| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1577049506009506300 |
| 2 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/team_kirby_clash_decisive_battlefield.png]]]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:350:Surely, there can't be an ''[[TrueFinalBoss Ultimate]]'' Decisive Battlefield! Right?]] |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | ->''"This door just ''screams'' endgame."'' |
| 8 | -->-- '''Shiki Misaki''', ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' |
| 9 | |
| 10 | A video game with any sort of combat (and a few without) can be expected to end with a dramatic FinalBoss battle. Console {{Role Playing Game}}s in particular tend to be downright obsessed with epic final showdowns. This clash needs an appropriate venue. Some get away with an ordinary castle, ElaborateUndergroundBase or the like, but that real twang takes a place that might as well bear the words "'''FINAL CONFRONTATION HERE'''" in a [[SpikesOfVillainy spiky]] font, colored [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver red and black]] with [[DarkReprise a remix of the main theme]] blasting in a thousand-mile radius. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | It could be the [[EvilTowerOfOminousness tallest of spires]] or the highest of mountains. It could be [[AstralFinale somewhere in outer space]], or [[BeneathTheEarth deep beneath the world's surface]]. In a ScavengerWorld, it's a fully armed and operational [[OminousFloatingCastle battlestation]] from legend. Often it's the very WeaponOfMassDestruction the BigBad wants. In any case, it embodies the words "serious business," and just entering it can merit an FMV or a BossBattle (on the first try; from there on, it's easy as pie). Extra credit if it forms/arises/descends/erupts just when everything seemed all right, if it's [[MalevolentArchitecture more dangerous than would be allowed for any real place]], and if it has a [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace pretentious, overblown name.]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | And sometimes, just to screw with the player, the Very Definitely Final Dungeon seems peaceful and quiet... [[ItsQuietTooQuiet too quiet]]. Of course, [[MemeticMutation It's A Trap]]. Expect it to be also the PointOfNoReturn and/or PointOfNoContinues. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | If they're going for a nostalgia feeling, there may be [[AllTheWorldsAreAStage a bit of each terrain/level/mechanism from earlier in the game]] put in there, making a final conclusion of the game as a whole. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Interestingly enough, it's usually stressed that it will be incredibly difficult, maybe even [[PointOfNoReturn impossible]] to leave the final dungeon once you've entered it. This only applies in gameplay. Most characters who enter the final dungeon simply leave after the boss has been defeated, sometimes barely finding a means to escape, but at other times with no explanation at all. [[TheHeroDies Unless they die there.]] This sometimes does not come into play, as it is the boss's power causing some obstruction to leaving. The game will sometimes warn players that there's no turning back and ask them if they ''really'' want to move forward. If they're not lucky, they could be walking into ThatOneLevel. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | WhereItAllBegan is a particular type where the final dungeon has some connection to -- or in some cases even ''is'' -- the spot where the game started. If the player can visit the final dungeon ''before'' the endgame, it's a FinalDungeonPreview. Can naturally be combined with StormingTheCastle or AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield. Compare and contrast BonusDungeon, an optional location that tends to be the only place that rivals the VDFD in terms of danger, and the BrutalBonusLevel, a BonusDungeon that '''most definitely ''will''''' be more [[NintendoHard dangerous and challenging]] than the VDFD. For the exact opposite of the spelunking spectrum, see the NoobCave. Beware of fake outs by the DiscOneFinalDungeon! |
| 21 | |
| 22 | And if a game allows players to continue upon dying... [[PointOfNoContinues that feature will often cease to be available once they enter the VDFD!]] |
| 23 | ---- |
| 24 | !!Examples: |
| 25 | |
| 26 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[folder:Action Adventure]] |
| 29 | * ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': The Consortium's ElaborateUndergroundBase serves as the final area. It is a MarathonLevel consisting of multiple research stations and assembly lines that is split into several sections filled with EliteMooks and a BossBonanza with the pathway leading to the inner center of the facility where [[BigBad C]] is located. |
| 30 | * ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' has two. The main one has Asura and Yasha going into the center of Gaia to defeat the Vlitra Core. The DLC has you fighting [[spoiler:the creator of the world, Chakravartin,]] inside of Naraka. |
