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The Final Fantasy franchise boasts many memorable locations. From Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a special place in players' hearts, and they admire the unique quirks that make these locales so unique. However, if one place that merits greater praise than the others, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but additionally for being a incredibly bizarre school.

The Absolute Cinematic Scene

First, let's mention the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and escaping from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This location was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that enables them to create new strategies and reposition, depending on the needs of those in command. Many readily consider it as one of the best airship concepts in the franchise, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

A First Look of a Brooding Sanctuary

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first glimpse of the place this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot begins from the ground of the school and rises to zoom in on the awe-inspiring scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels futuristic, but also heavenly. The rounded structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the gilded details on the building and the extended beams of light coming from the enormous glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a giant angel. It was built to be a serene place — too peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Theme Song

Complementing the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s background music. One of the fondest recollections I have from childhood is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spouting water, and hearing to the gentle theme song. The issue is that it continues playing in your head forever. Once it returns to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to get it out of playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Gentle music that lingers in your mind
• Central area with fountain features
• Nostalgic memories for many players

A Compelling School

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting as well as an establishment. First, it accepts kids from 5 to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a giant church. There are a lot of military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Paradoxical Motto

When you access the Balamb Garden Network using one of the 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 training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, considering that the facility, where students encounter living monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the whole school available at any time 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 food is awful, since students are consuming so many hot dogs that the personnel have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Policies

Students are controlled by a rigid set of rules, which, for one, we would expect from a combat school, but on the other seems weirdly humorous. For example, there’s not a 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 may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is truly worried about its students’ romantic activities. The school officially advises 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 romantic relationships, not fighting with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Appearance

From the elegant futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and debatable decisions of the institution, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.