in many videogames, there are events or actions which set in motion some forced sequence, at which point one may not return to (an) earlier location(s), or which fundamentally change the game world such that activities available previously are no longer accessible
i really struggle to put into words what i mean precisely, but examples are easier:
in ZombiU / Zombi, the game actually explicitly tells you before you begin the final sequence that it is a “point of no return”, which, after initiation, sets the game on a final path to completion/climax/termination
in Vampyr, there is a specific trigger that locks you into a final boss battle and prevents access to previously reachable areas
obviously, this needs to be distinct from something like Sonic the Hedgehog - games that don’t allow level select (without cheats) and require the player to complete each level in sequence with no possibility to return to previously completed levels - this is just standard sequential structure and is not notable
world of ruin in FF6? i have regretfully not played far enough to know if you can ever go back and do stuff you were able to do before that event
i haven’t finished it yet but i’ve heard tell that FF15 does this in the back half
disc 4 of FF9 has significant parts of the map blocked off
mother 2 after triggering the invasion of onett
i’m trying to piece out when you can access part of the previously open world vs. being locked into a specific sequence. e.g. fallout new vegas telegraphs exactly when you start the battle of hoover dam and i’d say that’s a point of no return but it doesn’t mesh with your examples
i think F:NV is applicable - in ZombiU you are not, like, transported to a new area or anything, but previously accessible shortcuts become locked and some routes become closed off to shunt you into a specific area so the final setpiece(s) can proceed
i don’t remember exactly how the hoover dam sequence plays out but it sounds like it fits
In Katamari Damacy, advancing to the next size threshold makes smaller objects disappear and enclosed areas inaccessible. In some cases, you start out inside a building that you can later roll up.
Part of the challenge of trying to collect the entire catalog of objects is knowing when you can reach something and when it’s too late. But, of course, you might as well not even try to collect all of the objects if you’re playing a game that includes Cowbear.
Super Metroid locks you into fighting the final boss after a certain point — infamously, if you fail to collect the charge beam and sufficient ammo, then you can essentially brick your save file (I think that happened to someone here recently).
Related: the SM hack Ascent has multiple points of no return. The game is divided into three large zones, and each zone becomes inaccessible as you destroy them.
Disc 4 of FF8 is similar. Accessing the overworld and airship is possible via a slightly convoluted route, but all towns are permanently blocked off. However, the airship has a few NPCs which at least allows the disc to have full and permanent access to the high-end card economy IIRC.
yes, there are certain things you can only do in World of Balance, and you can’t go back.
FF15 always lets you return to stuff
Chrono Trigger - there are choices you can make that can’t be undone (until…you do a New Game+, at least)
Mega Man sort of - if you leave Dr. Wily’s Castle in most of the classic MM games, you’ll have to start over from Wily Stage 1!
they change this in later iterations and there are a fewwwww exceptions (like i think in some you can still go back to the very last stage if you leave it and go back to the other levels)
I regret to inform you that a clearly demarcated Point Of No Return (usually using those exact words) is best practices in modern AAA Ubisoftian lawnmower sims that have an “open world” but also a “main story”. Usually there’s a final save point before you do the final story chapter and the game tells you, hey, you can’t do side stuff or get more unlockables or upgrade if you move on from here.
You can always go back after you “beat” the game though, they can’t lock you out of your carefully checkboxed progress forever, think of the Metacritic penalty
see this stuff i would not count - games which allow you to go back and do whatever without having to actually load an earlier save i would try to deliberately exclude from this description, as clearly there is a “return” even though you might get locked into a sequence until credits roll or whatever
e.g.
death stranding: doesn’t count
far cry 5/new dawn: doesn’t count
i guess to be more clear, there must be some element of “permanence” to the change. any game with a freeplay postgame where you can mop up sidequests or whatnot - i definitely want to exclude those, as they don’t really have any stakes. the thing i’m trying to collate has some stakes, some implications. it isn’t just a temporary detour
Dragon Age 2 adapted this, probably to simplify designing quest interaction considering the severe limitations they were working under. Each of the three acts involves getting ready to do a thing (go on a treasure hunt in the underdark, talk to the klingons at the embassy who want to go to war), and then doing that thing, and once you’re doing that thing the quests you did before influence how it plays out.
I also lost count of the number of times I’ve gotten up to the PoNR in a game where things “open up”, and felt zero desire to actually go through with playing the end of the game. That’s probably why games now drop you back at the PoNR and only open stuff up after credits.
Disco Elysium is the most recent major example I’ve played through that commits to this structure. It forecasts the possibility by having an in-game clock (which only advances whenever the game shows you text you haven’t seen before) and by having stores close and people disappear late at night, but after a certain point in the investigation, irrevocable changes will be visited upon the landscape of interaction.
aren’t all games with permanent choices from discussion trees like this? like once I make a choice in pentiment or kotor 2 it’s permanent on my character and I can’t go back. most people just save scum this kind of shit but I take it VERY SERIOUSLY
Ascalon getting destroyed in the first Guild Wars (a.k.a. Guild Wars: Prophecies)
technically in the scope of the whole game it’s “just” a tutorial zone, but it is absolutely massive, with multiple sub-areas, questlines, unique enemies and art assets of its own (including an underground catacombs section which is itself completely unique looking). you can easily spend 10+ hours there and a new player could be forgiven for thinking it is the whole game
Final Fantasies from 5 to 9 all have points of no return but for 7 to 9 it’s dictated by the disc format. You can’t have the disc 1 Cerberus Facility Dungeon on Disc 4, that’d take too much space for no reason
I find it funny how 5 and 6 established these world shattering points of no return before disc space issues were a thing, so 7/8/9 etc could rely on it afterwards as a FF trope
Anyway all multidisc RPGs like Xenogears and the mediocre Legend of Dragoon also have points of no return for this reason
this is also true of at least one of the lunar games on ps1. i knew a girl who’d got a 1 disc pirate copy from somewhere that had just had all the fmvs removed
7 actually has one of my favorite swerves of “the point of no return”.
When you move to enter Northern Crater to confront Sephiroth, the game explicitly tells you that you cannot backtrack once you enter. It’s lying. The ACTUAL point of no return is the screen before Sephiroth.
There’s also many minor variants of it throughout the game - the most famous being leaving Midgar - but I still think about the Northern Crater straight up tricking you.
