The Arena

For the general environment, see Arenas.

The Arena
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Gigantic weaponry sets are stored here.
Japanesename(s)	煉獄闘技場 Rengoku Tōgijō (Purgatory Arena)
Enemies	Enemy Data
Boss(es)	Balore
Dialogue	Dialogue page
Environment(s)	Arena, Armory
Music	The Purgatory Arena
◄ Previous stage	Underground Reservoir
◄ Previous stage	Underground Reservoir
Next stage ►	Top Floor
Next stage ►	Top Floor

The Arena is a location in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. It is an underground area of the castle that strongly resembles Roman architecture.

Overview

Diverse weaponry of gigantic proportions decorate the walls of the Arena. The overall design of this area resembles the Colosseum in Rome. The room where the Gladiator is encountered looks very similar to the room where Richter is first met at the Colosseum in Symphony of the Night.

The area has two elevators: the first one is completely destroyed but the other is in working condition and leads to three corridors that hold powerful items.

A Warp Room can be found a few distance upward to the East, past the entrance to the Underground Caverns.

The boss of the Arena appears at the bottom-left corner of the map. While at first it may appear to be the Giant Bat, it is quickly killed in a cutscene by the true boss, Balore. Soma will still obtain the Giant Bat's soul after the battle, though, which endows him the ability to transform into a bat.

On the right-hand side of the elevator leading to the area's Boss, there are three red doorways. Past these three red doors are long corridors, each one containing a challenge to complete. At the end of each corridor is a relatively powerful weapon or item on a pedestal, past a giant metal spiked crusher. From top to bottom, the rooms are as followed:

• The top corridor contains many Lubicant, one between a pair of manly statues. Each of these statues, when close to one, will also launch a frontal palm slap or kick aimed at the screen that harms Soma for strong amounts of damage if he is in the center of one of these thrusted attacks. The attacks are somewhat slow and follow a basic pattern. While they are generally easy to avoid, the Lubicant will make avoiding difficult. At the end of the hall is a large Ball and Chain that must be rhythmically hit in order to swing it toward the East Wall, smashing open an entrance into the next room. The item in this small room is the Olrox's Suit.
• The middle corridor contains Erinys, yellow Medusa Head, spiked floors and conveyor belts. There is a red switch in the center of the room though it is unclear what it does. The item at the end of this treacherous hall is the Balmung.
• The lower corridor has many Beam Skeleton and a few spiked surfaces. Above the former is a platform that moves to the East but stops above a decorative pillar with a + statue on top. Five of these decorative pillars will halt the progression of the moving platform. When halted, each pillar's + will light up an inside end of the + with a red dot. This corresponds to the D-Pad of the player's system and the direction press must match the light. When successful, another light will appear, until all lights have been cleared, advancing the platform. This essentially is a game of "Simon Says" and the player must make sure they do not accidentally fall off when performing left or right movements (best to adjust toward the center of the platform as it is moving in-between pillars). Each pillar will also increase in button command speed and will have more than two button commands in a row starting with the third pillar. If a button press is missed, a small sound effect plays, followed by a spear immediately raining down on the center of the platform, heavily damaging Soma if he is still on the platform. The platform will also begin to vanish, leaving him to face the Beam Skeleton below. The platform will only reappear if the room is reloaded should failure arise. Once the fifth pillar's button commands are all cleared, the platform remains in place and the nearby right wall breaks open a doorway leading to a room housing a Rare Ring.

Connecting areas

• Underground Reservoir - (via Southeast Red door)

Gallery

The elevator area

Area map

Other appearances

Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls

The stage Purgatory's Roil from Chapter 8 of Grimoire of Souls is based on this stage.

Trivia

• The Arena has a particular room that deviates from the rest of the level's design. A bathtub (complete with a rubber duck) can be found inside. It is inhabited by a Lilith and a Succubus.
  • This room may possibly be a variant of the water fountain room inside of the Colosseum in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, where a single Grave Keeper with Tea inhabits the room.
• The room with the two Red Minotaurs will allow the player to level up quickly, as each will grant 1,000 EXP points per kill. They can be killed with a single swipe of the Killer Mantle's soul, Astral Veil, and each one is positioned considerably near the edge of the room, so one can keep entering to kill as many as necessary. If a player has also acquired the Black Panther's soul, the Sherman Ring and the Erinys's soul, they will be able to level up much faster (around level 60-70).
• Another useful area to level up in is the second red door hall (the room with the conveyor belts). On the right-side doorway is a perfect position to kill a Erinys, as it appears within a good position to instantly kill it with a Dainslef. Soma can simply walk into the room, kill the Erinys, enter through the doorway, then repeat as many times wished. Erinys yield 500 EXP (699 with their Erinys Soul), but this area is a great way to farm the for both the Erinys Soul and the Ronginus' Spear, which is useful on many of the enemies encountered in The Arena.
• It is possible to sequence break early into The Arena by use of a glitch in the Floating Garden. By entering The Arena early, one will have skipped the need to explore the rest of the Floating Garden, as well as the entire Underground Cemetery and Clock Tower.