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The FF franchise boasts numerous iconic 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 earned a cherished place in players' hearts, who love the unique quirks that make these worlds so unique. However, when it comes to one place that warrants greater recognition than the others, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a incredibly bizarre school.

An Absolute Blockbuster Scene

Before, we must address the obvious. Balamb Garden turning into an airship and escaping from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This location was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that permits them to create new tactics and move, based on the needs of those in command. I easily view it as one of the best airship concepts in the series, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

The First Look of a Brooding Sanctuary

As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial look of the location this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the floor of the school and rises to focus on the impressive magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears futuristic, but also somehow divine. The flowing structures recall a specifically late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded details on the building and the long trails of light coming from the massive glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a giant angel. It was designed to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Memorable Soundtrack

Complementing the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the dearest recollections I have from being a kid is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, watching those aquatic statues spurting water, and listening to the soothing theme song. The catch is that it keeps playing in your head indefinitely. Once it returns to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to end playing inside my head is to have enough of it.

• Gentle music that remains in your mind
• Main hub with fountain features
• Sentimental associations for countless players

A Compelling Academy

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

A Ironic Motto

When you access the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you discover that the motto of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I didn't have the sense that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, given that the training center, where students encounter real monsters they can defeat, is the sole place in the entire school accessible at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is poor, since students are consuming so many hot dogs that the personnel have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, for one, we would expect from a combat school, but on the other seems weirdly funny. For example, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their rooms in the evenings, except it’s for training. A student may be dismissed if they fall behind in their curriculum, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is really worried about its students’ relationships. The school formally suggests that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real threat of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not battling with gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Aesthetics

From the elegant advanced design of the building to the paradoxes and questionable practices of the school, there are numerous aspects of Balamb Garden to celebrate. 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 aesthetics.