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The Final Fantasy series features countless memorable places. Starting with 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 cherished place in players' hearts, who celebrate the unique details that make these areas so remarkable. However, if one setting that merits greater attention than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its stunning design, but also for being a incredibly bizarre school.

An Pure Blockbuster Reveal

First, let's address the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden transforming into an airship and fleeing from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This location was not only intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that permits them to establish new tactics and relocate, based on the requirements of those in command. Many easily regard it as one of the coolest airship designs in the franchise, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

This conversion of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more iconic moments in gaming history.

A First Look of a Brooding Sanctuary

As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our initial view of the environment this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot starts from the floor of the school and rises to focus on the awe-inspiring scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels advanced, but also somehow heavenly. The rounded structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the gilded accents on the building and the extended beams of light coming from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was created to be a peaceful place — excessively peaceful for an academy that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

An Unforgettable Soundtrack

Matching the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s theme song. One of the most cherished recollections I have from my youth is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those aquatic statues spouting water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head constantly. Once it returns to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to make it stop playing inside my head is to have enough of it.

• Lullaby music that lingers in your mind
• Main area with water features
• Nostalgic feelings for countless players

The Compelling School

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location as well as an establishment. First, it accepts kids from five to 15 years old to turn them into mercenaries, but it appears like a massive church. There are a lot of military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Paradoxical Motto

If you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the impression that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, given that the training area, where students find living monsters they can battle, is the sole place in the whole school available at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is poor, since students are devouring so many frankfurters that the staff have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, on one hand, we would anticipate from a combat school, but conversely seems strangely amusing. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student may be dismissed if they lag in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely concerned about its students’ sex life. The school formally advises 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 love affairs, not battling with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Appearance

From the elegant advanced design of the building to the ironies and dubious actions of the academy, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to appreciate. Many of us like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than simply good looks.