That FF8 Icon Deserves More Love
This FF franchise features numerous unforgettable locations. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, every one has secured a cherished place in fans' hearts, who love the distinctive quirks that make these locales so unique. However, when it comes to one setting that deserves more praise than the rest, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its beautiful design, but additionally for being a absolutely strange school.
The Absolute Blockbuster Reveal
Before, let's highlight the elephant in the room. Balamb Garden transforming into an flying vessel and fleeing from a rocket attack was absolute cinema. This institution was not just designed to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a traveling base that enables them to create new plans and relocate, depending on the demands of those in control. Many easily consider it as one of the most impressive airship concepts in the franchise, together with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.
This transformation of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most memorable moments in video game history.
The Initial View 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 place this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot starts from the ground of the school and rises to zoom in on the impressive magnitude of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that makes it feel futuristic, but also angelic. The flowing structures recall a specifically late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded details on the building and the long beams of light emanating from the immense glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a giant angel. It was built to be a tranquil place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that turns teenagers into mercenaries.
The Unforgettable Melody
Matching the serenity that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden suggests, 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 listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head forever. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m compelled to look up 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 melody that remains in your mind
- Main hub with fountain features
- Sentimental memories for many players
The Intriguing Institution
Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting and also an organization. For starters, it enrolls kids from 5 to fifteen years old to turn them into mercenaries, but it looks 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 Philosophy
When you access the Balamb Garden Network using one of the in-game terminals, you learn that the credo of the school 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” — except for Zell. But, considering that the training center, where students find real monsters they can kill, is the only place in the whole school accessible at all hours 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 nutrition is awful, since students are consuming so many frankfurters that the faculty have no other response to say except “No more hot dogs today.”
Rigid Policies
Students are governed by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we should expect from a military school, but conversely seems oddly humorous. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their rooms in the evenings, unless it’s for training. A student may be expelled if they fall behind in their curriculum, for aggressive acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is really concerned about its students’ relationships. The school formally recommends that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the true threat 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 intro cutscene.)
More Than Just Good Looks
From the elegant futuristic design of the building to the ironies and debatable actions of the academy, there are numerous elements of Balamb Garden to celebrate. We all like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s more to Final Fantasy 8 than simply good looks.