| 31 | * ''VideoGame/CaveStory'': |
| 32 | ** The normal final dungeon is the Final Cave, a small cave that is filled with tough obstacles and tight jumps, leading to a tower at the top of the island where you fight the Doctor. |
| 33 | ** If you meet all the requirements after you beat the bosses in the tower, you go to the Blood-Stained Sanctuary, a series of rooms full of dead bodies, falling debris, OneHitKO spike traps, [[GoddamnedBats an army of demonic cherubs]], and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin blood]]. ''Lots of it.'' Once you're through that, there's small room with a boss fight with the Heavy Press [[KaizoTrap (which can kill you in one hit after death if you're careless)]], and ''then'' there's the fight with [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Ballos]] himself, who has by far the most HP in the game. [[CheckPointStarvation And the only save point you can access for the Blood-Stained Sanctuary is at the very beginning]]. |
| 34 | * ''VideoGame/ExtrapowerGiantFist'' has Zett's compound and the tunnels beneath, filled with his BodyHorror experiments forming the last defense until the final bosses. |
| 35 | * ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' takes this trope seriously when [[spoiler: you fight the FinalBoss who lives on a dark mountain - under a huge rain storm. Said FinalBoss virtually counts as a Very Definitely Final Dungeon unto itself, as well; it's big enough that more than one player has initially mistaken it for a last obstacle to climb before you reach the Final Colossus -- until they notice the tower is ''moving''.]] |
| 36 | * ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' has the [[spoiler:Ark of Yamato]] as the true final stage. Any previous dungeon that ''seemed'' to be the last one is only a DiscOneFinalDungeon, while this one shows that it's the real deal for having a PointOfNoReturn. |
| 37 | * ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'': The role is filled by the Dark Realm, which is where Akuro awaits. Chibiterasu arrives there after the completion of Moon Cave in the past, which in turn is followed by [[spoiler:Kurow's betrayal]]. |
| 38 | * The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games usually feature the top floor of the eponymous castle (or a different yet, similar one) as this, almost always featuring a very large staircase leading to the throne room, and occasionally after a DiscOneFinalDungeon. There are a few notable exceptions: |
| 39 | ** ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest Simon's Quest]]'', ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIBelmontsRevenge Belmont's Revenge]]'', ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness Curse of Darkness]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia Order of Ecclesia]]'' have Dracula's Castle in general as this, with the majority of the games taking place outside it. |
| 40 | ** ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines Bloodlines]]'' has the Castle Proserpina in England, complete with a BossRush, and some of the most surreal level design in the series. |
| 41 | ** ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]'' has the [[spoiler:Inverted Castle, floating in the sky above the ''normal'' Dracula's Castle, with the FinalBoss fight taking place in its center]]. |
| 42 | ** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'', has the [[spoiler:Chaotic Realm]], a bizarre dimension which isn't displayed on the map, and [[AllTheWorldsAreAStage consists of parts of all of the previous areas]]. |
| 43 | ** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', has [[spoiler:The Abyss]], which, like the [[spoiler:Chaotic Realm]], isn't on the castle map. Instead, it has an entirely separate map of its own. Fans of the series will recognize the very definitely final boss chamber as what was almost certainly the home of the Legion boss you had been expecting to fight all game. Someone got there first, though. |
| 44 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series never fails to offer these: |
| 45 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'': Level 9, Death Mountain. You know you're there: "Spectacle Rock" is the overground architecture in the first quest (and the map, a skull, is by far the largest in the game). In the second quest it's in the very top-left corner, and the dungeon map is shaped like Ganon's head and is roughly as large. The music is much creepier than that used in the first eight dungeons, there are much stronger enemies that only appear in Level 9 in either quest (including a new MiniBoss called Patra), and these levels are much more mazelike than their predecessors. In addition, if you don't have all eight Triforce pieces, a guardian awaits in the first room beyond the entrance to shoo you away. |
