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This often happens near the game's finale, such as before entering [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]] or just before challenging the [[Final Boss]]. You may even hear the narrator or another character warn you that "there is no going back" or "[[This Is the Final Battle]]".
There may or may not be [[Save Point
The Point Of No Return comes in multiple flavours which basically correlate to points on the [[Unwinnable by Design]] scale:
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This trope comes from the term used in air travel where after a certain point it becomes impossible to turn around and return to the point of origin (for example, not enough fuel); even if there is a sudden emergency, the plane ''must'' continue towards its destination.
Not to be confused with the 1977 album ''Point of Know Return'' by [[Kansas]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
* Before going into the DXI ruins in ''[[The Nameless Mod]]'' your [[Mission Control]] will let you know that exploring the ruins will take some time, and that if you got something else to do before hand, now is the time to do it.
* In ''[[King's Quest V]]'' you must ride a sled over an ice chasm. The sled is very old, so it shatters on impact. You're stuck on the far ledge, so if you [[Guide Dang It|forgot something]] you're gonna have to revert to an older save file. That's hardly the only one, though. The desert cave is a point of no return too (you can only enter once), as is the Forest of Doom at the beginning, and the Ice Castle, and the beach after the giant bird, and the harpy island, and the final island, and the dungeon maze on the final island. Of course, most of these require you to have obscure items from earlier parts of the game.
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* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'':
** In many ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' games, the point of no return is a [[Big Door]] that will warn you pretty clearly of that fact.
** ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep|Birth By Sleep]]'' notably doesn't do this. It pretty well implies that the final boss is at Keyblade Graveyard but upon going there you can still run around and leave until you enter an otherwise unimportant looking area which will immediately thrust you into your respective character's [[Final Boss]] fight with no clear forewarning (unlike other games in the series which outright tell you "Entering here will start the final boss fight"). Likewise once you start the final chapter of the game, you can't return to Radiant Garden without starting the [[True Final Boss]] battle upon entering so if you need synthesis items from that world you're out of luck.
** ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
* In the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, the point of no return tends to be at the last save point in [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]].
** In ''[[Final Fantasy I]]'', as long as you have the EXIT spell, there is no
** In ''[[
** In ''[[Final Fantasy III]]'', the trip into the Dark World is only one-way.
** ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' let you get within a few feet of the [[Final Boss]] before the game automatically starts up the endgame cutscenes. ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' requires all three parties to stand on obvious tiles to activate the final cutscene and [[Boss Battle]].
** ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' has a miniature
** ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' has a
** In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', the last
*** Earlier in the game, the Temple of the Ancients and the point at which Meteor is summoned make up two earlier Points of No Return which close off specific side-quests (and Materia) and character options, specifically {{spoiler|Aeris leaves the party forever (taking her current equipment with her) and the Wutai Materia-Thief side-quest and related Turtle's Pub Flyers Contest are no longer available}}.
*** The Fort Condor battles each take place at certain points during the plot of the 1st and 2nd discs, often in [[Guide Dang It|very small timeframes]]. Advancing the plot before completing the battle will force the villagers to defend themselves, depleting their funds by 3,000 gil each time, and leaving the player missing out on any item or equipment reward they might have earned. Only the final battle is part of the main plot and once completed no more battles can be fought there.
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*** On disc 3, you are tasked with finding the Desert Palace (arguably a [[Disc One Final Dungeon]] in its own right), and equipped with a ship to do so. Once entering, you are captured by Kuja and forced to take his airship (which you don't control) to the Forgotten Continent. And of course, you can't leave until you finish the [[Anti-Magic|somewhat difficult]] dungeon there.
*** You can go all the way to the end of [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon|Memoria]] and the showdown with the [[Big Bad]] (he is actually the penultimate boss), beat the snot out of the dragon-monster he throws at you, then just turn around and save or even teleport out entirely as long as you don't try to talk to him (which would trigger the final boss fights). He's a patient guy it seems and will just float around waiting for you to come back before trying to unmake all of creation.
** In ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', approaching the Tower in the Dead City triggers the
** Subverted in ''[[Final Fantasy X
** In ''[[Crisis Core]]'', the end of the eighth chapter is the PONR. Better unlock the missions that need to be found in Midgar first, for you're never coming back past this point.
** ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'' doesn't have any save points in the final area, although it makes sense since the final area only consists of at least 3 or 4 rooms. The game clearly warns you that once you go for the final area, you cannot go back, probably a first in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series. Not only that, but saving at certain parts of the game will have the game advise you to save to another file if you are in a certain point in the plot where you can't go back for a while.
** In ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'', you generally can't go back to any previous location once you enter a new chapter (or sometimes, progressing far enough in a chapter). The only exceptions to this rule are Gran Pulse (Chapter 11), parts of Eden (Chapter 12), and the first area of the final dungeon (Chapter 13).
** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' has Nasty ones in multiple
* The inside of {{spoiler|Lavos}} in ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' may or may not be one of these, depending on your method of ingress.
* ''[[Psychonauts]]'' has an Autosave of No Return ([[Lampshade Hanging|that's what an in-game prompt actually calls it]]) near the end of the game immediately after you {{spoiler|free Lili.}} Luckily, it's saved as a separate file, just in case you weren't totally ready {{spoiler|to sneeze your own brain out and enter a creepy mishmash of yours and the bad guy's childhood fears.}}
** You can still revisit any of the previous levels to collect missed goodies for [[
* ''[[Xenogears]]'' has a few of these. The first is {{spoiler|Babel Tower}}, the PONR for getting a number of useful rare items from a certain shop (the only one that carries them, naturally). The second is {{spoiler|before entering Solaris}}; continuing after that point denies you access to the world map until the very end of the game.
* In ''[[Resident Evil Code: Veronica]]'', the point of no return is after leaving Rockfort Island. There's a metal detector deposit box on the island that isn't connected to the item boxes, so any items left here are [[Lost Forever]] (I don't think you can go back for them as Chris, as the path back to the jail is blocked at that point). Also, don't leave any important weapons in Claire's possession when you switch back to her for the last time.
** ''[[Resident Evil 2
** ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'' also has many of these, usually caused by broken bridges or other one-way travel devices.
* ''[[
* ''[[Metroid Prime]] 3: Corruption'' does this before [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]]. Its method of forcing this on you is rather unique though: {{spoiler|ostensibly you could leave if you wanted, if not for the fact that mutagenic radiation on-site has corrupted your DNA so badly that your spaceship doesn't recognize you or even let you onboard anymore, so you're stuck until you take care of the problem.}}
{{quote|
** ''Super [[Metroid]]'' has a particularly nasty case: The Point of No Return is before the final save point in the game, so if you're aiming for [[One Hundred Percent Completion]], don't have that yet, and use that save point anyway...
** ''Metroid Fusion'' also has a Point of No Return in that your ship's AI locks almost the entire space station down when it's time to fight the final boss. This is incredibly annoying for players trying to achieve [[One Hundred Percent Completion]], especially since you had little advance warning. Luckily, the game plays it fair by allowing you full access to the station again once you've defeated the boss.
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* In ''[[Okami]]'', before the boss gauntlet, Issun literally tells you you're about to step into "the point of no return", with that exact phrasing. The funny thing is that the game fakes you out with two of these before the two [[Disc One Final Dungeon|fake final dungeons]] before the ''real'' final dungeon.
** There's a save point ''beyond'' the final and literal point of no return. If you save there and don't have a backup save that's outside of the area, you're trapped in the final dungeon until you begin a new game plus.
** Issun is also your standard "boss battle ahead"
* Your acquisition of the Krazoa Spirit in the Walled City shrine in ''[[Star Fox Adventures]]'' is a point of no return. [[Guide Dang It|You only find this out]] when trying to go back to the planet takes you to Krazoa Palace.
* ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' has one of these, and frustratingly doesn't let you know until after you've entered the door.
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** The Ganondorf battle in ''[[Ocarina of Time]]''. If you save here, there's no going back, as it immediately restarts at the cutscene when you reload. If you're low on life or magic potions or other items, God help you.
*** More recent releases of ''[[Ocarina of Time]]'' prevented that problem by restarting at the entrance of Ganon's Tower regardless of where and when you save.
*** However, saving after the "gathering of the Triforce" cutscene results in the full version of said cutscene being [[Lost Forever]], replaced with a shorter version.<ref>(Ganondorf turns around, says two lines and the battle begins, without [[Boss Subtitles]] while he floats)</ref>
* The final level of ''[[Ratchet: Deadlocked]]'' involves a
* ''[[Little Big Adventure]] 2'': After landing on Zeelich for the second time, there's no way of going back to Twinsun.
