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This Final Fantasy series includes numerous iconic settings. From Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has found a cherished place in fans' hearts, who love the distinctive quirks that make these areas so unique. But, when it comes to one setting that deserves greater recognition than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its elegant design, but also for being a absolutely bizarre school.

An Pure Movie Moment

First, we must highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and escaping from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This place was not only designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that permits them to establish new tactics and move, based on the needs of those in charge. I easily view it as one of the best 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 Glimpse of a Gloomy Home

As we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first glimpse of the location this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the ground of the school and ascends to focus on the staggering scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel futuristic, but also somehow divine. The rounded structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the gilded accents on the building and the long beams of light coming from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a massive angel. It was designed to be a peaceful place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Soundtrack

Complementing the calmness that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s theme song. One of the dearest recollections I have from being a kid is strolling around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spraying water, and listening to the gentle theme song. The problem is that it continues playing in your head forever. Whenever it returns to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to make it stop playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Gentle melody that lingers in your mind
• Main area with fountain features
• Sentimental memories for countless players

The Compelling Academy

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location as well as an establishment. For starters, it accepts kids from five to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a massive 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.

A Contradictory Slogan

If you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you learn that the credo of the academy 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” — only Zell. However, given that the facility, where students encounter real monsters they can battle, is the only place in the whole school accessible at all hours 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 food is awful, since students are devouring so many frankfurters that the staff have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Policies

Students are governed by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we should anticipate from a military school, but conversely seems weirdly amusing. First, there’s no 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 fall behind in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is really worried about its students’ romantic activities. The school formally recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true risk of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not battling with gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

More Than Just Appearance

Starting with the elegant advanced design of the building to the ironies and dubious practices of the institution, there are many features of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than just aesthetics.