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This Final Fantasy franchise includes countless unforgettable 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, each has earned a special place in fans' hearts, who love the distinctive quirks that make these locales so remarkable. But, if one setting that merits more attention than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but also for being a absolutely strange school.

An Absolute Cinematic Moment

Before, we must address the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden transforming into an flying vessel and fleeing from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This location was not only intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that enables them to create new tactics and move, depending on the needs of those in charge. Many readily regard it as one of the coolest airship designs in the franchise, alongside Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

The change of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more unforgettable moments in video game history.

The Initial Look of a Gloomy Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first view of the environment this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the ground of the school and rises to focus on the staggering magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears advanced, but also somehow angelic. The flowing structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s vision of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the golden features on the building and the long trails of light emanating from the enormous glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a massive angel. It was built to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an academy that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

An Unforgettable Theme Song

Matching the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s theme song. One of the fondest recollections I have from childhood is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, watching those aquatic statues spraying water, and hearing to the gentle theme song. The issue is that it keeps playing in your head constantly. Once it comes back to my mind, I’m compelled to look up on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to make it stop playing inside my head is to have enough of it.

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

The Intriguing Institution

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location as well as an institution. First, it accepts kids from five to 15 years old to transform 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 like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Paradoxical Motto

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the feeling that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, considering that the training center, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the only place in the whole school accessible at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they intend by “playing.” While combat preparation is the key part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is terrible, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the personnel have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Regulations

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we should expect from a military school, but conversely seems weirdly funny. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they lag in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely worried about its students’ sex life. The school officially recommends 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 love affairs, not fighting with gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

More Than Only Good Looks

From the delicate futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and debatable actions of the academy, there are numerous features of Balamb Garden to celebrate. We all like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than simply good looks.