🔗 Share this article

The Final Fantasy franchise includes numerous memorable places. Starting with Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has found a cherished place in fans' hearts, who celebrate the unique details that make these worlds so unique. But, when it comes to one location that warrants more attention than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but also for being a truly bizarre school.

The Pure Cinematic Moment

Before, let's address the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and fleeing from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This place was not only designed to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that allows them to establish new plans and reposition, based on the requirements of those in command. Many easily regard it as one of the coolest airship designs in the franchise, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.

The change of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most memorable moments in video game history.

The First Glimpse of a Gloomy Sanctuary

When we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the infirmary, we get our first glimpse of the environment this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot starts from the ground of the school and rises to zoom in on the awe-inspiring scale of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears futuristic, but also somehow divine. The curvy structures evoke a distinctly late ‘90s vision of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded details on the building and the long trails of light emanating from the immense glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a massive angel. It was built to be a tranquil place — too peaceful for an institution that turns teenagers into mercenaries.

The Unforgettable Theme Song

Complementing the calmness that the appearance of Balamb Garden suggests, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the fondest memories I have from childhood is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spurting water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The problem is that it keeps playing in your head forever. Once 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 get it out of playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Soothing melody that remains in your mind
• Central area with water features
• Nostalgic feelings for countless players

A Fascinating School

Balamb Garden is intriguing as a location and also an establishment. First, it accepts kids from five to fifteen years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it appears like a enormous church. There are numerous 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 using one of the game terminals, you learn that the credo of the institution is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” I’m sorry, but I never have the impression that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. But, given that the facility, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the whole school available at any time during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their diet is poor, since students are consuming so many frankfurters that the personnel have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”

Rigid Policies

Students are controlled by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we would expect from a military school, but conversely seems strangely humorous. 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 can be dismissed if they fall behind in their curriculum, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely concerned about its students’ romantic activities. The school officially advises 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 romantic relationships, not battling with weapons and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)

Greater Than Only Appearance

Starting with the elegant advanced design of the building to the paradoxes and debatable practices of the institution, there are countless aspects of Balamb Garden to appreciate. Many of us like to tease Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only surface appeal.