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The Final Fantasy series boasts numerous iconic settings. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has earned a special place in fans' hearts, and they celebrate the distinctive quirks that make these areas so special. But, if one place that merits more praise than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its stunning design, but also for being a incredibly weird school.

An Absolute Cinematic Moment

Before, let's mention the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and escaping from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This place was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that enables them to create new strategies and reposition, depending on the needs of those in control. I easily view it as one of the coolest airship concepts in the franchise, along 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 iconic moments in gaming history.

A Initial View of a Gloomy Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial look of the place this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the ground of the school and rises to zoom in on the impressive magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels advanced, but also heavenly. The rounded structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded details on the building and the long beams of light coming from the massive glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a massive angel. It was built to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an academy that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Soundtrack

Complementing the serenity that the appearance of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the dearest memories I have from my youth is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spraying water, and hearing to the lullaby-ish theme song. The problem is that it keeps 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 sole way to make it stop playing inside my head is to have enough of it.

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

The Fascinating Academy

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

The Contradictory Motto

When you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you discover that the credo of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the impression that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, considering that the facility, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the only place in the whole school available at any time during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is terrible, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the staff have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, for one, we would anticipate from a military school, but on the other seems weirdly amusing. For example, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the evenings, unless it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they lag in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is truly concerned about its students’ relationships. The school officially recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true threat 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 intro cutscene.)

More Than Only Aesthetics

From the elegant futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and questionable actions of the institution, there are countless elements of Balamb Garden to admire. We all like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than just aesthetics.