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The Final Fantasy series features many unforgettable locations. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has earned a cherished place in players' hearts, and they admire the distinctive details that make these locales so remarkable. However, when it comes to one location that warrants greater praise than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its stunning design, but additionally for being a truly weird school.

The Absolute Cinematic Scene

First, let's mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and fleeing from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This place was not only intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that allows them to establish new strategies and move, based on the needs of those in command. I easily consider it as one of the best airship creations in the franchise, alongside Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

The Initial Look of a Gloomy Sanctuary

As we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first look of the place this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the floor of the school and rises to zoom in on the awe-inspiring size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels futuristic, but also somehow divine. The rounded structures evoke a distinctly late ‘90s concept of how the tomorrow would look. Conversely, because of the gilded details on the building and the long beams of light coming from the enormous glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a massive angel. It was built to be a peaceful place — excessively peaceful for an academy that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

An Catchy Melody

Matching the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s theme song. One of the fondest recollections I have from my youth is strolling around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those fish statues spraying water, and hearing to the lullaby-ish theme song. The problem is that it continues 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 only way to end playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Lullaby melody that lingers in your mind
• Main hub with fountain features
• Nostalgic associations for many players

A Fascinating Institution

Balamb Garden is intriguing as a location and also an institution. For starters, it accepts kids from 5 to 15 years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it looks like a giant church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Ironic Motto

If you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the in-game terminals, you find out that the motto of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the impression that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. But, considering that the training area, where students find real monsters they can battle, is the sole 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 most important part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is terrible, since students are consuming so many hot dogs that the faculty have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Policies

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, for one, we would anticipate from a combat school, but on the other seems strangely amusing. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the nights, unless it’s for training. A student may be expelled if they fall behind in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might 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 danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not battling with gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Good Looks

From the refined advanced design of the building to the paradoxes and dubious decisions of the academy, there are many features of Balamb Garden to appreciate. Many of us like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only surface appeal.