Opening the Sandbox: Difference between revisions

The point in a video game, especially an RPG, where you're finally able to do all the sidequests, go anywhere on the map, and so on. Usually coincides with getting the [[Global Airship]], in games that have that. May still be this even if you technically can't go ''everywhere''; there are many games where the beginning of the [[Very Definitely Final Dungeon]] is also the [[Point of No Return]].

 

 

[[MMORPG|MMORPGs]] are a special case. Though most do not have a true 'end', they end up becoming more top heavy over time as new content additions target veterans who have seen and done most of the things in the game. This effect is particularly severe if several consecutive updates do not increase the [[Cap]] but give already capped players new options, and is the reason that established players tend to perceive more freedom in a game than newbies despite being more aware of its limitations.

 

These points are sometimes near the ending, so SPOILERS.

 

== [[Action Adventure]] ==

* Most ''[[Pokémon]]'' games: About when you can use Surf and Fly outside of battle. If you can use ''all'' the HMs, you've definitely reached this point. The Gen IV games make you see (not catch, thankfully) all of the Pokémon in the Sinnoh Pokédex before opening everything up, though.

* All core ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games did this to you the moment the [[Tutorial Level]] ended, read, when you crawl out of the first dungeon. ''[[Morrowind]]'' went even further, throwing you out into the world right after your character build was finalized (so did ''Oblivion'', but there was more gameplay ''during'' character creation there). The game even tells you: "You're on your own now."

* ''[[Steambot Chronicles]]'' stops railroading you around when you finish the tournament. You could do some sidequests before, but were forced to remain in the same city or surrounding area until this point.

* ''[[Mass Effect 1 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 1]]'' hands you your ship and turns you loose after a couple hours of gameplay. [[Penny Arcade|Some people]] feel [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/11/19/ slightly intimidated] by this. However, you still can't access ''all'' the star systems until you complete missions that unlock them, and there's no point at which you can freely go to any of the available planets; when you unlock the [[Very Definitely Final Dungeon]], you lose the ability to go back to {{spoiler|the Citadel}}.

* In ''[[Romancing Sa Ga (Video Game)|Romancing Sa Ga]]'', the world starts opening up once you finish your main character's Prologue; as you visit different places for the first time, they're marked on your map and become more easily accessable.

 

* The "Diplomatic Relations" mission in ''[[Escape Velocity]]: Override'' is necessary for unlocking most of the non-human, non-Voinian mission strings.

 

* The 360 game ''[[Crackdown]]'' is already a GTA-ish sandbox game to start with. But once you've beaten all three gangs and finished the end-game you can roam freely around the city with all your powerups available and the option of re-starting any of your previous missions in a mode that feels much more like [[Opening the Sandbox]] than just having finished the game and being able to run around. There is also an DLC that adds [[God Mode]], which has an option that also effectively gives you an [[Opening the Sandbox]] mode.