This Final Fantasy 8 Symbol Merits Greater Appreciation
This FF franchise boasts countless iconic locations. Starting with Elfheim in the original Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a special place in fans' hearts, who love the unique details that make these areas so unique. But, if one location that merits more praise than the others, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but also for being a incredibly bizarre school.
An Absolute Blockbuster Reveal
First, let's highlight the obvious. Balamb Garden morphing into an flying vessel and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This place was not just intended to be a training camp for mercenaries. It is a moving base that enables them to develop new plans and reposition, based on the requirements of those in command. I readily regard it as one of the most impressive airship designs in the series, along with Final Fantasy 10's Fahrenheit and several of the Final Fantasy 12 military airships.
The transformation of Balamb Garden into an airship remains one of the most iconic moments in gaming history.
A Initial Look of a Brooding Sanctuary
When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis leading Squall out of the medical wing, we get our first view of the environment this gloomy-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping 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 appears advanced, but also somehow angelic. The rounded structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s vision of how the future would look. On the other hand, because of the gilded features on the building and the extended trails of light emanating from the enormous glowing halo on top of the school, Balamb Garden looks like a massive angel. It was created to be a peaceful place — too peaceful for an establishment that transforms teenagers into mercenaries.
An Memorable Melody
Complementing the tranquility that the design of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s theme song. One of the dearest memories I have from childhood is strolling around the main area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spurting water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The issue is that it continues playing in your head indefinitely. Whenever it comes back to my mind, I’m forced to search 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 tune that lingers in your mind
- Central courtyard with fountain features
- Sentimental memories for countless players
The Intriguing Academy
Balamb Garden is fascinating as a setting and also an organization. For starters, it accepts kids from five to 15 years old to transform them into mercenaries, but it appears like a massive church. There are a lot of military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but not one look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.
A Contradictory Slogan
When you use the Balamb Garden Network using one of the game terminals, you find out that the motto 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, considering that the training center, where students encounter living monsters they can battle, is the sole place in the entire school available at any time during the day, maybe that’s what they mean by “playing.” While combat preparation is the primary part of a student’s life in Balamb Garden, their nutrition is poor, since students are eating so many hot dogs that the staff have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”
Strict Rules
Students are governed by a strict set of rules, which, for one, we should anticipate from a combat school, but on the other seems weirdly humorous. For example, there’s no dress code in the school, but they are not allowed to leave their dorms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student may be expelled if they fall behind in their studies, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not seem like it, but Balamb Garden is truly concerned about its students’ relationships. The school officially suggests that students “take time to think things through before starting a relationship.” (After all, the real threat of being a student of Balamb Garden is love affairs, not battling with gunblades and cutting each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)
More Than Only Good Looks
Starting with the elegant futuristic design of the building to the contradictions and questionable practices of the school, there are many elements of Balamb Garden to admire. We all like to make fun of Squall, but Balamb Garden serves to remind us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than simply surface appeal.
