History Main / DiscOneFinalDungeon

** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' has Bowser Castle and the Flab Zone. After beating these areas, Fawful extracts Peach to awaken the Dark Star and blockades himself inside Peach's Castle, beginning the second half of the game.

** ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage3'' appears to be setting you up for a confrontation against Mr. X in Stage 5, as the approach is very familiar to the final stage of ''Streets of Rage 2'': Taking an elevator up and stopping occasionally to fight his henchmen, before reaching his luxurious suite at the top where he sits on a chair and orders more of his cronies to attack you. But then it turns out this Mr. X is actually a robotic duplicate, and after defeating him, the search for him and quest to stop his latest scheme continues. Unless you're playing the U.S. version on [[EasyModeMockery Easy difficulty, where the game ends prematurely]] and Robo X mocks you for [[BreakingTheFourthWall "playing this game like a beginner"]].

** ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage3'' appears to be setting you up for a confrontation against Mr. X in Stage 5, as the approach is very familiar to the final stage of ''Streets of Rage 2'': Taking an elevator up and stopping occasionally to fight his henchmen, before reaching his luxurious suite at the top where he sits on a chair and orders more of his cronies to attack you. But then it turns out this Mr. X is actually a robotic duplicate, and after defeating him, the search for him and quest to stop his latest scheme continues. Unless you're playing the U.S. version on [[EasyModeMockery Easy difficulty, where the game ends prematurely]].

Occassionally this has been [[InvertedTrope inverted]] during the times of cassettes and floppy disks, when the front side or first disk contained nothing but the intro sequence, the actual final dungeon and the ending, while the main gameplay up to this point was stored on higher numbered disks.

** ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage4'' Stage 9 takes place in Y Tower, which seems to be the place of the final confrontation with Mr. Y and Ms. Y. But instead of fighting them, it's a BrainwashedAndCrazy Max who you have to fight. It takes another three stages to stop their mass-brainwashing plot and neutralize the Y twins.

** ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage4'' Stage 9 takes place in Y Tower, which seems to be the place of the final confrontation with Mr. Y and Ms. Y. But instead of fighting them, it's a BrainwashedAndCrazy Max who they have to fight. It takes another three stages to stop their mass-brainwashing plot and neutralize the Y twins.

** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseTheConspiracy'' has Misty Grove. It's the location of the fallen satellite you've been wondering about for the entire game, and where the headquarters of [[BigBad Rozetta Pierre]] and [[EvilInc DreamLife]] have been established under the monstrous dome visible all over the city. Many important characters are either killed or arrested during it, and the district ends with [[DiscOneFinalBoss Rozetta being incarcerated and DreamLife getting shut down]]. Yet there are still four districts left...

** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture''. Big tower to climb, series of puzzles acting as a final exam, and block sliding puzzle. Yet there are still five chapters left.

* ''{{VideoGame/Deltarune}}'' does this at the end of the first 2 chapters due to the long waits between them.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' does this twice: first at Galahad Fortress, where you kill the treacherous Metal Face and meet the Mechon leader, Egil; and then at the Mechonis Core, where you fight Egil before the real villains introduce themselves properly. Ironically enough, Prison Island, which is originally hyped up as this before Galahad Fortress, turns out to ''actually'' be TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.

* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
** The fifth level of ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'', Iceberg, is where you fight [[DiscOneFinalBoss King Dedede]]. Though clearly, he's not the BigBad, so the BadEnding will play if Kirby defeats him without having collected all of the Heart Stars. Collect all of the Heart Stars, and you'll unlock the Hyper Zone, where you battle Dark Matter [[spoiler:and their leader [[MyHeroZero Zero]]]].
** Ripple Star in ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards''. As Miracle Matter is TheHeavy and the one in control of Ripple Star, defeating it without all 74 Crystal Shards will cause Dark Matter to escape and Kirby and his friends will leave to return home [[spoiler:with the queen of Ripple Star still possessed by Dark Matter]].
** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' does this ''twice''. First, there's the final level on Planet Popstar, Nutty Noon. Did you really think the game would end there [[spoiler:after taking on the king of the Doomers]]? We haven't even gotten all of the Energy Spheres yet! There's also [[LethalLavaLand Dangerous Dinner]], where it becomes Kirby's mission to trek all the way up to Haldera Volcano to battle the Guardian Angel, [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Landia]]. [[spoiler:But defeat ''him'', and Magolor arrives to make a [[EvilAllAlong surprise]]...]]
** The Decisive Battlefield becomes this in ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'' as a result of being DemotedToExtra. Just like ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe'', you fight Landia EX and Parallel Susie before you encounter Parallel Nightmare... [[spoiler:only this time, he summons King D-Mind to attack Team Kirby.]] And even though the credits roll after defeating him, it's clear that he's still on the loose, as more monsters begin attacking near the Grasslands.
** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' does this twice again. First, there's Winter Horns, where you battle King Dedede, the supposed leader of the Beast Pack. [[spoiler:Defeating him, however, causes him to capture [[DistressedDude Elfilin]] and fly off into the unknown.]] Then, there's Redgar Forbidden Lands, the final level before you reach [[AbandonedLaboratory Lab Discovera]]. And guess who you encounter guarding the entrance to the lab? [[spoiler:King Dedede again, this time [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] into the [[FeralVillain bestial]] [[FullBoarAction Forgo Dedede]]. Defeating him frees him from MindControl and leads directly into Lab Discovera.]]

** Koros from ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'' might qualify as well. It's relatively somber level with powerful enemies and implies that you're destroying Bio-Obliterator right there and then. And you do. Wait, you didn't fight BigBad, didja? Cue message from MissionControl they found ''second'' Bio-Obliterator and actual final mission.
** ''VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked'' is built around arena combat with heavy implication that current top Exterminator [[FallenHero Ace Hardlight]] will be your final opponent. [[spoiler:There are two more levels after this: The Ghost Station, which is not even shown on level list from the beginning like every other level, and Dreadzone Station Interior. And the final boss is Vox Gleeman himself.]]

* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'', the Thug HQ on Planet Snivelak may qualify. Red sky, lava, a level that's pretty much one linear path to a huge, ominous fortress, BGM that's MUCH darker than anything else in the game, a long ItsQuietTooQuiet segment before having to fight your way through some of the toughest enemies in the game, all cumulating in a battle against the game's RecurringBoss in a massive HumongousMecha to rescue the game's love interest. Is this the final level? HELL NO. But it is pretty close.

* The original final rank chapters in the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' games become this in the G-edition expansions (or, in the case of ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'', its DLC ''Iceborne''), as they're now followed up by the added high-rank quests. For example, in ''3 Ultimate'', it's the rank chapter (fifth) that was originally the last one in the Wii version (''Monster Hunter Tri''). After you defeat Ceadeus, originally the FinalBoss of ''Tri'' and the DiscOneFinalBoss in ''Ultimate'', you'll be presented the first of the high-rank new chapters. This is repeated in ''4 Ultimate'' in relation to the original, Japan-exclusive ''Monster Hunter 4'', only this time the high-rank chapters are unveiled after you tackle the first quests of the original's PlayableEpilogue, which makes the surprise factor even more effective.

* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture''. Big tower to climb, series of puzzles acting as a final exam, and block sliding puzzle. Yet there are still five chapters left.
* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy'' has The Nest, a dark city where the headquarters of Targent are located, and it's accessible once all Azran eggs are scooped from various parts in the world. It also includes a PointOfNoReturn. Yet it's not there where the game ends. [[WhereItAllBegan It ends in a familiar location]].

* ''VideoGame/Deltarune'' does this at the end of the first 2 chapters due to the long waits between them.

