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This FF series features many memorable settings. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has found a cherished place in fans' hearts, who celebrate the unique details that make these worlds so unique. However, when it comes to one location that warrants more praise than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its stunning design, but also for being a absolutely strange school.

The Pure Cinematic Reveal

First, we must mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden transforming into an airship and fleeing from a missile attack was pure cinema. This place was not just intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that permits them to establish new tactics and reposition, depending on the needs of those in command. Many easily view it as one of the most impressive 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 most memorable moments in gaming history.

The First Glimpse of a Brooding Sanctuary

When we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first look of the environment this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the floor of the school and rises to zoom in on the staggering size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears futuristic, but also somehow angelic. The curvy structures bring to mind a specifically late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the golden accents on the building and the long beams of light emanating from the immense glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a giant angel. It was designed to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Soundtrack

Matching the serenity that the appearance of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the most cherished memories I have from being a kid is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spouting water, and hearing to the lullaby-ish theme song. The problem is that it continues playing in your head constantly. Once 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 tune that remains in your mind
• Central area with fountain features
• Sentimental memories for many players

The Fascinating Academy

Balamb Garden is intriguing as a location as well as an establishment. First, it accepts kids from five to fifteen years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it appears 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 Philosophy

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you learn that the credo of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the impression that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. But, considering that the training area, where students encounter living monsters they can defeat, is the sole place in the whole school available at any time during the day, perhaps that’s what they intend by “playing.” While combat preparation is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is terrible, since students are devouring so many frankfurters that the faculty have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Rules

Students are governed by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we would anticipate from a combat school, but on the other seems strangely funny. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms 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 look like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely 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 danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not battling with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Good Looks

Starting with the delicate advanced design of the building to the contradictions and debatable decisions of the institution, there are many elements of Balamb Garden to admire. Many of us like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only surface appeal.