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The Final Fantasy franchise features numerous memorable settings. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has earned a special place in players' hearts, who admire the unique quirks that make these locales so unique. However, when it comes to one setting that merits more praise than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but also for being a truly weird school.

The Pure Blockbuster Moment

First, we must address the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden turning into an airship and fleeing from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This place was not just designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that enables them to create new strategies and relocate, based on the demands of those in charge. Many readily consider it as one of the most impressive airship concepts in the franchise, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

This change of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most iconic moments in video game history.

The First View of a Gloomy Home

As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial view of the place this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the floor of the school and ascends 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 idea of how the tomorrow would look. Meanwhile, because of the gilded features on the building and the extended trails of light coming from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a massive angel. It was built to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

An Catchy Theme Song

Matching the calmness that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the most cherished memories I have from my youth is strolling 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 keeps playing in your head forever. Whenever it returns to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to end playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Gentle music that sticks in your mind
• Central area with water features
• Nostalgic feelings for many players

The Compelling School

Balamb Garden is intriguing as a setting as well as an institution. First, it accepts kids from 5 to fifteen years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it appears like a massive church. There are numerous military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Contradictory Philosophy

When you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the in-game terminals, you find out that the slogan of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the impression that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. However, considering that the facility, where students encounter real monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the whole school accessible at all hours during the day, maybe that’s what they intend by “playing.” While combat preparation is the key part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is poor, since students are consuming so many frankfurters that the personnel have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are governed by a rigid set of rules, which, for one, we should anticipate from a military school, but on the other seems oddly humorous. First, 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 may be dismissed if they lag in their curriculum, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely worried 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 cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Aesthetics

From the delicate advanced design of the building to the contradictions and questionable practices of the school, there are many aspects of Balamb Garden to appreciate. We all like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only surface appeal.