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The FF franchise features numerous unforgettable locations. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a cherished place in fans' hearts, who admire the distinctive quirks that make these locales so remarkable. However, when it comes to one place that merits more attention than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but additionally for being a truly weird school.

An Pure Blockbuster Scene

First, let's mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden turning into an airship and fleeing from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This location was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that allows them to develop new tactics and reposition, depending on the demands of those in control. Many readily view it as one of the coolest airship designs in the series, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

This conversion of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more unforgettable moments in gaming history.

The First Look of a Brooding Home

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first view of the environment this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the ground of the school and ascends to focus on the awe-inspiring size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels advanced, but also somehow divine. The flowing structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. Meanwhile, because of the gilded details on the building and the extended beams of light emanating from the massive glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a giant angel. It was created to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Catchy Melody

Complementing the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s theme song. One of the fondest memories I have from my youth is strolling around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those aquatic statues spurting water, and listening to the gentle theme song. The problem is that it keeps playing in your head constantly. Whenever it comes back 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 music that sticks in your mind
• Main hub with water features
• Sentimental memories for countless players

The Fascinating Institution

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location and also an organization. For starters, it accepts kids from 5 to 15 years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it appears like a massive 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 Slogan

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you learn that the motto of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the feeling that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. But, given that the facility, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the whole school accessible at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are eating so many frankfurters that the staff have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Regulations

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, for one, we should anticipate from a combat school, but on the other seems weirdly funny. For example, there’s no dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student may be dismissed if they fall behind in their studies, 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 advises 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 love affairs, not fighting with weapons and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

More Than Just Good Looks

Starting with the elegant futuristic design of the building to the paradoxes and dubious decisions of the academy, there are countless features of Balamb Garden to celebrate. We all like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than simply surface appeal.