That FF8 Icon Merits Greater Appreciation

This Final Fantasy franchise includes countless memorable locations. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has earned a cherished place in fans' hearts, and they celebrate the unique quirks that make these areas so special. But, if one location that merits greater attention than the others, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a incredibly bizarre school.

The Pure Cinematic Scene

Before, let's address the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and fleeing from a missile attack was pure cinema. This place was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a mobile base that enables them to establish new strategies and reposition, depending on the requirements of those in command. Many easily consider it as one of the coolest airship concepts in the franchise, alongside 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 more memorable moments in video game history.

The Initial Look of a Gloomy 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 begins from the floor of the school and rises to zoom in on the awe-inspiring scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel futuristic, but also somehow divine. The rounded structures bring to mind a specifically late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. Conversely, because of the golden features on the building and the long trails of light emanating from the massive glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden resembles a giant angel. It was designed to be a serene place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

An Unforgettable Theme Song

Matching the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the most cherished memories I have from childhood is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spurting water, and listening to the soothing theme song. The catch is that it keeps playing in your head forever. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to look up on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to make it stop playing inside my head is to have enough of it.

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

A Compelling Academy

Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting as well as an establishment. For starters, it enrolls kids from five to fifteen years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a enormous church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Contradictory Slogan

When you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-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 sense that those teenagers preparing to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — except for Zell. However, given that the training center, where students find living monsters they can battle, is the sole place in the whole school available at any time during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is awful, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the personnel have nothing else to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Rules

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, on one hand, we would anticipate from a military school, but on the other seems weirdly humorous. For example, there’s no dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to 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 look like it, but Balamb Garden is really worried about its students’ romantic activities. The school formally recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true risk of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not battling with gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

More Than Just Good Looks

From the elegant advanced design of the building to the paradoxes and dubious practices of the school, there are many elements of Balamb Garden to admire. Many of us like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.