History Main / DiscOneFinalDungeon

* Kuihuai Tower in ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts''. Evil wizard is trying to do some very very big and bad evil magic, the forces of good are getting together at the very place where they fought him before, and now...there's an entire new part of the world for you to explore while you hunt the real Big Bad.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'' had Idar Flamme, the final dungeon of the last game, and Apoina Tower, the first tower you woke up in and the place you go to hunt down Astaroth at the end of the first disc. Once again, there's a new part of the world for you to explore (which happens to be the region where the first half of the original ''Shadow Hearts'' took place). This happens to be a classic example of this trope since this game is one of the few [=PS2=] games with 2 discs and the aforementioned dungeons appear at the end of the first disc.

** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' "ends" in the throne room. Which is [[WrongGenreSavvy where all the other Castlevanias ended]] so this must be it, [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle right?]] The game ''does'' end there and then if you don't figure out that you must actually do when confronting Richter, however.

* Much of ''[[VideoGame/DeadlyRoomsOfDeath DROD]]: The Second Sky'' revolves around trying to race First Archivist to Nethlekempt Farrows, so that must be where the final showdown and end of the game will take place, right?

** Done rather comically in ''VideoGame/TouhouKoumakyouTheEmbodimentOfScarletDevil'' at stage 4, but only in Reimu's scenario, where she asks the boss if she's the mistress. The previous two games did have 6 stages, and the first game in the standard style had 5, but those may not have been familiar thanks to a ContinuityReboot and SequelDisplacement, the expected number of stages wasn't fully set in the [[UnbuiltTrope still fledgling genre]] of BulletHell, and the level was indeed [[MarathonLevel the longest in the game]] and [[DifficultySpike by far the hardest to that point]] and didn't have the MiniBoss return as the main boss as stage 1 and 3 had (and the latter didn't have the mini-boss [[RecurringBoss return twice]] as some latter games would), and was finally inside the mansion which was your goal for the game.

** Similar thing happens in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsReCoded''. At the end of Hollow Bastion (again), you have to purge Data-Riku's body out of bugs (long story). You do that by entering other worlds and removing bug blox from them. Once all is done, you fight Dragon Maleficent, play a mini-game, then battle SequentialBoss that looks like the FinalBoss... But it is not, as there is still Castle Oblivion and FinalBoss to beat.

* ''Franchise/JakAndDaxter:''
** ''Videogame/JakIIRenegade'': Both first and second acts of the game are closed by fights against Baron Praxis, the target of Jak's personal vendetta, and following climatic levels, especially second act's Tomb of Mar. Of course both times he escapes and [[spoiler:in the end he's even killed by the game's true BigBad and FinalBoss, who also happens to be one of your allies]].
** ''Videogame/Jak3Wastelander'': Second act is again closed by climatic level - a floating war factory which you've spent half of game trying to infiltrate and which is even preceded by impressive dogfight. At the end, you fight the BigBad ... and again he escapes.

* ''Videogame/JakIIRenegade'': Both first and second acts of the game are closed by fights against Baron Praxis, the target of Jak's personal vendetta, and following climatic levels, especially second act's Tomb of Mar. Of course both times he escapes and [[spoiler:in the end he's even killed by the game's true BigBad and FinalBoss, who also happens to be one of your allies]].

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' averts this pretty convincingly. The Crimson Fastness seems like it might or might not be the end of the game, but your level is only in the low thirties (out of a possible 50-69, depending on what patches and DLC you have installed) and there is at least one obvious boss still ahead of you (Commandant Steele). In actuality, it's the last ''true'' dungeon, followed only a run through a canyon to a cutscene where Steele is killed, followed by a (very quick) fight with the real final boss.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission'' pulls one in Chapter 9. You go to fight the BigBad Epsilon, working your way through his base and even taking on [[TheDragon Scarface]]. There's epic battle music, multiple parts in the battle, and a heartless Angel-esque attack. You defeat Epsilon, then a cutscene plays and you return to Giga City to go home...only to realize that your boss is the REAL BigBad and you've been playing right into his hands. So you have to go through TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and fight through the franchise's signature BossRush, then another powerful boss, and THEN the TrueFinalBoss.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'': The game appears to reach a climax in the end of the fourth chapter, when Leon reaches the final part of the castle, escapes a giant Salazar statue, meets the real Salazar and chases him while climbing a decrepit tower full of mooks, and catches him at the top... and then Salazar tells him, right before the incoming boss battle, that Ashley was being taken out of the castle, meaning [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle Leon won't find her there anymore]]. Next up is Leon facing a horrific hybrid between Salazar, the second Verdugo and the Queen Plaga, which is only a DiscOneFinalBoss; and after he wins he descends the tower and, with Ada's help, go to the island where Ashley was taken. In the game's original version on the GCN, this prompted a disc swap, meaning the trope has a literal context in this game as well.

** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' "ends" in the throne room. Which is [[WrongGenreSavvy where all the other Castlevanias ended]] so this must be it, [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle right?]]

** ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheManhattanProject'' for the NES does this to you, despite being a side scroller BeatEmUp. Level 6 is the Technodrome. Prior to this, the Technodrome had always been the final level in any ''Ninja Turtles'' game. You fight Shredder at the end, beat him, rescue April...and then he runs away, giving you 2 more levels. [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze Rahzar]] being the mini-boss with no sign of Tokka[[note]]who shows up as the ''Level 7'' Boss[[/note]] is your only hint. The VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon is Krang's spaceship.

** Exdeath's Castle in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''. It's a large, terrifying castle where the BigBad hangs out (complete with fleshy organ-like walls with ribcages and tortured fiends built right in!). You've already conquered the two worlds of the game and been everywhere, so it only seems natural that this'll be the the site of the FinalBoss battle; but when you finally destroy the shield surrounding it, fight your way to the top and clash with Exdeath himself, he completes his hitherto unknown plan to merge the two worlds together sending the light warriors unconscious away from the castle and with a whole new patchwork worldmap to explore.

* Without the ''The Falcon & the Unicorn'' DLC, Ker-Thal is the final dungeon of ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic X'' (though you can continue playing afterwards). With it, the game still ends in the same way...and then, once you're deposited back in Karthal for the post-victory gameplay immediately starts a new questline that continues the story of the game and ends with running the ModularEpilogue ''again'', but with additions relevant to the DLC. There is no new cutscene...but it ''does'' have an ending scorescreen in the style of ''VI'' to ''IX'', which the non-DLC game doesn't have.

*** The game has Baronia Castle as the Disc One Final Dungeon. The party's main objective is to aid Prince Richard [[RightfulKingReturns in overthrowing his evil uncle and becoming king]]. At that point, you probably are around the level 20s, and are at least 10-15 hours in the came. The typical ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' average level should be around the 60s for the final boss, and about 30 or more hours depending on if you do sidequests or not. In addition, there are many unanswered questions as well, such as the mysterious origin of [[MysteriousWaif Sophie]] as well as Richard's [[OutofCharacterMoment peculiar and violent]] mood swings. So whenthe party does succeed, they discover that the new king is AxCrazy. Now the party's next objective to figure out what's going on and how to stop him.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II]]'' has everything leading up to the Infernal Castle with Class VII battling against all the opponents they fought up til then. Though after the DiscOneFinalBoss, the chapter ends on a bitter note with Crow dying after the battle and Rean being infuriated that the target of Crow's efforts; Gilaith Osborn is still alive and revealed to be [[LukeIAmYourFather Rean's biological father]]. Afterwards, comes a chapter showing Crossbell's fallout from the events that occurred in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsToAzure Trails to Azure]]'', immediately followed by the epilogue that sends Class VII one last journey into the Old Schoolhouse for the proper sendoff of their graduation.

* ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'' does a pretty decent job in making you think that Bruno is the final boss of the game, with him successfully reviving and fusing with the destructive [[{{Kaiju}} Titano-Machina Lares]] in order to TakeOverTheWorld, complete with a unique boss theme, the chapter being labeled as "Final Chapter" instead of being numbered like the previous chapters, and having a staff roll... that is until TheStinger plays out, then the game suddenly announces that you can now play a new story by loading your "completed" save file. Said new story is actually the second half of the game, where Bruno is scarcely mentioned at all and the true BigBad, Baion, appears, this time threatening [[KillThemAll global genocide]] instead of simply ruling the world.

