History Main / GlobalAirship

* ''VideoGame/Temtem'' has the S.S. Narwhal, the CoolAirship that is the player's primary means of traversing the WorldInTheSky.

** ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations Ultimate'' features a whole ''village'' set within one, the Soaratorium. It belongs to the Wycademy, and it's from there that the Guild is studying matters and threats pertaining different cities and areas, among which the most urgent is the sightings of a dangerous Elder Dragon, Valstrax. You can access it after unlocking high-rank quests in the single-player campaign, as well as G-rank quests in the multiplayer campaign.

** ''Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate'' features a whole ''village'' set within one, the Soaratorium. It belongs to the Wycademy, and it's from there that the Guild is studying matters and threats pertaining different cities and areas, among which the most urgent is the sightings of a dangerous Elder Dragon, Valstrax. You can access it after unlocking high-rank quests in the single-player campaign, as well as G-rank quests in the multiplayer campaign.

* ''VideoGame/MOnsterHunter'':

* Being the only game in the ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series to take place in multiple locations across the world (instead of one or two like in all other games), ''[[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy Azran Legacy]]'' features a zeppelin owned by Professor Sycamore. Its name is the Bostonius, and with it you can not only go back to previous locations and find new puzzles (as well as events unlocked via the news published in the World Times), but also visit and complete the five locations related to the Azran Eggs in any order.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter 4'' and ''4 Ultimate'' has the Arluq, owned by the Caravan's Captain. At first, it's an ordinary ship (though capable of navigating through the sand as well as the seas), but at one point in the story it's upgraded into a zeppelin so it can soar towards the high-altitude region of Cathar (the last region unlocked in the game[[note]]even in ''4 Ultimate'', as the added region of Dundorma is available from the start, just not important to the story until the high-rank quests[[/note]]). The Arluq is what provides the in-game justification for you to travel to a specific village, or even to one of the rank-specific parts of the Everwood.
* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey IV'', by default, requires you to discover new locations (including the game's signature strata) by traveling manually across the overworld with the skyship, but once the Geomagnetic Pole of a specifc region or stratum has been found for the first time, you can warp there instantly from the HubCity. And in the case of the strata, the skyship will await you at the entrance as if you had once again reached there manually!

** The first ''VideoGame/{{Breath of Fire|I}}'' had Nina's giant bird transformation instead of an airship.
** ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' had Nina's sister in giant bird form, or a small floating continent.

* Common in the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' series. In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIII'', your [[TransformingMecha cyborg party member Wren]] becomes this when you find the right parts. You also need this to [[spoiler: access TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.]]

This is usually awarded after you've visited every part of the map in the course of the plot except one, where you will face the FinalBoss. It allows the player to quickly access unfinished {{sidequest}}s while avoiding the tedium of RandomEncounters and the maze-like terrain of the map. Airship acquisition may also [[OpeningTheSandbox open up]] [[TakeYourTime many hours]] worth of sidequests.

* The ''Grandcypher'' from the online game VideoGame/GranblueFantasy takes you around the WorldInTheSky, but it is limited to the places you've visited and like most airships can't cross the inhospitable Grim Basin to other skydoms until a certain point in the story. It can even be improved by spending currency on it.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' gives Shepard the SSV Normandy [[spoiler: actually two, the original getting blown up and replaced]], which serves both as a base where you can interact with teammates, upgrade gear and so on, and as a fast-travel mechanism which can mass-jump to any charted system in the galaxy in the space of a loading screen.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIIRevenantWings'' starts you off with an absolutely massive airship. The player can custom name this airship, and it is gradually added onto throughout the game, eventually containing the "Sky Saloon" a massive market/eatery area. On top of this, as the game goes on, [[spoiler:people gradually move in, and you have what amounts to an entire community on your hands by the end of it]].

** ''VideoGame/FinalfantasyX'': You see the Fahrenheit at the very beginning of the game, when it's underwater and being salvaged by the Al Bhed. It shows up later to allow your escape after a major revelation (for the main character, the player might be significantly less clueless), fight an airborne boss or two, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg8OqPbZIEA and is responsible for the most ridiculously awesome cutscene in the game]]. While you can't control it precisely (working more like a PortalNetwork), you can input coordinates to drop you off in secret locations.

See also WarpWhistle, HubLevel and MagicMap.

** ''VideoGame/UltimaV'' has a magic carpet that can travel to nearly anywhere on the map, but can't pass mountains or tall buildings. It returns in ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'', where it can be obtained [[DiscOneNuke shortly after the third town]]. [[GameBreakingBug Unfortunately]], using it to travel over certain areas can cause the game to become UnwinnableByMistake.

** Played with in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', where by the time you get the second airship, [[spoiler: the world has been flooded by Mist and there are only a few accessible locations left in the world]]. The first airship, however, does allow you to explore the world at your own leisure.

* ''VideoGame/SaGa3'' has a special airship: a time-and-dimension-travelling stealth jet of sorts called "the Talon". Repairing the Talon is the major focus of most of the game, and after the midpoint the Talon is finally back in the air, heavily equipped with Cannons, Missiles, shops, a free Inn and whatever other weapons and clever doohickeys the player can find scattered throughout the worlds. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it breaks down when you use it to enter the world which serves as TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.]]

