The brave do not fear the grave.
Written on the floor of the Final Fantasy VII Battle Square.
A battle arena is a recurring feature in the Final Fantasy series. Battle arenas are locations where the player's party can enter a battle against a number of enemies. Their functionality between games varies.
Many battle arenas allow earlier enemies to be fought, often with a different AI script or stronger than the ordinary version of the enemy. Many battle arenas only allow one enemy to be fought at a time, while others only allow one party member to be in the arena at a time. Defeating enemies often yields items while defeating stronger opponents often yields better items.
Appearances[]
Final Fantasy V[]
The Cloister of the Dead is a sub-area within the Sealed Temple, a bonus dungeon in the Advance and now discontinued 2013 ports, which is unlocked by defeating Enuo, the main boss of that dungeon. It is divided into six floors and allows the player to rebattle most of the bosses. Leaving the Cloister causes the battles to be reset. Clearing the final floor awards the Medal of Smiting. The player can repeat the battles as many times as they want.
Final Fantasy VI[]
The Dragon's Neck Coliseum, originally known as the Colosseum, is found in the World of Ruin. The player may choose one character for the battle who will use random commands against opponents.
Due to the amount of unhelpful commands characters may have, and the multitude of spells they may have learned by this point, many players use Umaro who always uses the Attack command. Due to him being AI-controlled, the preparations before battle and his stats are the only things to affect the outcome, with an element of luck.
The opponent fought is based on the item put forward, or the wager. If the player wins they earn a new item and lose their wager. If the player character dies, even if the enemy dies in the same attack, the player wins no item and loses their wager. If a character warps out of the battle they will retain their wager, but not earn a reward.
Enemies have the same statistics as when fought outside the coliseum, but will not use their regular AI scripts, instead using the abilities in Relm's Control options for that monster. The Control option has a maximum of four abilities, and one of the abilities will be picked at random when their turn comes up.
The Soul Shrine is a bonus dungeon in the Advance and subsequent ports located on a small island near Mobliz. The shrine becomes available after the Dragons' Den and the main story have been completed. The Soul Shrine contains a series of 128 battles against most of the enemies and bosses, including the new dragons from the Dragons' Den.
Final Fantasy VII[]
The Battle Square is found in the Gold Saucer where the player must spend previously earned GP to face a series of battles with a chosen character. The player has full control over the character who enters the battle in the state they are in before the battle, including their HP amount and LIMIT gauge. After the battle their state is returned to as it was before they entered (even if they die); if the player enters the Battle Square with a full LIMIT gauge, they will always start the first battle with a Limit Break available.
After the player dies, or wins all eight battles, they will receive an amount of BP. The BP earned is not based on the enemies defeated, but the result of the slots machine handicap reels between rounds. The more impairing the slot result is, and the later the battle is in the series, the round yields more BP. BP is lost when the player exits the Battle Square. BP can be spent on items at the square, including Cloud's ultimate Limit Break, Omnislash.
The Battle Square has three states with each having three different sets of battles with different enemies, and the player will also receive different rewards. The first state is on first visit, and it will change into its second state after acquiring the Tiny Bronco. The third state is after acquiring the Highwind, and it remains until the end of the game.
Battles are not one-on-one, but instead the player's character will face a formation of enemies. The final battle is always a one-on-one, however. One notable enemy is the Ghost Ship, which has the Goannai attack that knocks the player's character out of battle. All enemies fought in the Battle Square are available to be fought prior to be faced at the arena, but have greater stats. The stat increases are double HP and 150% Atk and Mag. All enemies are fought in the Battle Square are fought in other areas of the game, with exception to the Tonberry and Ho-chu, although they were originally planned for other areas of the game.
After a number of prerequisites are met, the player can enter the Special Battle, a fixed series of eight battles with the final battle being the Proud Clod and its Jamar Armor. Since the prerequisites can be met before the Raid on Midgar, the player can face Proud Clod in the Battle Square before the storyline boss battle.
Final Fantasy VII Remake[]
The two battle arenas available are the Corneo Colosseum in Chapters 9 and 14, and the Shinra Combat Simulator in Chapters 16 and 17. Corneo Colosseum is at the Wall Market, and must be visited as part of the story, but its optional matches net the player rewards, including each party member's second limit break. The arena itself somewhat resembles the Battle Square from the Gold Saucer in the original game. The Shinra Combat Simulator is located in the Shinra Building. It hosts various challenges, and in Hard Mode, the player can face the game's superboss there.
Final Fantasy IX[]
There is a battle arena in the Weapon Shop in Treno. At four points in the game, the player can face an enemy there. The enemies are fought in other places in the game, but in all instances the enemy has different stats. The player can select one character to fight in battle. They win prizes for beating the enemies, but none of them are unique.
Final Fantasy X[]
The Monster Arena is on the Calm Lands. At the Monster Arena the player can purchase weapons with the Capture auto-ability to "catch" enemies around Spira by landing a final blow on them with the Capture weapon. Not all enemies can be caught, however, most random encounter fiends can. Enemies caught in the method can be fought alone at the Monster Arena, albeit for a price. The price is usually based on the toughness of the enemy, with enemies fought earlier in the game fought at a cheaper price. Battles at the Monster Arena are taken on by the entire party.
Rarely encountered enemies that have steals, drops, or bribe items needed are easier to find since they are fought at the arena. Each enemy can be caught up to ten times. When a certain number of specific enemies, based on species or on location, are caught, new enemies become available to be fought on the arena in the categories Species Conquest, Area Conquest, and Original.