* The [[Light and Mirrors Puzzle|mirror chamber]] in the final dungeon from ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'' is a fairly innocuous-looking
* The last door in each ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]] game'' is a point of no return; the 3rd game onwards break the 4th wall to tell the player to save first.
** Only in the sense that you then have to fight the [[Final Boss]]. The games feature [[Extended Gameplay]] so you don't actually lose the ability to return to earlier areas afterwards.
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* In ''[[Mega Man X Command Mission]]'', once you enter the final chapter of the story, you can't go back until you beat the final boss. On the plus side, beating the game DOES unlock extra armors for X and Zero in the end to retrieve.
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] IV: Oblivion'', returning to the Imperial City with Martin and entering the Elder Council chamber triggers the final fight sequence. From that point on, you either complete the main quest or you die. Completing the main quest immediately causes every other Oblivion gate to close, so you can never retrieve the powerful Sigil Stones or other treasure they contain.
** The last dungeon in ''Daggerfall'', the Mantellan Crux, would be considered a
*** It is a horrible idea to use a Teleport Spell to leave the Mantellan Crux since you won't ever able to go back in, therefore you can never finish the game without using cheats.
** ''Skyrim'' has the Skuldafn temple as this. The only way to get there is by riding a dragon, and he tells you he can't stay there.
* In ''[[Golden Sun]]'' you can save during the scene ''after'' you beat the final boss, which prevents you from doing anything else in the game. The second game does not allow you to save during that scene.
** There's also a temporary version in the first game; it's impossible to go through [[The Maze|Mogall Forest]] in reverse, so once you've left it the only way back to earlier areas is to pass through Lamakan Desert.
** ''[[
* ''[[Ys]] V: Lost Sand City of Kefin'' has two points of no return, one when you go through the portal to Kefin, and the second when you go into [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]]. The good news is that, as with ''[[Final Fantasy]]'', you can't save yourself into an [[Unwinnable]] situation in the latter area, the bad news is you have to fight [[Sequential Boss|three bosses in a row]], the first(Karion) and last(Jabir's [[One-Winged Angel]] form) of which are [[That One Boss]]. Use your health items wisely.
** In ''Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim'', the point of no return occurs when you ride the Wyvern from Kishgal to the Ark(also [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]]). Any sword upgrades or items you missed will be [[Lost Forever]], god help you if you don't have an extra saved game, as the boss fights may be rendered [[Unwinnable]]. Good thing Olha tells you beforehand.
** These games also often prevent you from using [[Warp Whistle|Warp Wings or Warp Magic]] to make it a true point of no return. Averted in ''Ys IV: Mask Of The Sun'', where you can still use the warp wing after jumping off the Iris Tower into the Golden Temple, which you can't otherwise return from.
** Darm Tower in ''Ys I & II''. Averted in Book 2.
* In ''[[
** However, there is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAJ_JAmTKpg glitch] in the ''Mother 1+2'' release that allows this to be averted.
** In Earthbound's sequel, ''[[Mother 3]]'', the game's final chapter is also a point of no return.
** Even ''Earthbound Zero'' has a borderline point of no return. A word to the wise: {{spoiler|do not talk to Queen Mary with all 8 melodies in tow unless you are sure you can defeat the final boss, as Magicant disappears once you talk to Queen Mary to teach her the song. If you lose to the final boss, certainly do not save or you will have to fight through the mountain full of [[Demonic Spiders]] to reach him again.}}
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* In ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'', on the way to the last colossus, {{spoiler|Wander's horse falls into a ravine}}, stranding you on one side of a gap.
** Also a serious [[Tear Jerker]] for many players.
* In ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'', {{spoiler|Chip warns you that once you go into Eggmanland, the only level of the game that doesn't have a hub your first time going there, you aren't coming out for a while}}.
** ''Sonic Chronicles'' is worse. Enter Metropolis Zone and you're not coming back, {{spoiler|allowing you to miss picking up Cream the Rabbit}}. Enter {{spoiler|the Twilight Cage}}, and the same thing happens there, {{spoiler|and you can miss Omega for it}}. Ditto for entering {{spoiler|the Nocturnes lair}}, and a ''fifth''
** In the earlier Sonic platforming games, getting close to the end of a level limits the camera scrolling to that area, making the player unable to backtrack. ''[[Sonic CD]]'' used a sign before the goal posts to mark the point in which this happens.
