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spraying water, and hearing to the gentle theme song. The problem is that it keeps playing in your head constantly. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m compelled 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 listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Gentle melody that remains in your mind
• Main courtyard with fountain features
• Nostalgic feelings for countless players

A Compelling Institution

Balamb Garden is compelling as a setting and also an establishment. For starters, it accepts kids from five to fifteen years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it looks like a enormous 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.

The Contradictory Slogan

When you access the Balamb Garden Network using one of the in-game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the institution 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” — except for Zell. However, considering that the training area, where students encounter living monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the entire school available at all hours during the day, maybe that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the key aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is terrible, since students are devouring so many hot dogs that the staff have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Policies

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, for one, we would expect from a combat school, but conversely seems weirdly humorous. For example, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student may be dismissed if they lag in their curriculum, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely 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 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 opening cutscene.)

More Than Just Appearance

From the elegant advanced design of the building to the ironies and questionable actions of the school, there are numerous aspects of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than just good looks.