The unique enemies in the Monster Arena often break the damage limit and are therefore hard to face for an unprepared party. A number of the enemies drop stat spheres used to replace empty nodes on the Sphere Grid. The Monster Arena is thus an important part of maxing stats. While it costs a significant amount of gil to face the enemies, the weapon and armor drops often sell for a lot.
After catching ten of every enemy, and defeating all other unique Monster Arena enemies, the player can face Nemesis, one of the superbosses and the most difficult enemy in the original Japanese and North American versions.
Final Fantasy X-2[]
The Fiend Arena is located on board the Celsius in the International and HD Remaster versions. The arena is laid out in a series of cups, and winning them earns various prizes, such as new dresspheres and Garment Grids. Battles are taken on by the entire active party. A number of enemies fought in the arena join the battle after being defeated. There is also a capture system.
Final Fantasy XII[]
Trial Mode is a new feature added to the Japan-exclusive Zodiac Job System version, and is also available in the remastered edition Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, which is based on the Zodiac Job System release. Using the save data from the game, the Trial Mode will load the party and their current stats and equipment, which means if there are guests in the data, they will be loaded into the Trial Mode as well. There are 100 stages, and after completing each 10th stage, the player can save their progress and receive a reward. On the final level the player must face all five Archadian Judges in battle, of which Drace and Zargabaath were not fought in the main game. In The Zodiac Age, the player can bring the various rewards possible to earn from the trials into the main game, making it possible to become overpowered early on if one steals from the trial enemies and loots the treasures, especially with the Diamond Armlet equipped.
Final Fantasy XIII-2[]
The Coliseum is located in the Void Beyond, and is where those from distant past battle without end until the Day of Reckoning. The Coliseum contains downloadable content battles. All fights that have been downloaded are accessed from the version of the Coliseum at the far left of the Historia Crux by talking to the Arbiter of Time.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII[]
The Slaughterhouse is located in Yusnaan, where Lightning can combat opponents to win items. Contests of skill are held from 19:00-03:00 each night. Entering a Slaughterhouse tournament will consume ten minutes of time. If the player wins, they earn a reward. If the player cannot win, they must use Escape to flee. When losing a battle one will not only lose the ten minutes, but the time penalty for fleeing via Escape is also applied. The opponents in the Slaughterhouse have slightly different names than their counterparts faced elsewhere in the game (most likely to indicate that defeating enemies in the Slaughterhouse is not connected with the Last One gameplay mechanics).
Final Fantasy XIV[]
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn[]
The Wolves' Den is a battle arena for players versus players (PvP) mode. It has been implemented to the game in patch 2.1.
Final Fantasy XV[]
Totomostro is a minigame where monsters are pitted against each other, and the player wagers their bets on which monster teams survive. The game is played in Altissia, accessed on a gondola line. The player can support their team by blowing a vuvuzela-type instrument. The arena uses Galviano Medals as betting chips, each costing 10 gil, and the player can wager a maximum of 9,999 medals. Playing the minigame nets various prizes that cannot be obtained elsewhere.
Final Fantasy XVI[]
The player can undertake various staged trials, found all around the world in stone monuments called "chronoliths", which activate after the events in Twinside. Each chronolith is associated with a different Eikon, and the player must win four stages of monster waves within an allotted time limit with only the single Eikon's Feat and Abilities at their disposal. Clearing each chronolith earns an accessory that improves the associated loadout's ultimate ability in some manner.
Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008)[]
While it is possible to fight any opponent in Quick Battle, the Duel Colosseum pits the player against an endless series of battles. The Duel Colosseum becomes available after completing Shade Impulse. Various enemies, treasure chests and jobs appear as cards that cycle through the Hand, and the player can play one card from the Hand at a time.
Each time the player wins a fight in the Duel Colosseum they receive an amount of medals based on the difficulty of the opponent defeated, and can spend them on treasure chests to receive rare equipment and trade accessories. Job cards provide beneficial effects, but the player can have three job cards in play and must discard the oldest card when they play a new one. There are five courses with varying treasures and enemy difficulties. The player can fight on any course as long as they wish before exiting, and receive PP when they exit based on how many medals they earned, as well as a score based on how many opponents they defeated and their strength.
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy[]
The Labyrinth is the successor to the Duel Colosseum unlocked by completing the Treachery of the Gods. The Labyrinth is separated into cloisters of several floors, each having a different gimmick of which types of cards appear. Each floor contains a door card that takes the player to the next floor or a new cloister, and eventually the player can find exit cards that allow them to leave.
The player is forbidden from taking their character's equipment into the Labyrinth, and must make use of whatever they can find in treasure cards or win from enemies. Many rare and powerful equipment pieces can only be acquired in the Labyrinth, but to take them out of the Labyrinth the player must reach an exit card or find a Geomancer card.
Final Fantasy Type-0[]
The Arena is located in Akademeia, situated on the left path from the Fountain Plaza. It becomes available after completing Mission 2-2. The current field character can freely participate in a training where s/he battles three enemies at a time, until sixty enemies are defeated in total. The player can then choose to continue battling, or return to the field. If the character is killed they return to the entrance revived and restored. Experience points and phantoma can be gained and kept. This makes it a good place to complete tasks given within Akademeia that ask for phantoma or Killsight strikes.
Alternately, the field character can enter secret training where s/he will gain experience points while the console is in Sleep Mode.
Final Fantasy Dimensions[]
In the Coliseum the party can fight three battles in a row for various prizes. The entrance fee is 1000 gil, and after three battles the party will be fully healed regardless of the result. Coliseum is a great place to hunt for Fangs and Tails, which can be used to trade for unique items.