| 46 | ** ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': The role is filled by the Great Palace and is the longest level in the game, big enough for you to get lost. To get to it, you have to travel through a lava-strewn terrain, which only exists in that one part of the world. The Great Palace also has unique music, unlike the previous six dungeons which all had the same music. Also if you lose all your lives there ([[NintendoHard which is very likely to happen]]) you will begin your quest again from the entrance instead of all the way back at the start of the game. It is the only dungeon to feature this trait. |
| 47 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': Ganon's Tower is where Link goes after having rescued all seven Maidens (including, among them, Princess Zelda) in the prior DarkWorld dungeons. It is located where the Tower of Hera would be in the Light World, and is protected by an energy layer that can only be removed with the power of the freed Maidens. It is also the biggest dungeon in the game, and on top of devious puzzles and obstacles it also includes a BossRush gauntlet against the original four bosses of the Light World. That said, you don't actually fight the final battle here, as Ganon fights you here under his Agahnim persona and then flees the scene to the Pyramid of Power for the ''actual'' final duel. |
| 48 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Ganon's Tower is a giant black monolith floating over a sinkhole-shaped sea of lava, where Hyrule Castle used to be in the past era. After Link awakens all Sages and receives a sacred weapon from Princess Zelda (whose reveal and location also lead to her kidnapping by Ganondorf), he has to enter the Tower by crossing a rainbow bridge created by the freed Sages, and once inside he has to dispel the barrier to the top part by part. |
| 49 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': The inside of the Moon, a terrifying grimacing moon, appears to be a beautiful field containing a single tree with children playing around it. [[CreepyChild Children wearing the masks of all the bosses.]] Most of it is optional (you can talk to the child wearing Majora's Mask to teleport directly to the final battle), and in order to fully complete the dungeon areas you'll need to have collected all masks in the game, as doing so will grant you a very powerful extra mask that is unavailable otherwise. |
| 50 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'': |
| 51 | *** In ''Oracle of Seasons'', the final dungeon is Onox's Castle, which is protected by a force field that holds on during much of the adventure's duration. |
| 52 | *** In ''Oracle of Ages'', Veran spends the entire game building the final dungeon, right next to the village, and it ominously gets taller and taller as her plot progresses; logically, this invokes ItsAllUpstairsFromHere by the time you manage to get inside. |
| 53 | *** If you're playing both games in linked form, completing the second one will settle the climax into the Room of Rites, where the final battles occur and the combined story is wrapped up for real. |
| 54 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' follows the footsteps of ''A Link to the Past'' and ''Ocarina of Time'' by giving this role to Ganon's Tower. This time, it's located next to Hyrule Castle in what used to be the land of Hyrule before its flood. Per tradition, a barrier prevents you from accessing it early and you'll need to empower the Master Sword with the help of two temple Sages to break it (as well as the Triforce of Courage in repaired form to return to Hyrule to begin with), but this time it's not in the Tower itself but in ''Hyrule Castle''. The dungeon is divided into three sections: One in which you have to dispel a gate's seal by tackling rooms based on several previous dungeons, one which features an illusory puzzle and a sequence of rematches against a familiar MiniBoss, and finally a long staircase leading to Ganon and the story's climax. |
| 55 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' opts for Hyrule Castle itself. While the location is technically visitable at several points before the endgame, Vaati's magic eventually warps it into a much more sinister structure than it was before. The dungeon itself is very tall, featuring numerous puzzles and enemies, including multiple MiniBoss battles against Darknuts. |
| 56 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': Hyrule Castle is visited twice during the game's first half, but it can only be explored in full once the diamond-shaped barrier protecting it is destroyed by Midna with the help of the Fused Shadows. The Castle, barrier and all, is visible almost anywhere in the overworld. Bits of the final battle take place outside the castle as well. |
| 57 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' shakes up the usual formula by portraying its MegaDungeon, the Temple of the Ocean King, as the very last dungeon in completion order. You even get to visit the very last floor before the game's climax (in fact, you have to do it in order to unlock the last quadrant of the World of the Ocean King, as it's there where the last regular dungeon lies). The catch is that the large door located there can only be opened when you manage to defeat all Phantoms in the area, for which you must have forged the Phantom Sword with the [[PlotCoupon Pure Metals]] guarded in their temples. Beyond the door is the area where the FinalBoss (Bellum) awaits, but you only fight it there in the first two phases, as the other two take place in the overworld. |
