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This Final Fantasy franchise features numerous memorable settings. From 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, and they love the unique idiosyncrasies that make these worlds so special. But, if one place that warrants more praise than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a absolutely bizarre school.

An Absolute Movie Moment

Before, let's highlight the obvious. Balamb Garden transforming into an airship and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This institution was not only designed to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a moving base that enables them to establish new plans and relocate, based on the needs of those in command. I easily consider it as one of the coolest airship concepts in the series, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

This change of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most memorable moments in gaming history.

The 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 view of the environment this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the floor of the school and rises to focus on the impressive size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears advanced, but also somehow angelic. The flowing structures evoke a specifically late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. On the other hand, because of the golden accents on the building and the extended beams of light emanating from the immense glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was created to be a serene place — excessively peaceful for an academy that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Theme Song

Matching the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the most cherished memories I have from childhood is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, watching those aquatic statues spraying water, and hearing to the gentle theme song. The issue is that it keeps playing in your head indefinitely. 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 only way to end playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

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

The Compelling Institution

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting as well as an organization. For starters, it enrolls kids from five to fifteen years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a massive church. There are numerous military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Contradictory Motto

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you find out that the credo of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the impression that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. However, considering that the training area, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the only place in the whole school accessible at all hours during the day, maybe that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is poor, since students are eating so many frankfurters that the personnel have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Rules

Students are controlled by a rigid set of rules, which, for one, we would anticipate from a military school, but conversely seems oddly humorous. For example, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the evenings, unless it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they lag in their curriculum, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is really concerned about its students’ relationships. The school officially recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real risk of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not battling with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

More Than Just Good Looks

Starting with the elegant futuristic design of the building to the paradoxes and dubious decisions of the academy, there are countless features of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than just aesthetics.