Peninsula of Power in Final Fantasy (3DS).
Final Fantasy games that have random encounters on a world map use divisions to separate where certain sets of encounters are fought. Many of the earlier games divide the map into a grid of squares of equal size. 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, grid squares with encounters designed for one area overlap with land from another area. This often allows monsters intended to be fought when the party reaches a certain part or area in the story to be fought earlier. 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 Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster versions of the retain the overall grids that older versions are based on, but also change encounter sets on a tile-by-tile basis to remove most Peninsula of Power areas and other unintended encounters.
Appearances[]
Final Fantasy[]
The peninsula in the PlayStation Portable version.
The original Peninsula of Power is a peninsula northeast of Pravoka, accessible on foot from Pravoka or by ship after leaving the Aldean Sea. The area leading up to the peninsula is part of the Cavern of Ice encounter region, but in the northernmost tip monsters usually encountered in the Lufenia area appear instead. This occurs because the world map is divided into an eight-by-eight grid, each containing 32-by-32 squares, with the very northern tip of the peninsula infringing on the square that covers a large section of the area surrounding Lufenia, including the town itself. In this square the enemies fought are built for the late stage of the game after the airship is obtained.
Other "Peninsulas" appear depending on the version. In the MSX release, the area northwest of Cornelia strays into the Mount Duergar region and the area to the west of the Western Keep strays into the Cavern of Earth region, while in the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary releases the two easternmost tiles in the area outside Cornelia stray into the Pravoka encounter region. While not as drastic an increase as the original Lufenian Peninsula, these nonetheless give access to stronger enemies earlier than intended, including immediately upon starting the game. The MSX Peninsulas are exclusive to that version, while all Peninsulas are removed in the Pixel Remaster release.
While not exactly a Peninsula of Power, there are small strips bordering the ocean throughout the world that use the default encounters of the southern Cornelia region, consisting only of Goblins. These strips can be found south of the Yahnikurm Desert, southwest of Lufenia, southeast of Onrac, south of the Sage's Cave, and southwest of the Cavern of Earth. This is caused by the same oversight, as these strips all fall in encounter tiles that are otherwise all ocean, where the player isn't expected to encounter enemies on land within them. The Yahnikurm, Lufenia, and Onrac strips are removed in the WonderSwan Color and subsequent releases due to slight changes in overworld geometry, while the Cavern of Earth strip was removed in the Pixel Remaster release. The Sage's Cave strip notably remains in all versions, and was even expanded in the Pixel Remaster release.
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. This does not apply to the 3D versions.
Final Fantasy IV[]
The monsters fought north of Mt. Ordeals 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. This is still available in the Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection version. This does not apply to the 3D versions.
Additionally, the monsters on some of the tiles in the eastern areas of Troia are the weaker monsters from Kaipo.
Final Fantasy VI[]
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, the first overworld enemies fought in the game found right outside Narshe. While this is the opposite of a Peninsula of Power in spirit, it can still be a useful area for removing the curse from the Cursed Shield, as the enemies pose little threat to exacerbate the penalties imposed by the shield.
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