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The FF franchise features countless unforgettable settings. Starting with Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has found a cherished place in players' hearts, and they celebrate the unique details that make these locales so special. But, if one setting that deserves greater praise than the others, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but also for being a truly strange school.

The Pure Blockbuster Scene

First, we must highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden transforming into an airship and escaping from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This place was not only designed to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that enables them to establish new tactics and reposition, depending on the demands of those in command. I readily regard it as one of the most impressive airship creations in the series, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

This change of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most unforgettable moments in gaming history.

A First Look of a Brooding Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our initial look of the environment this sullen-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 somehow heavenly. The rounded structures bring to mind a specifically late ‘90s concept of how the tomorrow would look. Meanwhile, because of the golden features on the building and the extended beams of light coming from the immense glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was built to be a peaceful place — excessively peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Melody

Complementing the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s theme song. One of the most cherished memories I have from being a kid is strolling around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those aquatic statues spouting water, and hearing to the soothing theme song. The issue is that it keeps playing in your head constantly. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m compelled to look up on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to get it out of playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Lullaby melody that remains in your mind
• Central courtyard with fountain features
• Sentimental associations for countless players

The Fascinating Academy

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

A Ironic Motto

When you access 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 feeling that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, given that the training center, where students encounter real monsters they can battle, is the only place in the entire school available at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the key aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is terrible, since students are eating so many frankfurters that the faculty have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Rules

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we should anticipate from a combat school, but on the other seems strangely amusing. For example, 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 may be expelled if they lag in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is really worried 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 danger 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 refined advanced design of the building to the contradictions and debatable decisions of the institution, there are numerous features 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 only aesthetics.