** ''VideoGame/MegamanBattleNetwork'':
*** Network Transmission had the Zero Account that can only be accessible after defeating the majority of the first half of the bosses halfway through before reaching to Zero.EXE who serves as the DiscOneFinalBoss.
*** In 2, the Mother Computer is this one since it serves as the story's climax prior to the attempted destruction fo the country conducted by Shadowman
*** 3 had the Undernet 3 where you fight Flameman and after a struggle comes forth Bass who then seals Megaman's victory upon securing his victory through tremendous power.

*** In 6, the Underground serves as one since Colonel.EXE who is one of WWW's top chain of command confronts Megaman after the game's halfway progression.
** ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'':
*** The first one had the Dust Crash whose normal setting had disposed PETS and the confrontation with the right hand man of the FM-ians that allowed their defeat to breakdown the protagonist entering the story's darkest moments prior to the final showdown.
*** No doubt the Bermuda Maze is this to the second game since it features the character's defeat that allowed their Oopart to be taken by their rival's securing the antagonist's victory of the day.
*** Crimson Factory and Meteor G is this one as the leader's Wizard and the other elite members served as the story's ClimaxBoss before facing the Crimson Dragon.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

** ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' presents the Eternian citadel as the obvious final dungeon, as it's the last new area on the map, all of the game's remaining villains are there, and it houses the last Crystal that Agnes and her fairy partner Airy need to restore to bring balance back to the world. It's barely halfway through the game, with the nature of the story radically changing after this point.
** ''VideoGame/BravelySecond'' has the entire game be about chasing the Skyhold, Kaiser Oblivion's flying fortress, and by the time you can reach it you've again explored the entire map. Unfortunately, the Kaiser carries out his evil plans before the party even reaches him, resulting in a DownerEnding. To actually face him, the player needs to send the party back to the unwinnable tutorial battle with him and win it via your power over NewGamePlus, starting the second half of the game.

** The basic format used for most games in the series involves Link getting three {{Plot Coupon}}s before a major plot event occurs that pushes the player to search for another set of Plot Coupons. The trend was started with ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', where you face the assumed BigBad, Agahnim, in Hyrule Castle Tower after getting the Pendants of Virtue and the Master Sword, after which the more expansive second half of the game opens up.
** The Forsaken Fortress in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''. You got all three pearls and the Master Sword. Now you're going back to save your sister and defeat Ganondorf. Except the Master Sword is unpowered and worthless. Now you have to get more items, do two more dungeons, get the Triforce of Courage, and then defeat Ganondorf.
** The Ghost Ship in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]''. It's suitable for the final dungeon, because [[ActionGirl Tetra]] is there, but you still need three more items and you haven't explored half of the ocean.
** The top floor of the Tower of Spirits is this in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'', in which you manage to reach Malladus' Altar, which was your goal from the beginning, and defeat TheDragon, Byrne. Once that's out of the way, though, you find that Malladus has already been resurrected in Zelda's body, and Chancellor Cole summons the Demon Train to spirit himself and the Demon King away, leaving you behind. It's not until you've completed one more Temple and a final visit to the Tower of Spirits' hidden levels that you manage to catch up with Cole and Malladus, this time on the Dark Realm.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'' largely repeats the events of ''A Link to the Past'', and thus Hyrule Castle once more serves as this after this generation's Link has collected the pendants and Master Sword; it's where the existence of Lorule is revealed and Link first travels there.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' Groznyj Grad, the fortress for BigBad Volgin where he's building his Shagohod vehicle missile launcher. Snake stops them both but the final level is the lake at Rokovoj Bereg, where Snake has to face his mentor at the field of white lilies.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' Shadows Moses, BigBad Liquid Ocelot heads to Shadow Moses to capture the old rail gun and use it attack the patriots' system. It's easy to assume this is the final level considering this is WhereItAllBegan and you end up in a BossRush.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' OKB Zero base, in Mission 30, the mission is named after the primary villian himself Skullface.