| 58 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' has the Dark Realm, a FinalBossNewDimension accessible once you retrieve the Compass of Light at the very end of this game's MegaDungeon (the Tower of Spirits). The Demon Train, as well as Chancellor Cole assisting the first form of Malladus, are confronted during the train portion and Phantom portion respectively, but the game kicks back to New Hyrule for the final parts of the battle. |
| 59 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': Sky Keep serves as the ultimate destination, available once you learn the Song of the Hero and complete the final Silent Realm. The cinematic reveal of the location of this dungeon helps a lot, and its inner gameplay presents a novel set of puzzles that take advantage of its variable shape. However, the last two bosses aren't found here, as [[PostFinalLevel they'll only appear after you've completed it]] (namely in [[spoiler:the past-era version of Sealed Grounds]]). |
| 60 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'': Lorule Castle, located at the center of Lorule and accessible after you've freed all Sages (though it's Hilda who breaks the seal with her magic, not the Sages with theirs). The second half of the game begins and ends in the domain of Hilda. |
| 61 | ** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'': Ganon's Castle serves as this once more. This time, however, it was Hyrule Field until the events of the game allowed Ganondorf to corrupt it. |
| 62 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': The player is explicitly told from the start of the game that Hyrule Castle is housing Calamity Ganon. If you ignore all the dialog and cutscenes, the giant darkened castle in the middle of the world map, with black smoke swirling around and hordes of giant death-robots on patrol, is still pretty conspicuous; and even if you don't pick up on any of that, each main dungeon's completion adds a miles-long laser-sight pointing directly at Ganon's lair. [[PlayingWithATrope Interestingly played with]] in that not only can it be visited at any time to fight the final boss, stopping by sometime before actually confronting Ganon is encouraged -- a few sidequests and one of Link's memories require the player to visit the castle early. |
| 63 | ** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'': Hyrule Castle again. It gets corrupted by the emerging Calamity Ganon halfway during the game, forcing Link and Zelda to flee so they can gather the allies and powers they need for the final confrontation. Then when all the pieces are in place, the allied forces of Hyrule have to StormTheCastle for the final confrontation. |
| 64 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': Hyrule Castle is [[spoiler:NOT the final dungeon this time (in fact, if you're following the game's story in the suggested order, then Hyrule Castle will turn out to only be a DiscOneFinalDungeon, as there's still a StoryArc later on regarding an additional Sage). Rather, it's the Chasm ''beneath'' the castle where Ganondorf lies waiting beyond a series of tunnels teeming with Gloom-infested monsters, a Silver-Maned Lynel, and one last round versus Phantom Ganon, ending WhereItAllBegan in the cavern Link and Zelda explored in the opening. Like before, this can be visited at any point, although this time there's little incentive to visit it early.]] |
| 65 | * The final battle in ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' takes place in a gargantuan cavern inside a large moon, on a slab of rock surrounded by green glowing water, with a giant statue-like Domz creature looking over the battle, and all your friends and other citizens of Hyllis locked in permanent paralysis in green Matrix-like pods lining the walls of the cavern. Doesn't get much more final than that. |
| 66 | * ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' has the Shrine of the Mother, where [[DiscOneFinalDungeon you don't quite fight the final boss yet]]. Only after defeating all the other bosses and chanting a series of mantras do you unlock the True Shrine of the Mother, a [[PaletteSwap Palette-Swapped]], badly-damaged version of the Shrine, the center of which you fight the final boss in. |
| 67 | * ''VideoGame/PredatorConcreteJungle'' had a pretty epic final battle which started beneath a gigantic hologram of Earth and ended in the right palm of a two-hundred-foot-tall statue of the BigBad. |
| 68 | * Krazoa Palace in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''. Where better to end it than WhereItAllBegan? |
| 69 | * ''VideoGame/TheMysteriousMurasameCastle'' ends at Murasame Castle, where the floor is black and the walls are NothingButSkulls. |
