8 Great Games That Have Tournament Arcs
Video games have acquired a number of expected tropes over the years, whether they involve a hero rescuing a damsel in distress, saving the world, battling an evil villain, or completely subverting these and other tropes.
While not always anime-based, many games share familiar tropes with anime series. One of these shared tropes is the tournament arc, which appears most often in JRPGs, and sees the player character and others compete in some tournament. These tournaments do not always have to be won, but player participation is always required, usually to advance the plot.
8 Inazuma Eleven
Level-5’s Soccer Strategy RPG series may not be as popular in North America as it is in Japan and Europe, but the first game still received a release. This is where the players first discovered the frontier of football. The international governing body organizes Football Frontier matches around the world, although it is only a national tournament split between regional and national divisions in the first game.
After main character and team captain Mamoru Endou reignites his team’s passion with the help of a few other characters, the team is then allowed to participate in the Football Frontier. The Football Frontier also continued to be critical in most other Inazuma Eleven games.
seven .hack // GU Trilogy
Besides the fourth volume, the .hack//GU series has an arena in each entry, which allows for consensual PVP combat, and still has some story relevance. There are three different routes to the arena, called palaces, and the winner of each is known as the emperor of that palace.
The battles in the arena consist of three against three fights between different teams, and the winning team earns points which will increase its rank. Eventually, the top 16 remaining teams compete in a tournament where whoever wins gets the chance to be in an exhibition match with the current Palace Emperor. Although the story part of the arena has differences in each game, the developers consider it a core element important enough to keep bringing back.
6 Star Ocean: The Second Story
In the second Star Ocean game, aptly titled Star Ocean: The Second Story, Claude C. Kenny, one of the main characters, participates in the Lacuer Tournament of Arms (or Lacuer Armory Contest), an annual festival that sees competitors compete in one-on-one combat.
Since the goal of the tournament is to show off the best new weapons and gear, competitors are not allowed to use their own and instead choose a sponsor to provide weaponry. Competitors are also allowed to watch other matches when not participating. Claude, unfortunately, does not win the tournament, but he does at least come in second place in the end.
5 Megaman 3 Battlenet
In all versions of Mega Man Battle Network 3, the tournament everyone is excited for is the N1 Grand Prix, which has the NetNavis duel. It turns out that the tournament was held as a way for the Netcrime World Three organization to announce their return and broadcast their defeat against the best Netbattlers in the world, which, of course, is not a success.
Megaman Battle Network 3 also happens to be the starting point for the anime adaptation, Mega Man NT Warrior, although its focus is changed. Much like the game, World Three is ultimately defeated thanks to Lan, Megaman, and their friends. Later Battle Network games also have their own tournaments, but the N1 Grand Prix is the most memorable and is where it all started.
4 Pokémon Sword and Shield
Instead of the usual Elite Four, the eighth generation Pokemon games switch things up with a tournament between Galar Gym Leaders and skilled trainers called the Champion Cup – making it somewhat similar to the Pokemon League competitions featured in the anime.
This tournament must be completed to reach the end credits, but is interrupted when rival Bede challenges the player after the semi-finals. Once Bede is defeated, the tournament continues as usual until the player finally faces Leon, the Galar League Champion. Since the villain has already been dealt with before the tournament, you don’t have to worry about a sinister force either.
3 Kingdom Hearts
In the world of Olympus Coliseum in the first Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Donald, and Goofy encounter Phil and Hercules, but Phil refuses to let Sora into the games despite several ordeals. Hades shows up and gives Sora a pass, allowing him to participate and fight against a variety of Heartless and eventually Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII.
Although there isn’t always a tournament the player can participate in, the Olympus Coliseum is also the most frequent world in the Kingdom Hearts series, and other Final Fantasy characters also appear there.
2 Paper Mario: The Millennium Gate
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the third chapter sees Mario and the characters who have joined the party so far travel to Glitzville, where the main attraction is an arena called the Glitz Pit. Mario is then registered as a fighter under the name “The Great Gonzales”, aiming to obtain the championship belt from current champion Rawk Hawk as he has a gold star.
It turns out there’s more to the arena and promoter Grubba than meets the eye, causing a series of events to unfold, revealing the truth of the situation. After completing the story portion, Mario and the party can return to the Glitz Pit at any time to fight and complete several side quests that require it.
1 Dragon Quest XI
In Dragon Quest XI, once the Enlightened and company reach an area known as Octagon, they must enter the Masked Martial Arts Tournament to earn the top prize: the Rainbough, a branch of the tree. of the world, Yggdrasil, which can be used by the luminary to find the six orbs that serve as keys to the shrine of Yggdrasil.
The tournament consists of multiple rounds of two-on-two fights, and the participating party members are divided into different teams, with the Luminary teaming up with defending champion Vince Vanquish. You can’t participate in the arena after the story part, but that doesn’t diminish its importance to the main plot.
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