That FF8 Symbol Warrants Greater Appreciation

The FF franchise includes numerous unforgettable settings. 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 players' hearts, and they celebrate the unique quirks that make these worlds so special. But, if one location that merits more praise than the rest, it is certainly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a absolutely strange school.

The Absolute Cinematic Moment

First, we must address the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This location was not only designed to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that permits them to establish new tactics and move, depending on the requirements of those in control. Many easily regard it as one of the best airship designs 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 most iconic moments in video game history.

The First Glimpse of a Brooding Home

When we begin playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our initial look of the environment this sullen-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the floor of the school and ascends to focus on the staggering size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears advanced, but also somehow divine. The rounded structures recall a specifically late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. Conversely, because of the gilded details on the building and the extended beams of light emanating from the massive glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a massive angel. It was created to be a serene place — too peaceful for an academy that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.

An Catchy Melody

Matching the calmness that the appearance of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the fondest recollections I have from my youth is strolling around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spraying water, and listening to the gentle theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head constantly. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to search on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to end playing inside my head is to overdose of it.

• Lullaby music that lingers in your mind
• Central area with water features
• Nostalgic associations for countless players

The Fascinating Institution

Balamb Garden is intriguing as a location as well as an institution. For starters, it enrolls kids from five to fifteen years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it appears like a massive church. There are many military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.

A Paradoxical Motto

If you access the Balamb Garden Network via one of the game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the academy 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” — only Zell. However, given that the training area, where students find real monsters they can defeat, is the only place in the whole school available at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the most important aspect of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is awful, since students are devouring so many hot dogs that the faculty have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”

Strict Policies

Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, on one hand, we should expect from a military school, but conversely seems oddly amusing. For example, there’s no dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their rooms in the evenings, except it’s for training. A student may be expelled if they lag in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely worried about its students’ relationships. The school officially recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true danger of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not fighting with weapons and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)

More Than Just Aesthetics

Starting with the elegant futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and questionable practices of the school, there are many aspects of Balamb Garden to admire. Many of us like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than only aesthetics.