🔗 Share this article

The FF franchise boasts numerous iconic settings. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a special place in players' hearts, and they love the distinctive quirks that make these worlds so unique. But, when it comes to one place that warrants greater praise than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but also for being a absolutely weird school.

The Pure Blockbuster Reveal

First, we must mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden turning into an flying vessel and escaping from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This institution was not only intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that permits them to establish new tactics and move, based on the requirements of those in command. Many readily regard 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.

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

A Initial Glimpse of a Brooding Sanctuary

When we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our initial look of the environment this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot begins from the ground of the school and rises to focus on the awe-inspiring magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel advanced, but also somehow divine. The flowing structures recall a specifically late ‘90s vision of how the future would look. Meanwhile, because of the golden accents on the building and the long trails of light coming from the massive glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a massive angel. It was created to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

An Unforgettable Soundtrack

Matching the tranquility that the appearance of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the dearest memories I have from childhood is strolling around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those aquatic statues spraying water, and hearing to the gentle theme song. The problem is that it continues playing in your head forever. Once it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to look up on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to end playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.

• Lullaby tune that sticks in your mind
• Central courtyard with fountain features
• Nostalgic associations for countless players

A Intriguing School

Balamb Garden is intriguing as a location as well as an organization. First, it enrolls kids from five to 15 years old to turn them into mercenaries, but it looks like a giant church. There are numerous military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Contradictory Motto

If you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you find out that the credo of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I didn't have the sense that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. But, considering that the training area, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the entire school available at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is terrible, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the faculty have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Policies

Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we should expect from a combat school, but conversely seems weirdly funny. First, there’s no dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student may be expelled if they lag 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 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 gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

Greater Than Just Good Looks

From the delicate advanced design of the building to the ironies and debatable practices of the institution, there are many aspects of Balamb Garden to admire. We all like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than simply aesthetics.