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This FF series features many memorable settings. From Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has earned a cherished place in players' hearts, who celebrate the distinctive idiosyncrasies that make these worlds so remarkable. But, when it comes to one place that deserves more praise than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but also for being a incredibly bizarre school.

The Pure Cinematic Moment

Before, we must mention the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and fleeing from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This institution was not only intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a moving base that allows them to create new strategies and move, based on the demands of those in charge. Many easily regard it as one of the best airship creations in the series, 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 iconic moments in video game history.

The Initial Look of a Brooding Home

When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first look of the location this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic 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 somehow divine. The curvy structures recall a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the future would look. Meanwhile, because of the gilded details on the building and the long beams of light coming from the enormous glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a giant angel. It was designed to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an establishment that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Theme Song

Matching the calmness that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s theme song. One of the dearest memories I have from being a kid is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spraying water, and hearing to the gentle theme song. The issue is that it continues playing in your head forever. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to look up on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to get it out of playing inside my head is to have enough of it.

• Gentle music that sticks in your mind
• Main courtyard with fountain features
• Sentimental feelings for countless players

A Fascinating School

Balamb Garden is compelling as a location as well as an institution. First, it accepts kids from five to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it appears like a giant church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

The Contradictory Motto

When you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you find out that the motto of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I didn't 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 only place in the entire school accessible at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is awful, since students are eating so many frankfurters that the faculty have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Tight Rules

Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, on one hand, we should expect from a combat school, but on the other seems oddly amusing. For example, there’s no 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 may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is truly 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 real danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is romantic relationships, not fighting with gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

More Than Just Aesthetics

From the refined advanced design of the building to the contradictions and debatable decisions of the school, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to celebrate. We all like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than simply surface appeal.