-->-- '''Nyarko''', ''LightNovel/HaiyoreNyarkoSan''

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX has three: the Blue Narciss, available from a third of the way through Disc 3, which allows embarking and disembarking on beaches, the Hilda Garde 3, towards the end of Disc 3, which allows for takeoff and landing in any grassy areas, and finally, the Invincible at the start of Disc 4, which allows access to any and all land. Allowing Choco to gain his full set of abilities and be able to fly also counts, with takeoff and landing only from forests.

* ''[[VideoGame/FrontMission Front Mission: Gun Hazard]]'' has four [[AirborneAircraftCarrier Base Carriers]] that the player acquires after completing certain main story missions. They serve as their home base throughout the game and as a deployment point for their [[HumongousMecha Wanzer's.]]

An {{RPG}} trope, especially console [=RPGs=]. See also WarpWhistle, HubLevel and MagicMap.

* Samus's gunship in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' serves this role, as in those games she's exploring multiple locations across a solar system (planets and vessels) instead of one. You can even choose a specific landing site as long as it's been unlocked.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter 4'' and ''4 Ultimate'' has the Arluq, owned by the Caravan's Captain. At first, it's an ordinary ship (though capable of navigating through the sand as well as the seas), but at one point in the story it's upgraded into a zeppelin so it can soar towards the high-altitude region of Cathar (the last region unlocked in the game[[note]]even in ''4 Ultimate'', as the added region of Dundorma is available from the start, just not important to the story until the high-rank quests[[/note]]. The Arluq is what provides the in-game justification for you to travel to a specific location, or even to one of the rank-specific parts of the Everwood.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' takes this to new levels with the taxis: while the previous game had taxis that could near-instantly transport the player anywhere in Liberty City, GTA V allows the player to call up a cab from any road in the entire game world (countryside included) for the instant transport.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series seems to be the TropeMaker for this. In ''VideoGame/UltimaI'' and ''VideoGame/UltimaII'' you can acquire and air car or bi-plane respectively, which let you fly over land and water. The air car has lasers you can shoot distant enemies with, but cannot pass through forest areas.

*** ''VideoGame/UltimaV'' has a magic carpet that can travel to nearly anywhere on the map, but can't pass mountains or tall buildings. It returns in ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'', where it can be obtained [[DiscOneNuke shortly after the third town]]. [[GameBreakingBug Unfortunately]], using it to travel over certain areas can cause the game to become UnwinnableByMistake.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', the party eventually gains the ability to transform into a magic bird ([[PartyInMyPocket collectively]], it would seem) and fly about. Before this, a certain sidequest lets you obtain a bell you can use to summon a Great Sabercat to ride, enabling faster ground travel. As part of the story before obtaining the bird power, you find a magic ship that's stuck on the shoreline. After a tiresomely long series of events, the ship is finally brought onto the water, and can be used to travel across the sea. As a nice touch, all three modes of transportation (Sabercat, ship, bird) have a unique music track.

** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' has the protagonists transforming their Keyblades into their transport (Although it's not an actual, ship, per se). Gameplay-wise, it functions similarly to ''II'''s.

* ''[[VideoGame/GoldenSun Golden Sun: The Lost Age]]'' gives you a ship at about the one-third point, but it's a normal sea vessel, and you still have to deal with random encounters (just mermen and scallops). It's not until about two-thirds through the game that you get an airship, which is essentially the same ship you've been using with wings arbitrarily attached. You now get the option to choose to sail or fly, but while flying gets rid of random encounters, it also drains your ManaMeter constantly (and the ship is incapable of flying over mountains or even ''trees'').
** Even with the wings on the ship, travel across the world takes a long time. However, in the last segment of the game, travel becomes much easier with the [[WarpWhistle Teleport Psynergy]]; conveniently, when using it to travel to a town, the ship ends up docked at the nearest beach outside said town.

* ''[[VideoGame/BatenKaitos Baten Kaitos Origins]]'' has the Sfida, acquired shortly after the Hassaleh chapter of the game, which can travel wherever it wants so long as 1) you've been there before or 2) the plot demands.
** Doesn't apply to the past world, however.
** In the first ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'', you are given Diadem's best ship for transportation. However, you can't leave the [[FloatingContinent continent that you are on]] once you land on it until you finish your business there, and even then you are only allowed to wrap up your questing in that continent at your leisure, as the game automatically directs your travelling towards the next continent once you do choose to leave. However, after doing a short puzzle, later the game plays this trope straight by giving you [[spoiler: The White Dragon]] to use as you see fit.
*** And it should be noted that in both games, transportation is limited to between the {{Floating Continent}}s, and since there are no [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant flying menaces]] anywhere in the sky between the continents, the use of your GlobalAirship is indeed limited to doing every SideQuest there is once you have it, and accessing TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
* Common in the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' series.
** In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIII'', your [[TransformingMecha cyborg party member Wren]] becomes this when you find the right parts. You also need this to [[spoiler: access TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel II'' has the Courageous, an state-of-the-art, cutting-edge airship belonging to the royal family. It is entrusted to the princess of the empire to help out the heroes needing to get to the places they need to go to help out the other people affected by the ravaging CivilWar at the eastern side of TheEmpire.