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This Final Fantasy series includes numerous iconic places. 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 celebrate the unique idiosyncrasies that make these areas so special. However, when it comes to one place that deserves greater attention than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but also for being a truly bizarre school.

An Pure Cinematic Moment

Before, let's highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and fleeing from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This place was not only intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that allows them to develop new tactics and relocate, depending on the requirements of those in command. I easily consider it as one of the best airship designs in the series, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

The Initial Look of a Gloomy Home

As we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial view of the location this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the floor of the school and rises to zoom in on the staggering scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears advanced, but also somehow divine. The flowing structures evoke a specifically late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded features on the building and the long beams of light coming from the massive glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a massive angel. It was built to be a serene place — too peaceful for an academy that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Soundtrack

Matching the serenity that the appearance of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the fondest recollections I have from my youth is strolling around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spouting water, and hearing to the lullaby-ish theme song. The problem is that it keeps playing in your head indefinitely. Once it comes back to my mind, I’m forced 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 lingers in your mind
• Central area with water features
• Nostalgic associations for many players

A Fascinating School

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a location and also an organization. First, it enrolls kids from 5 to 15 years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it looks like a giant church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Ironic Slogan

If you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you find out that the credo of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I didn't have the sense that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, given that the facility, where students find living monsters they can defeat, is the sole place in the whole school available at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the most important part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is poor, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the personnel have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we would anticipate from a military school, but conversely seems oddly funny. For example, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their rooms in the evenings, except it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they fall behind in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is really concerned about its students’ romantic activities. The school formally recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not fighting with gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

More Than Only Good Looks

From the delicate advanced design of the building to the ironies and debatable decisions of the school, there are countless elements of Balamb Garden to admire. We all like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than just surface appeal.