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This FF franchise boasts countless iconic settings. 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 fans' hearts, and they love the unique idiosyncrasies that make these areas so special. However, if one setting that merits more praise 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 weird school.

The Absolute Movie Moment

Before, let's highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This place was not only intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that enables them to establish new strategies and reposition, based on the requirements of those in control. I easily view it as one of the coolest airship creations in the franchise, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

The change of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most iconic moments in video game history.

A First Look of a Gloomy Sanctuary

As we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial glimpse of the environment this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot begins from the floor of the school and rises to zoom in on the awe-inspiring magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears advanced, but also angelic. The curvy structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. Meanwhile, because of the golden accents on the building and the extended beams of light coming from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a massive angel. It was created to be a serene place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Melody

Complementing the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s theme song. One of the dearest recollections I have from childhood is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spraying water, and listening to the gentle theme song. The issue is that it continues playing in your head forever. Once 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 have enough of it.

• Lullaby tune that sticks in your mind
• Main area with water features
• Sentimental associations for countless players

A Compelling School

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a location and also an establishment. For starters, it enrolls kids from 5 to fifteen years old to turn them into mercenaries, but it appears like a massive church. There are a lot of military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Contradictory Motto

When you access the Balamb Garden Network using one of the in-game terminals, you find out that the slogan of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I never have the feeling that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, considering that the training center, where students find living monsters they can defeat, is the sole place in the entire school accessible at all hours 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 diet is awful, since students are devouring so many frankfurters that the faculty have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Rules

Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, on one hand, we should anticipate from a combat school, but on the other seems strangely funny. 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 expelled if they fall behind in their curriculum, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely 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 danger 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 opening cutscene.)

More Than Only Good Looks

From the elegant advanced design of the building to the ironies and questionable practices of the academy, there are countless elements of Balamb Garden to appreciate. We all like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.