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This Final Fantasy franchise includes countless unforgettable settings. From Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a cherished place in fans' hearts, who admire the distinctive details that make these worlds so remarkable. However, if one setting that deserves greater attention than the others, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its stunning design, but additionally for being a incredibly bizarre school.

The Pure Movie Reveal

First, let's mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing 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 traveling base that permits them to establish new tactics and relocate, depending on the demands of those in command. I readily consider it as one of the coolest airship designs in the series, together 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 First Glimpse of a Gloomy Home

As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our initial glimpse of the place this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot begins from the floor of the school and ascends to focus on the awe-inspiring magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels advanced, but also somehow divine. The flowing structures evoke a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. Conversely, because of the golden details on the building and the long beams of light coming from the enormous glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a massive angel. It was designed to be a serene place — too peaceful for an academy that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Soundtrack

Complementing the calmness that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s theme song. One of the most cherished memories I have from my youth is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spraying water, and hearing to the lullaby-ish theme song. The issue is that it continues playing in your head indefinitely. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to make it stop playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Lullaby music that remains in your mind
• Central hub with water features
• Nostalgic feelings for many players

A Compelling School

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting and also an organization. First, it enrolls kids from 5 to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a giant church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Ironic Slogan

When you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you find out that the motto of the institution 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” — only Zell. But, given that the training area, where students encounter real monsters they can kill, is the only place in the entire school accessible at all hours during the day, maybe that’s what they intend by “playing.” While combat preparation is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is terrible, since students are eating so many frankfurters that the faculty have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, on one hand, we should anticipate from a military school, but on the other seems weirdly funny. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their rooms in the evenings, unless it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they lag in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is truly worried about its students’ relationships. The school formally suggests 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 fighting with gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Appearance

Starting with the delicate futuristic design of the building to the paradoxes and questionable decisions of the academy, there are numerous aspects of Balamb Garden to celebrate. We all like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than simply surface appeal.