* [[BioWare]] games often have a
** In ''[[Baldur's Gate]] II'', you could back out of the final locations right up until you engaged Irenicus in battle. After that, you were limited to defeating him, {{spoiler|getting dragged to Hell together with him, completing several minor quests, fighting Irenicus and a few major demons ''again'', and... watching the credits}}, in that order.
*** This carried through to the expansion, as {{spoiler|you do return to the land of the living, but}} you can no longer access the areas from the main game. The only shared area is a [[Bonus Dungeon]] that is unrelated to the plot, but requires a fairly powerful party to complete..
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* ''[[Far Cry 2]]'' has a particularly evil point of no return. The final mission briefing requires you to enter a prison to get your objectives. After you accept the final mission and carry on with the game, it warns you that you can't turn back if you go any further and to make sure you have everything you need, however if you try to go back, you'll find you can't leave the prison.
* ''[[Grandia (video game)|Grandia]]'' has a doozy at the end, where one scene starts a chain that prevents you from going to any previous area, and leaves you stuck with access to the final dungeon only if you save.
* The Little Sister [[Escort Mission]] in ''[[
* ''[[Quest 64]]'' has one, sort of: at the end of a hallway in Brannoch Castle, there's a door to a room with {{spoiler|Brian's father, battered from combat thanks to Shannon}}. You'll know you're in this hallway because halfway through there's a door leading to a room with Leonardo who provides an opportunity to rest. The only way to visit any previous areas if you go past this point is to die before saving again, so that you get sent back to whichever rest person you rested with last. Of course, {{spoiler|Epona}} provides an opportunity to rest near the end.
* The General Ross boss battle in ''[[The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction]]'' is one, for you will be thrown immediately into the next two story missions with no chance to freeroam in-between until you complete them since they involve {{spoiler|the Hulk breaking out of the Vault and escaping his captors}}.
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* In ''Avencast: Rise of the Mage'', don't go through the {{spoiler|shimmery interdimensional portal if you ever want to go back... despite the fact that the other end stays open, and every other such portal you encounter later can be used repeatedly.}}
* ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' games are built around this design in order to be linear. Doors will close behind you and lock, walls will crumble and block a pathway behind you, or you descend slopes or walls that are too sleep to climb back up again. [[Guide Dang It|Make sure you don't miss anything!]]
* ''[[Wild
* ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' lets you wander freely through unlocked areas right up until Griffith Park. Once you head off for that quest, you're locked into a sequence of three to four endgame missions.
** Though the game does allow you to buy blood, weapons and so on in between stops.
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** The first gen games also have a temporary example. After you leave Mt. Moon, there's a ledge with no ladders or stairs going back up. Once you jump down, you're effectively locked out of that area until later in the game.
* In ''[[Endless Frontier]]'', you can neither save nor leave after {{spoiler|entering the Einst world}}. This means that you must win three boss battles in a ''row'' to complete the game, with no chance to save. Fortunately, [[Recurring Traveler|Koma]] comes with you, giving you access to both a shop and a means of free healing.
* ''Impossamole'' (the [[
* In ''[[Persona 4]]'', on the very last day, {{spoiler|you can choose to chase the True Ending by entering [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]] instead of going home. If you do so, once you enter the TV world, you won't be able to explore Inaba anymore; if you try to leave, you'll only have the choice to go to Daidara or Shiroku (and even then you get a fade transition when you go to either, rather than walking there manually).}}
** Averted in the Normal Ending. From the time that {{spoiler|Adachi's}} dungeon opens, you can choose when to finish the dungeon and can return as many times as you want, regardless of your progress. Even if you put it off to the final playable day and then return home, you will get a [[Nonstandard Game Over]] and go back in time instead of being forced to move forward.
*** Then again, one may argue that this ending's Point of No Return is chronological instead of physical: namely, 7 days before the final day to beat that dungeon is the point Igor can return you to if you get the [[Nonstandard Game Over]]. If you haven't saved before that point, then, it becomes a Point of No Return.
* By contrast, in ''[[Persona 3]]'', entering the final dungeon on the final day is compulsory, and once you enter Tartarus, you cannot leave even to shop. During the final week, your characters continually remind you [[Rainbow Speak|in bright red letters]] to stock up before that day arives.
