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This FF franchise includes many 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, every one has found a cherished place in players' hearts, and they love the unique idiosyncrasies that make these areas so special. But, if one location that merits greater recognition than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a incredibly bizarre school.

An Absolute Cinematic Reveal

Before, we must address the obvious. Balamb Garden turning into an flying vessel and fleeing from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This place was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a moving base that permits them to develop new tactics and move, depending on the requirements of those in charge. I readily regard it as one of the best airship creations in the franchise, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

The First Look of a Brooding Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first view of the environment this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot starts from the floor of the school and ascends to focus on the impressive size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels advanced, but also somehow divine. The curvy structures recall a specifically late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. Meanwhile, because of the golden details on the building and the extended beams of light coming from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a giant angel. It was designed to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Melody

Complementing the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the most cherished memories I have from my youth is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spurting water, and listening to the soothing theme song. The issue is that it keeps playing in your head forever. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to get it out of playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Soothing tune that lingers in your mind
• Main courtyard with fountain features
• Sentimental associations for many players

A Intriguing School

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a location as well as an organization. For starters, it accepts kids from five to fifteen years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a massive church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Contradictory Motto

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you learn that the credo of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I never have the feeling that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, considering that the training area, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the only place in the whole school accessible at any time during the day, perhaps that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the key part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is awful, since students are consuming so many frankfurters that the faculty have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Policies

Students are controlled by a rigid set of rules, which, for one, we would expect from a combat school, but conversely seems strangely humorous. For example, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the evenings, except it’s for training. A student may be dismissed if they lag in their curriculum, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is truly worried about its students’ romantic activities. 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 fighting with weapons and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Aesthetics

Starting with the elegant futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and questionable decisions of the institution, there are numerous aspects of Balamb Garden to admire. We all like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than simply aesthetics.