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' plays with this in that your party goes into Chapter 21 thinking it's TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: it's Daein's main castle and the BigBad Ashnard is sure to be there, right? But you, the player, have seen several cutscenes from the enemy's point of view and [[DramaticIrony thus know]] that Ashnard [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle is in another castle]] and Ike's army is being set up. It's still a fairly epic chapter cumulating in the game's first ClimaxBoss (a freaking dragon, no less), but in this case it's the characters in-story and not the player who's fooled.

*** Each expansion from ''A Realm Reborn'' onward concludes with a FinalBoss at the expansion's level cap, the Ultima Weapon and Lahabrea/Thancred in ''A Realm Reborn'', King Thorden and the Knights of the Round in ''Heavensward'', and Shinryu/Zenos yae Galvus in ''Stormblood''. While many of the end game bosses after these encounters (like Extreme Primals and Alliance Raids) are technically {{Optional Boss}}es, the game's main scenario quest actually continues onward from this point, culminating in the lead up to the next expansion; Vishap at the Steps of Faith in ''A Realm Reborn'' and The Griffin/Ilberd Feare in ''Heavensward'' are the ''actual'' final bosses of their respective expansions.

*** Each expansion from ''A Realm Reborn'' onward concludes with a FinalBoss at the expansion's level cap, the Ultima Weapon and Lahabrea/Thancred in ''A Realm Reborn'', King Thorden and the Knights of the Round in ''Heavensward'', and Shinryu/Zenos yae Galvus in ''Stormblood''. While many of the end game bosses after these encounters (like Extreme Primals and Alliance Raids) are technically {{Bonus Boss}}es, the game's main scenario quest actually continues onward from this point, culminating in the lead up to the next expansion; Vishap at the Steps of Faith in ''A Realm Reborn'' and The Griffin/Ilberd Feare in ''Heavensward'' are the ''actual'' final bosses of their respective expansions.

* The ''BravelyDefault'' franchise makes it a recurring habit, though with different twists on the concept in each game:

* ''Franchise/BravelyDefault'' makes it a recurring habit, though with different twists on the concept in each game:

* The Echoing library in ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey IV: Legends of the Titan''. The regal design, plus the ominous ambiance and the objective of rescuing the Medium from Prince Baldur, all portray this dungeon as the final destination for the player's guild. However, once the Prince is cornered, he takes the Medium with him through an emergency exit and the guild is distracted by the Cradle Guardian, the dungeon's actual boss. The real final dungeon is the Forgotten Capital, located beneath the withered Yggdrasil, but a long procedure involving the previous dungeons is required before it can be explored.

* Almost any raid dungeon in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' fits, thanks to how patches constantly add more throughout each expansion. At any given time the "current" raid is the Disc One Final Boss, you only get the expansion's final boss with the final content patch. A prominent example would be the first expansion's, ''Burning Crusade'', Black Temple. Illidan was built up as the expansion's focus and final boss, but Blizzard, new to creating expansion content, screwed up their pacing and didn't include enough raid content/released it too quickly. So they were forced to throw in the totally unexpected Sunwell Plateau in order to keep players engaged until the 2nd expansion was ready.
** Other prominent examples of "patch final dungeons" typically awarding the tier of raid gear just below the final raid of each expansion are the ancient Titan-forged city of Ulduar in ''Wrath of the Lich King'', the elemental plane of the Firelands in ''Cataclysm'', the resurgent mogu empire's ancient capital, the ''Throne of Thunder'' in ''Mists of Pandaria'', Blackrock Foundry, the blazing heart of the Iron Horde's war machine in ''Warlords of Draenor'', and the Demonic beachhead on Azeroth at the Tomb of Sargeras in ''Legion'', and the Eternal Palace of Queen Azshara of the Naga in ''Shadowlands''.

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' is probably the epitome of the DiscOneFinalDungeon. If the game had been a single disc, you'd have no idea that Orgodemir's initial defeat was only the first half of the game. Unfortunately, there's still a whole other disc to go.