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The Final Fantasy series boasts numerous memorable settings. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has found a special place in fans' hearts, and they admire the unique idiosyncrasies that make these worlds so special. But, when it comes to one place that deserves greater recognition than the others, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but also for being a absolutely bizarre school.

An Absolute Blockbuster Moment

First, we must mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden turning into an airship and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This location was not only designed to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that allows them to develop new tactics and reposition, depending on the demands of those in control. Many easily view it as one of the most impressive airship creations in the franchise, alongside 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 iconic moments in video game history.

The First Glimpse of a Gloomy Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our initial view of the location this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the floor of the school and rises to focus on the staggering scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel advanced, but also divine. The curvy structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded accents on the building and the extended trails of light coming from the massive glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a massive angel. It was designed to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an establishment that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Melody

Complementing the calmness that the design of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the dearest recollections I have from my youth is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spouting water, and listening to the gentle theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head constantly. Whenever it returns to my mind, I’m forced 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.

• Lullaby melody that lingers in your mind
• Main courtyard with water features
• Sentimental associations for many players

A Fascinating Institution

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a location and also an establishment. For starters, it accepts kids from five to 15 years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it looks like a massive church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Contradictory Philosophy

If you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I never have the sense that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. However, given that the facility, where students encounter living monsters they can battle, is the sole place in the whole school accessible at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they intend by “playing.” While combat preparation is the key aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is awful, since students are consuming so many hot dogs that the personnel have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Regulations

Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we would expect from a military school, but on the other seems oddly humorous. First, there’s no dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their rooms in the evenings, except it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they fall behind in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely concerned about its students’ romantic activities. The school formally suggests that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real threat of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not fighting with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Appearance

Starting with the refined futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and dubious practices of the school, there are many elements of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only surface appeal.