🔗 Share this article This Final Fantasy 8 Landmark Warrants More Love This FF franchise features numerous memorable locations. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a cherished place in players' hearts, and they celebrate the unique quirks that make these areas so remarkable. However, if one place that deserves greater attention than the others, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a truly bizarre school. The Pure Movie Scene First, we must address the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and escaping from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This institution was not only designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that enables them to establish new tactics and move, depending on the requirements of those in command. Many readily regard it as one of the most impressive airship concepts in the franchise, alongside Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships. The conversion of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more unforgettable moments in gaming history. The First Look of a Brooding Home As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see 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 rises to focus on the awe-inspiring scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel futuristic, but also somehow heavenly. The flowing structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. On the other hand, because of the golden features on the building and the long beams of light emanating from the massive glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a massive angel. It was created to be a serene place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that turns teenagers into mercenaries. An Unforgettable Melody Matching the serenity that the design of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the fondest recollections I have from being a kid is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spouting water, and hearing to the soothing theme song. The problem is that it keeps playing in your head forever. Once it returns to my mind, I’m compelled to search on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to end playing inside my head is to have enough of it. Gentle music that lingers in your mind Central hub with fountain features Nostalgic feelings for countless players The Compelling Academy Balamb Garden is compelling as a setting and also an establishment. First, it enrolls kids from five to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it appears 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. The Paradoxical Philosophy When you use 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.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the sense that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, considering that the training area, where students encounter living 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 combat preparation is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is poor, since students are devouring so many hot dogs that the staff have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.” Rigid Regulations Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, for one, we would expect from a combat school, but conversely seems strangely amusing. For example, there’s no dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they lag in their curriculum, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is truly worried about its students’ relationships. The school formally recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real risk of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not fighting with gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.) More Than Just Aesthetics Starting with the delicate advanced design of the building to the contradictions and debatable decisions of the academy, there are many aspects of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.