🔗 Share this article That FF8 Icon Deserves More Appreciation This Final Fantasy series features many unforgettable locations. From Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has found a cherished place in players' hearts, who admire the unique details that make these locales so unique. However, when it comes to one place that warrants greater praise than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but also for being a absolutely weird school. The Pure Blockbuster Moment Before, let's highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and fleeing from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This place was not just designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that allows them to establish new strategies and relocate, based on the needs of those in control. I easily regard it as one of the most impressive airship creations in the series, alongside Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships. This conversion of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most iconic moments in gaming history. A Initial Glimpse of a Brooding Home When we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first view of the location this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the ground of the school and rises to zoom in on the impressive scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears futuristic, but also divine. The rounded structures bring to mind a specifically late ‘90s vision of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded details on the building and the extended trails of light coming from the enormous glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a giant angel. It was built to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an academy that transforms teenagers into mercenaries. An Memorable Melody Matching the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s background music. One of the most cherished recollections I have from being a kid is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spurting water, and listening to the soothing theme song. The issue 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 get it out of playing inside my head is to overdose of it. Gentle music that remains in your mind Main hub with fountain features Nostalgic associations for many players The Intriguing Academy Balamb Garden is compelling as a location and also an establishment. For starters, it accepts kids from 5 to fifteen years old to turn them into mercenaries, but it appears like a enormous 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 Motto When you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you find out that the credo of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I never have the feeling that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, considering that the facility, where students encounter living monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the entire school accessible at any time during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the primary aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are devouring so many frankfurters that the faculty have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.” Tight Rules Students are controlled by a strict set of rules, which, on one hand, we should expect from a military school, but on the other seems oddly humorous. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their rooms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student can be expelled if they fall behind in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is truly worried about its students’ relationships. The school formally advises that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real threat of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not battling with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.) More Than Only Appearance Starting with the elegant futuristic design of the building to the paradoxes and debatable decisions of the academy, there are many features of Balamb Garden to admire. We all like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than simply aesthetics.