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This FF series features many memorable places. Starting with Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a special place in fans' hearts, who admire the unique quirks that make these worlds so unique. However, if one place that warrants greater recognition than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but also for being a truly bizarre school.

An Pure Movie Moment

Before, we must address the obvious. Balamb Garden turning into an flying vessel and escaping from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This place was not only intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that permits them to establish new plans and reposition, depending on the requirements of those in control. Many readily view it as one of the most impressive airship concepts in the series, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

The First View of a Brooding Home

As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first look of the location this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the ground of the school and ascends to focus on the staggering size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels futuristic, but also somehow divine. The flowing structures evoke a specifically late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded accents on the building and the long beams of light emanating from the massive glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a giant angel. It was built to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

An Memorable Melody

Matching the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s background music. One of the most cherished recollections I have from being a kid is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spurting 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 search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to end playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

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

The Fascinating School

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting as well as an organization. For starters, it accepts kids from 5 to fifteen years old to turn them into mercenaries, but it looks like a enormous church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Contradictory Philosophy

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you discover that the slogan 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. However, considering that the training area, where students encounter living monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the entire school available at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the personnel have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Regulations

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, on one hand, we should expect from a combat school, but on the other seems weirdly amusing. First, there’s no dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their rooms in the evenings, except it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they lag in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely 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 true risk of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not battling with gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Only Appearance

From the refined advanced design of the building to the ironies and questionable practices of the school, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to admire. We all like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than just surface appeal.