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Point of No Return: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"Once you enter this portal, my analysis indicates a 0% chance that you will be able to return, unless you are able to vanquish [[Big Bad|your foe]]. Are you ready to proceed?"''|Fi from ''[[The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]''}}
A place in the story of a video game where it permanently becomes impossible to revisit earlier areas. Any optional sidequests or items (e.g. the [[Infinity
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]]".
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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.
{{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.
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** 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 (Video Game)|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 Days Over 2 (Video Game)|358/2 Days]]'' subverts it twice. You're warned that "there may be no going back" right before Roxas leaves the Organization, but all it does is set you on your mission immediately after a cutscene. After that, Roxas starts off in Twilight Town instead of The World That Never Was, but you can still access the shop and all your previous missions before you face the [[Final Boss]]. The warning before that fight is subtler, but there's nothing stopping you from going back for [[One Hundred Percent Completion]] after the credits roll.
* In the ''[[Final Fantasy (Franchise)|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 (Video Game)|Final Fantasy I]]'', as long as you have the EXIT spell, there is no [[Point of No Return]]. As long as you don't speak to {{spoiler|Garland/Chaos}}, you can walk right out of his room and cast the spell.
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** In ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]]'', you cannot return from [[Disc One Final Dungeon|Terra]] until you finish the plot arc there, and by the time you do, you're on disc 4 - some areas are locked off (as in [[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|the previous game]]). The game is merciful enough to warn you of this fact.
*** Earlier on, when you hit the final switch to exit Fossil Roo on the Outer Continent, the game warns you that you can't go back that way. You are stuck on the Outer Continent for the remainder of the disc.
*** 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
*** 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 (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'', approaching the Tower in the Dead City triggers the [[Point of No Return]], although there's only a crystal-dodging minigame between that point and the [[Final Boss]] anyhow.
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** 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.
** ''[[Golden Sun Dark Dawn (Video Game)|Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'' drew much criticism for having no less than three of these, making just under '''one third''' of the Djinn and '''half''' the unlockable summons [[Lost Forever]].
* ''[[Ys (Video Game)|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 (Franchise)|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
** 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.
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*** In ''Knights of the Old Republic 2'', going to the Jedi Council room on Dantooine after {{spoiler|gathering together or killing the surviving Council members}} put you on a one-way track to the end of the game.
** ''[[Mass Effect 1 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 1]]'' had a softer version. After discovering the [[Big Bad]]'s destination, {{spoiler|visiting the Citadel temporarily sealed off the rest of the Galaxy, until you got the ''Normandy'' back under your command}}. The Citadel remained sealed off after that. Setting course for {{spoiler|Ilos}}, however, put you on the one-way fast track to the endgame.
*** ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' made its point of no return very obvious from the beginning: going through the Omega 4 Mass Relay and engaging in the Suicide Mission ([[Downer Ending|potentially ending with everyone dying]]). However, if Shepard survives, the game subverts this trope by [[Playable Epilogue|giving access to all the unfinished quests and locations back to you again]]. Also, although the Omega 4 Relay is the point of no return, the Reaper IFF mission will set in motion events that will influence what kind of ending you get, making it a "soft" point of no return {{spoiler|combined with [[
*** ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' has a two-stage "endgame", the first stage being {{spoiler|the assault on Cerberus HQ}}. Admiral Hackett warns you that once you start, you're committed - there's no going back. After that mission, you go back to the Normandy, but you have only one place left to go from there: Earth.
*** Additionally, ''3'' had a minor (but fairly nasty) example; completing the Tuchanka arc causes {{spoiler|Cerberus to attack the Citadel}}. After that, many available sidequests are permanently closed off.
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** Both ''[[Fallout 3 (Video Game)|Fallout 3]]'' and ''[[Fallout New Vegas (Video Game)|Fallout: New Vegas]]'' present Merciful points of no return early on. In these cases, after having played with your character for a bit, you're given a chance to reconsider your appearance, attributes, and skill loadout before they're committed permanently. You're allowed to back off and save at these points as an added precaution. Also in both games, when you're about to leave the main Wasteland and enter a DLC area, you're warned about the things you won't be able to do once your cross the threshold and given a chance to reconsider. The general warning given is, ''"Once you go, you can't return until you finish."''
** There's tough Points of No Return in the ''Fallout 3'' DLC ''Mothership Zeta''. Once you go up to the upper level of the mothership, you can't go back to the lower level, and once you reach the bridge, you can't go back to the preceding areas.
* After assembling the Golden Warpship in ''Solar Jetman'', you can't go back and pick up any treasures that you missed on the last planet. You now have to fly the super-cruiser off the planet in one shot, and colliding with the planet's surface will kill you and end your game, since that warpship is the [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup|only one of its kind]].
* There are three points of no return in ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'': {{spoiler|Getting on the Incan ship, going to the Sky Garden, and the cutscene immediately before Dark Gaia}}. You also cannot go back into Edward Castle after {{spoiler|escaping its dungeon}}.
* In ''[[Jade Cocoon]]'', there is no warning that after completing {{spoiler|the Moth Forrest}} you're cut off from any previous areas in the game.
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