🔗 Share this article This Final Fantasy 8 Landmark Warrants More Adoration The Final Fantasy series features countless iconic locations. Starting with Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has earned a cherished place in players' hearts, who admire the distinctive quirks that make these worlds so unique. However, when it comes to one place that warrants greater attention than the others, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its stunning design, but also for being a absolutely strange school. The Absolute Movie Scene First, we must highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden transforming into an airship and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This place was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that enables them to create new strategies and move, based on the demands of those in control. Many readily view it as one of the best 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 most iconic moments in video game history. A Initial View of a Gloomy Sanctuary When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial look of the place this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the floor of the school and rises to focus on the impressive size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel advanced, but also divine. The flowing structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. Meanwhile, because of the gilded features on the building and the extended beams of light emanating from the massive glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a massive angel. It was designed to be a serene place — too peaceful for an institution that transforms teenagers into mercenaries. The Memorable Melody Matching the serenity that the appearance of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s theme song. One of the dearest recollections I have from childhood is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spraying water, and listening to the gentle theme song. The problem is that it keeps playing in your head constantly. Once it comes back to my mind, I’m compelled to look up on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to make it stop playing inside my head is to have enough of it. Lullaby tune that remains in your mind Central area with fountain features Sentimental memories for countless players A Fascinating Academy Balamb Garden is compelling as a setting as well as an institution. First, it enrolls kids from five to 15 years old to transform 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 militaristic than Balamb Garden. The Paradoxical Slogan When you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you discover that the motto of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I never have the sense that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, considering that the training center, where students find real monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the entire school accessible at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are devouring so many frankfurters that the staff have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.” Rigid Rules Students are controlled by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we would anticipate from a military school, but conversely seems oddly humorous. First, there’s no dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their rooms in the evenings, unless it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they fall behind in their curriculum, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is truly worried about its students’ sex life. The school formally suggests 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 weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.) More Than Just Good Looks From the refined advanced design of the building to the contradictions and dubious decisions of the academy, there are many aspects of Balamb Garden to admire. Many of us like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than only aesthetics.