Peninsula of Power

Final Fantasy games that use Random Encounters on a World Map utilize a grid that separates the areas in which monsters appear in. Depending on the location on the grid the player traversing the world map is standing on, different enemies will be encountered. Sometimes, due to a programming oversight the player is allowed earlier access to monsters that were intended to be fought when the party reaches a certain part or area in the story. Many of these areas are in remote places where players have to go out of their way to reach. Players can exploit these areas to grind for experience and gil early.

The term Peninsula of Power was coined in an issue of Nintendo Power for the original Final Fantasy, where it was hinted the area can be used for easy experience and gil. Players have continued to call such similar areas as the Peninsula of Power within the series and in other video games.

Final Fantasy
The Peninsula of Power is a term for a location in the original Final Fantasy. It is a peninsula northeast of Pravoka, accessible by ship. In that certain area around the peninsula, monsters usually encountered in the Lufenia area are encountered there as well, allowing for early access of these monsters.

This occurs because the world map is divided into an eight-by-eight grid, each containing 32-by-32 squares. The grid determines which enemies are fought in any location. Where the most northwest grid-square is $$(0,0)$$, from there to the east it will be $$(1,0)$$ and to the south it will be $$(0,1)$$; $$(6,4)$$ contains Pravoka, and to the east is $$(7,4)$$, the area south of the peninsula and including the southern part of the peninsula. $$(7,4)$$, $$(7,5)$$, and $$(6,5)$$ all contain the same enemy formations not much tougher than Pravoka's.

However, the northern part of the peninsula infringes on the square that covers a large section of the area surrounding Lufenia including the town itself. In this square, $$(7,3)$$, the enemies fought are built for the late stage of the game after the airship is obtained.

While not exactly a Peninsula of Power, In the NES-version of Final Fantasy exists a short, 3 tiles-long area south of the mountains underneath the Yahnikurm Desert, consisting of only Goblins as enemies.

Final Fantasy II
A few tiles to the south of Altair, the player can encounter Mysidian area monsters. The monsters can only be encountered on the three horizontal tiles in the shore.

Final Fantasy III
This area can be accessed right after Goldor Manor. From Amur, the player must fly north. The area does not look like a peninsula, but is the same concept as the Peninsula of Power from Final Fantasy. The grid ends one tile after the mountainside, and this horizontal strip of land contains monsters from around the Crystal Tower area, which are monsters intended to be fought near the end of the game.

Final Fantasy IV
The location is North of Mt. Ordeals. The monsters that can be fought here are those from the Mythril and Troia areas. The grid tries to cover all the islands north of Mt. Ordeals, but has been done poorly resulting in early access to stronger monsters.

Final Fantasy VI
Similar to the other examples, but not quite a Peninsula of Power. In the World of Ruin, there is a peninsula with six trees directly east of Kefka's Tower; its random encounters are set to default resulting in encounters that solely involve Leaf Bunnies and Darkwinds, one of the first enemies fought in the game found right outside Narshe.

Gallery
Полуостров Могущества