* The [[Fable]] games have several of these, and the player is ''usually'' explicitly warned about them, such as {{spoiler|the final (or first, if you're playing The Lost Chapters) battle against Jack of Blades, as well as the lead up to the true final battle against him in TLC}} in the first Fable, and {{spoiler|going to the Tattered Spire and then again later when meeting with Reaver}} in Fable 2. But then there is the infamous {{spoiler|Day 121}} in Fable 3, after which the game progresses immediately to the endgame with hardly any warning, and if you haven't {{spoiler|put enough money into your treasury}} by that point, you're doomed to the bad ending.
** Actually, in ''Fable 3'', you can return very easily by {{spoiler|turning around and walking into the fog, which sends you back to Day 121}}. Honestly, it's revealed just by panning the camera around.
* In ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'', at the start of the final Sequence you are given the option to go to Rome to {{spoiler|hunt down Rodrigo Borgia aka Pope Alexander VI.}} Once you accept, you cannot return to the rest of Italy until you complete it.
** ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' is more insidious; after a certain point in the first Memory of Sequence Eight, the game puts you on a roller-coaster ride straight to the end of Sequence Nine with no option of declining missions and resuming free-roam. Then comes {{spoiler|finding the Apple under the Colosseum}} and the... nasty fracas that ensues. When you finally get back to free-roaming, while other sidequests are still open, {{spoiler|you cannot exit the Animus to Monteriggioni any more.}}
** Subverted in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' though; while the Animus Island {{spoiler|dismantles near the end}}, watching the credits will {{spoiler|allow the Animus Island to rebuild itself,}} so you could play as Desmond in those platforming puzzles for as long as you like after you beat the game.
* Deliciously averted in many of the [[Tales (series)]] games:
** ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'': Upon reaching the deepest level of {{spoiler|Derris-Kharlan and witnessing the final scene of the game,}} you can still return to the overworld via the warp which teleports you back to the entrance.
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* ''[[Minecraft]]'' falls under the Nasty bit when it comes to visiting The End. Once you go in, there's no way to leave other than to jump off the world and into the void, killing yourself and losing all items on your person. OR, you can hope that what you have with you is sufficient to defeat the Enderdragon so you can find the exit portal.
** Similarly, if a Ghast's explosive fireball hits your portal in The Nether, it shuts it off, trapping you in the hell world unless you were smart enough to bring Flint and Steel with you so you can relight the portal. If you don't have it, you can hope the Ghast will shoot the portal again to turn it on or you have to kill yourself to leave.
* ''[[Paper Mario:
** In Chapter 4, {{spoiler|your name gets stolen halfway through the chapter, and without your name, you can't use the pipe leading back to [[Hub Level|Rogueport]]}}.
** Chapter 5, you're shipwrecked on an island and don't get another boat until you've beaten the chapter.
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* ''[[Metal Gear]]'':
** In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', inputting the final PAL card.
** In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty|Metal Gear Solid 2]]'', entering the holds in the Tanker chapter, and rescuing Emma in the Plant chapter.
** In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater|Metal Gear Solid 3]]'', after you defeat The End and climb that huge ladder to the mountains, Snake slides down a slope that is ''just'' too steep to climb back up. Later, the {{spoiler|two trips to Groznyj Grad are both Points of No Return, as is retrieving Sokolov and confronting Volgin at the Shagohod maintenance room.}}
* Non-Video Game Example: ''[[Star Wars]]'' d20 ''[[Living Force]]'' campaign had the ''Decision'' trilogy that ended the 4th year of scenarios. After completion of the first part, characters could no longer take the first levels of a Jedi class and characters who started the second part could no longer play in any scenario from the first four years. Normally scenarios became off limits 13-24 months (depending on plot importance) had passed since their publication. Only 13 scenarios were released after this, and all but one were very much an "end-game" sequence.
* The ''[[Ryu ga Gotoku|Yakuza]]'' games are usually Merciful. Before activating a mission where there is a major story progression and you get locked into a sequence that often leads all the way to the chapter boss, it is usually the case that Kiryu or the other player character will monologue about being adequately prepared and a prompt appears to check if you really want to proceed.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]
[[Category:Orphaned/Sandbox/Depressing Tropes]]▼
[[Category:This Index Is in The Way]]
[[Category:Point of No Return]]
[[Category:CRPG Tropes]]
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