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This FF series boasts numerous memorable places. Starting with Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has secured a cherished place in fans' hearts, who admire the unique quirks that make these areas so remarkable. But, if one setting that deserves greater praise than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a incredibly bizarre school.

The Pure Cinematic Reveal

First, we must mention the obvious. Balamb Garden turning into an airship and fleeing from a missile attack was pure cinema. This institution was not only designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that enables them to create new tactics and reposition, based on the needs of those in command. Many readily regard it as one of the most impressive airship designs in the franchise, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

The First View of a Brooding Sanctuary

As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our initial look of the location this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the floor of the school and rises to focus on the impressive scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears advanced, but also heavenly. The flowing structures bring to mind a specifically late ‘90s vision of how the tomorrow would look. Conversely, because of the gilded details on the building and the extended beams of light emanating from the immense glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a massive angel. It was built to be a serene place — excessively peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Melody

Complementing the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s background music. One of the most cherished recollections I have from being a kid is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spraying water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The catch is that it keeps playing in your head indefinitely. Whenever it returns to my mind, I’m forced to look up on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to make it stop playing inside my head is to have enough of it.

• Lullaby music that lingers in your mind
• Central courtyard with water features
• Sentimental associations for countless players

The Compelling School

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location and also an organization. First, it accepts kids from five to fifteen years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a giant 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 Ironic Motto

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you discover that the credo of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the impression that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. But, considering that the training center, where students find living monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the whole school available at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they intend by “playing.” While training is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is poor, since students are eating so many frankfurters that the staff have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Rules

Students are governed by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we should expect from a combat school, but on the other seems oddly funny. For example, there’s no 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 lag in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely concerned about its students’ relationships. The school formally 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 battling with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

More Than Only Good Looks

Starting with the refined futuristic design of the building to the paradoxes and questionable decisions of the academy, 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 only aesthetics.