🔗 Share this article

The FF series features numerous memorable settings. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has earned a special place in fans' hearts, who celebrate the unique quirks that make these worlds so remarkable. However, if one setting that warrants greater recognition than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its stunning design, but additionally for being a incredibly bizarre school.

The Pure Movie Scene

Before, we must highlight the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This institution was not just designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that permits them to develop new plans and reposition, based on the demands of those in command. I easily view it as one of the best airship creations in the franchise, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and some of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

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

The First View of a Gloomy Home

As we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first glimpse of the environment this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot starts from the floor of the school and ascends to zoom in on the impressive magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel futuristic, but also heavenly. The rounded structures evoke a specifically late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. Conversely, because of the gilded features on the building and the extended beams of light coming from the immense glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a massive angel. It was created to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an academy that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

An Unforgettable Soundtrack

Matching the serenity that the design of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the dearest memories I have from childhood is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spraying water, and hearing to the soothing theme song. The catch is that it keeps playing in your head indefinitely. Whenever it returns to my mind, I’m compelled to search on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to get it out of playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Soothing melody that sticks in your mind
• Main hub with fountain features
• Sentimental feelings for countless players

A Intriguing Institution

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location and also an institution. For starters, it accepts kids from 5 to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a giant church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Ironic Motto

If you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you discover that the slogan of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the sense that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, considering that the training area, where students encounter 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 training is the key aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is terrible, since students are eating so many frankfurters that the personnel have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Rules

Students are governed by a rigid set of rules, which, for one, we would expect from a combat school, but conversely seems strangely funny. 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 lag 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’ sex life. The school formally suggests that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not battling with weapons and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

More Than Only Appearance

From the elegant futuristic design of the building to the paradoxes and dubious practices of the school, there are many aspects of Balamb Garden to admire. Many of us like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than just good looks.