That Final Fantasy 8 Icon Deserves More Adoration
The FF series features many 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, who love the distinctive idiosyncrasies that make these locales so unique. However, if one setting that merits greater praise than the rest, it is definitely Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not just because of its beautiful design, but also for being a absolutely bizarre school.
An Absolute Movie Moment
Before, we must mention the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an airship and escaping from a rocket attack was pure cinema. This place was not just designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that enables them to develop new strategies and move, depending on the requirements of those in command. Many easily consider it as one of the most impressive airship creations in the franchise, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.
The conversion of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the more unforgettable moments in gaming history.
The Initial Look of a Brooding Sanctuary
As we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and see Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first glimpse of the location this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A panoramic shot starts from the ground of the school and ascends to zoom in on the staggering size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that feels futuristic, but also somehow angelic. The flowing structures evoke a distinctly late ‘90s concept of how the future would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded features on the building and the extended trails of light coming from the immense glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was created to be a serene place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.
The Unforgettable Melody
Matching the calmness that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden portrays, we have the school’s soundtrack. One of the dearest recollections I have from my youth is walking around the main area of Balamb Garden, watching those fish statues spurting water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The issue is that it keeps playing in your head constantly. Once it comes back to my mind, I’m compelled to look up on YouTube for a 3-hour-long “Balamb Garden” song video. The only way to end playing inside my head is to have enough of it.
- Lullaby music that sticks in your mind
- Central courtyard with fountain features
- Nostalgic memories for many players
A Compelling School
Balamb Garden is intriguing as a setting and also an organization. For starters, it enrolls kids from five to 15 years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it appears like a massive church. There are numerous military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less militaristic than Balamb Garden.
The Ironic Philosophy
When you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you discover that the motto of the academy is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I never have the feeling that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. However, considering that the training area, where students find living monsters they can kill, is the sole place in the entire school available at all hours during the day, perhaps that’s what they mean by “playing.” While training is the most important part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their food is awful, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the staff have nothing else to say except “No more hot dogs today.”
Tight Rules
Students are governed by a tight set of rules, which, for one, we should anticipate from a military school, but on the other seems oddly funny. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the evenings, unless it’s for training. A student may be expelled if they fall behind in their studies, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It might not look like it, but Balamb Garden is genuinely worried about its students’ relationships. 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 love affairs, not fighting with weapons and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the opening cutscene.)
Greater Than Only Appearance
From the delicate futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and debatable decisions of the school, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to appreciate. Many of us like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than simply good looks.