* The Underground Ruins in ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'' are even more convincing. You've got all the brush techniques and you've explored the entire map. Also, the supposed final boss has a HumongousMecha poised to destroy the world and kickass battle music. But after beating him, the true BigBad appears and the game heads back in time. Later, the Moon Cave Nine Months Ago serves this purpose, seeing as the BigBad headed there, many more plot threads have been resolved and there is a PointOfNoReturn. However, it's not the last dungeon (the Dark Realm is). Clever of ''Okamiden'' to use the first game's disc one final dungeon as a disc one final dungeon.
* The second visit to Ocean Force Point in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''. You've got all the [[PlotCoupon Spellstones]] back in place, Fox, but there's still that little matter concerning the BigBad and the DamselInDistress.

* Mizar's Palace in ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini''. It is there where the three main characters (plus Floyd after his HeelFaceTurn) reunite once their respective errands in the Tribals' solar system are completed, and where BigBad Mizar arrives. The grand confrontation occurs, and Lupus (the team's ''dog'') succesfully defeats Mizar...who then runs away and plans to reroute an asteroid to impact planet Earth out of revenge. Now the characters have to start TheGreatRepair to find the missing pieces of an ancient spaceship, reassemble it and catch up to Mizar to defeat him for good and find a way to prevent the Earth's doomsday. Bottom line, defeating Mizar for the first time only means 50% of the mission is complete!

* World Circuit serves this role in the Wii version of ''VideoGame/PunchOut''. Even after Little Mac escalates into the categories of the World Video Boxing Association and gains the title of champion boxer, he has to defend it by fighting all of his previous opponents, leading to the more difficult Title Defense mode. This mode itself has a second example of the trope with the World S Circuit. Even after proving himself worthy of the champion title, Mac has to keep fighting until his retirement in Last Stand mode.

* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' has one of these in almost every campaign (Except for ''Eye of the North'', which has rather small fake outs, it's told through three story arcs instead.)
** In ''Prophecies'', You finally make it to the Gates of Kryta...Well you've now made it. The People of Ascalon can finally settle in piece but...oh wait a sec, WHO Was that in the cutscene?! Well I guess now we gotta go help the White mantle!

** ''Nightfall'' has an even greater one albeit this one comes about two thirds of the way through, and is an even bigger fake-out than the first two. You have gone to every single Region of Elona. now all that's left is The Ruins of Morah to take out Varesh Ossa. So you take the ClimaxBoss out and now you're in the Realm of Torment!

** Amazingly enough, this one goes back all the way to the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros''. Games of the time were usually a short sequence of levels that would repeat ad nauseam, with minor tweaks to increase difficulty along the way, so imagine the surprise of a gamer weaned on UsefulNotes/Atari2600 games who makes his way through world 1-4 only to discover that, not only did he ''not'' just rescue the princess, but there's a whole new set of levels to run through!

** Also happens in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''. At the World 8 castle, you beat Bowser again, with the same boss theme as before. After beating him you go to the top of the castle and see Princess Peach...as a cardboard cutout. You see Bowser again, with the real Peach who takes her away and then you have to do one more level and then the real final castle. After you finish the game though, you can enter pipes in the worlds leading to eight new worlds. From there a few things happen such as unlocking Luigi. So technically this game does it twice over.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', the seventh world, World Castle is this. The entire world is the sort of LethalLavaLand Bowser loves, you have a battle with Bowser in his CoolCar, and save the last Sprixie Princess. Sure, ''Mario'' games traditionally have eight worlds, but this one channels a lot of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' which had seven. But, after defeating Bowser again, he manages to come in and capture all of the Sprixie Princesses, and takes them to World Bowser, an AmusementParkOfDoom.

*** Happens with Shadowbringers with Mount Gulg, it is where the final lightwarden resides, so you'd think that defeating them would the end right? too bad you're still lvl 79 and there's still one more zone unexplored. Sure enough everything goes to hell after defeating the last lightwarden.