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This FF series boasts many unforgettable settings. From 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 fans' hearts, and they love the unique idiosyncrasies that make these locales so special. However, when it comes to one location that deserves more attention than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its stunning design, but also for being a incredibly strange school.

The Pure Movie Moment

Before, let's mention the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This institution was not just designed to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that enables them to establish new plans and relocate, based on the demands of those in command. Many readily view it as one of the best 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 more iconic moments in gaming history.

A Initial Glimpse of a Gloomy Home

As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first glimpse of the place this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the floor of the school and rises to zoom in on the awe-inspiring magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels advanced, but also divine. The flowing structures bring to mind a specifically 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 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 institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Theme Song

Matching the serenity that the design of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s background music. One of the most cherished memories I have from childhood is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spouting water, and hearing to the lullaby-ish theme song. The catch is that it keeps playing in your head indefinitely. Once 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 end playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Soothing music that sticks in your mind
• Main courtyard with water features
• Nostalgic associations for many players

The Intriguing School

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location and also an institution. First, it accepts kids from 5 to 15 years old to turn them into mercenaries, but it looks like a enormous church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Ironic Slogan

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you find out that the motto of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the sense that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. However, considering that the training center, where students encounter real monsters they can kill, is the only place in the entire school available at all hours 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 awful, since students are consuming so many hot dogs that the staff have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are controlled by a tight set of rules, which, on one hand, we should anticipate from a military school, but on the other seems oddly humorous. First, there’s no dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they lag in their curriculum, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is really worried about its students’ sex life. The school officially suggests 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 opening cutscene.)

More Than Only Aesthetics

From the elegant advanced design of the building to the ironies and questionable practices of the school, there are many aspects of Balamb Garden to admire. Many of us like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.