This Final Fantasy 8 Symbol Warrants More Appreciation
This Final Fantasy franchise features numerous unforgettable settings. From Elfheim in the very first Final Fantasy, Midgar in Final Fantasy 7, all the way to Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14, each has secured a special place in fans' hearts, who celebrate the unique quirks that make these locales so unique. However, when it comes to one location that merits more attention than the others, it is undoubtedly Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy 8, not only because of its elegant design, but additionally for being a incredibly bizarre school.
The Pure Cinematic Reveal
Before, we must address the obvious. Balamb Garden transforming into an airship and escaping from a missile attack was absolute cinema. This place was not just intended to be a academy for mercenaries. It is a moving base that enables them to create new strategies and move, based on the demands of those in control. I readily view it as one of the best airship creations in the series, 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 more iconic moments in video game history.
A First View of a Gloomy Home
When we start playing Final Fantasy 8 and watch Quistis escorting Squall out of the medical wing, we get our initial look of the place this brooding-looking teenager calls home. A sweeping shot begins from the floor of the school and ascends to focus on the impressive size of the building. Balamb Garden has a design that appears futuristic, but also somehow divine. The flowing structures bring to mind a distinctly late ‘90s idea of how the tomorrow would look. On the other hand, because of the golden features on the building and the extended trails of light emanating from the enormous glowing ring on top of the school, Balamb Garden evokes a massive angel. It was created to be a serene place — excessively peaceful for an establishment that turns teenagers into mercenaries.
The Unforgettable Theme Song
Matching the tranquility that the aesthetic of Balamb Garden conveys, we have the school’s background music. One of the fondest recollections I have from childhood is walking around the central area of Balamb Garden, seeing those aquatic statues spouting water, and listening to the lullaby-ish theme song. The catch is that it continues playing in your head constantly. Once it returns to my mind, I’m forced to look up on YouTube for a extended “Balamb Garden” song video. The sole way to make it stop playing inside my head is to listen to it repeatedly of it.
- Lullaby tune that lingers in your mind
- Central hub with water features
- Nostalgic memories for countless players
A Fascinating Institution
Balamb Garden is intriguing as a location and also an institution. First, it accepts kids from five to 15 years old to mold them into mercenaries, but it looks like a enormous church. There are a lot of military schools in RPGs, like in Trails of Cold Steel, but none look less like a militaristic than Balamb Garden.
The Contradictory Motto
When you use the Balamb Garden Network via one of the in-game terminals, you learn that the slogan of the school is “Work hard, study hard, and play hard.” Apologies, but I didn't have the impression that those teenagers training to be mercenaries are “playing hard” — only Zell. But, given that the training area, where students encounter living monsters they can kill, is the only 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 diet is poor, since students are consuming so many frankfurters that the personnel have no other response to say besides “No more hot dogs today.”
Tight Rules
Students are controlled by a rigid set of rules, which, on one hand, we would anticipate from a combat school, but conversely seems oddly amusing. First, there’s not a dress code in the school, but they can’t leave their dorms in the nights, except it’s for training. A student can be dismissed if they fall behind in their curriculum, for violent acts, and for… “sexual promiscuity.” It may not look like it, but Balamb Garden is really concerned about its students’ sex life. 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 battling with gunblades and slashing each other's faces like Squall and Seifer were doing in the intro cutscene.)
More Than Only Aesthetics
Starting with the refined advanced design of the building to the paradoxes and debatable decisions of the school, there are countless elements of Balamb Garden to celebrate. Many of us like to joke about Squall, but Balamb Garden reminds us that there’s greater depth to Final Fantasy 8 than only good looks.
