Final Fantasy XVI features a wide variety of different activities that you can get stuck into. Early on in Clive’s adventure, you’ll gain access to the Arete Stone at the Hideaway, and it will present you with a number of options. Arcade Mode is one such option, and this page will inform you of everything you can do with it.
Arcade Mode lets you play through previous stages to try and set a high score.
To access Arcade Mode, you must progress through the Main Quest until you complete the Fanning Embers Main Quest, early on in the adventure. Return to the Hideaway and access the Arete Stone to find two new options, Arcade Mode and Stage Replay.
Arcade Mode Modifiers¶
Once you select the Arcade Mode option, you’ll see all of the stages you’ve currently completed and you’ll see all of your current high scores. As you may have seen in The Hall of Virtue you will have a Battle Performance based on the combos and skills you use. This is also affected by how much you get his by an enemy and more, this is the place to really show off your skills.
It’s a good idea to turn off the Cutscenes when you’re using Arcade Mode, as it can get in the way and slow down a run (even if you can skip them still). You’ll also have access to skills and equipment you may not have had at the time of playing through this stage during the Main Quest.
If you look to the right of the screen, you can see how many legs a stage has. Your Battle Performance will be graded on each of these legs, showing you a breakdown of how you did in each section of this stage.
(1 of 2) You can see the available stages and your current high scores here
You can see the available stages and your current high scores here (left), access the Arcade Menu to see your leg progress and the scoring system breakdown. (right)
Arcade Mode Scoring¶
So now you know that you’re being graded in Arcade Mode, what is the scoring breakdown of that? If you access the Abilities screen and press the Triangle Button (
) to view more details. Here you can see the available Battle Techniques an ability has access too and it’s pulling these off that give you your scoring.
The table below gives you a breakdown of how the scoring system works:
| Color | 1 Star | 2 Star | 3 Star |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 100 | 300 | 500 |
| Blue | 500 | 700 | 900 |
| Cyan | 2,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 |
| Green | 20,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 |
| Rainbow | 40,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 |
These will go some way to putting your rankings on the Leaderboard, which becomes available in Final Fantasy Mode (New Game+). Once a stage is over, you’ll get a final grading and be told of any accolades you may have obtained (such as not getting hit during a battle).
You will get the results screen at the end of a stage, showing any accolades you earned and your overall rank.
Ultimaniac Mode¶
Once you finish Final Fantasy XVI for the first time, you’ll be able to save your clear data and start a New Game+ on Final Fantasy Mode. Not only does this remix the location of enemies, but everything will be tougher in general. This, however, is not the ultimate challenge in the game, Ultimaniac Mode is.
When you access Arcade Mode in Final Fantasy Mode, you’ll be able to select Ultimaniac when choosing a stage, this an even more difficult mode that rivals even the toughest character action games. There are no rewards for beating stages on this mode, but there is an Online Leaderboard that is for the ultimate bragging rights between Final Fantasy enthusiasts.
More Final Fantasy 16 Guides¶
If you’re looking for help on any other mechanics found in Final Fantasy XVI, check out our pages below:
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