| 70 | * ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' has the Main Gate, a mysterious ruin that you've spent the entire game trying to figure out how to get into, while the sequel has Elysium, the {{Utopia}}/KillSat that most of the series up to this point has revolved around. ''The Misadventures of Tron Bonne'' tops them both, however, by having its VDFD be a gigantic Reaverbot (as in, the gigantic Reaverbot isn't what you fight at the end of the dungeon, the gigantic Reaverbot ''is'' the dungeon). That's right, it beat out ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' in the "VDFD actually ''being'' the thing you're trying to kill" department. |
| 71 | * ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' has Treacherous Mansion. It's a huge castle-like structure suspended on a tiny piece of land above a gigantic ravine/waterfall, which also happens to be a museum based on the earlier levels in the game. And it has things like a pirate ship sticking out the side and part of a tree sticking out the roof for no real reason. |
| 72 | * ''VideoGame/{{Folklore}}'' has the Netherrealm's Core, which holds the artifacts that make the afterlife work. The first half is made of floating islands, taken from Doolin's past history. The second, inner half is a dark crystal maze. |
| 73 | * In ''VideoGame/AxiomVerge'', the final area, Mar-Uru, is structured like a tower projecting upward from the rest of the game world, with the FinalBoss stationed at the top. |
| 74 | * In ''VideoGame/CrossCode'', halfway through the game, Lea first reaches Gautham's tower in the Vermillion Wasteland. It's tall, dark, spiky, and contains a few goodly horrifying scenes. This turns out to be a false positive at first, since [[InterfaceSpoiler much of the game hasn't been explored yet.]] However, she inevitably returns (to beat it ''without'' [[DungeonBypass punching through the walls]]) in the finale. |
| 75 | * ''Little Tail Bronx'': |
| 76 | ** Every other stage in ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' is either one of the many flying islands making up Prairie or a fortress of some kind. Then all of a sudden, you're inside an ancient world-breaking monster fighting an organic robot for the last stage. |
| 77 | ** ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'' goes further by having you fly into an alternate dimension within the planet-sized Tartaros, where the FinalBoss [[BossOnlyLevel resides]]. |
| 78 | [[/folder]] |
| 79 | |
| 80 | [[folder:Action Game]] |
| 81 | * ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'': |
| 82 | ** The last stage of the first game is reached through an incredibly tall elevator which dwarfs the city it extends from. In stark contrast to the urban crime drama of the rest of the game, is an ancient floating temple with crystals hovering around, populated with blue-skinned monsters which look remotely human at best. And no, the game doesn't explain where it came from. There is an explanation, but [[AllThereInTheManual it isn't in the game, it's in the artbooks]]. |
| 83 | ** The last stage of the sequel takes place in the "basement" of a previous stage (The Laboratory). Said "basement" is really [[spoiler: The Methuselah Starship, an alien craft that crash-landed on the planet hundreds of years ago, and the very place where the technology necessary in engineering the Seed and Necrolyzation Projects originated from.]] Again, it makes more sense if you read the [[ConceptArtGallery art]] [[AllThereInTheManual book]]. |
| 84 | * ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'': While Mizar's Palace is hyped as this, it's revealed to be only a DiscOneFinalDungeon, since Mizar pulls a RageQuit upon being defeated easily by Lupus (a ''dog''). The true last level is the Asteroid Mizar is travelling with to reach Earth in a desperate attempt to cause a doomsday there, and it can only be intercepted by performing TheGreatRepair to a sacred apaceship, which makes up for the whole second half of the game. |
| 85 | * ''VideoGame/MetalWarriors'': The ninth and final mission takes Stone into the Axis Central Command, the last bastion of the Dark Axis forces and the place where a devastating superweapon is being built. Stone has to storm the area, dismantle the superweapon and kill the chief figure of the Dark Axis to save the world. The level has areas where Stone has switch between going on foot and piloting his MiniMecha, as well as large moving machinery that makes navigation more difficult. |
| 86 | * ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden II'': |
| 87 | ** During many of the game's cutscenes, you could see the final tower in the background, and after beating one stage, you see the tower in question in a final cutscene before actually entering it. |
| 88 | ** The Imperial Palace in the Xbox game. It's an enormous tower hanging upside down and covered in giant skulls, and features rooms that house fetuses like bees in honeycombs on the walls. It's so very definitely final, that even the item chests are evil and spiky. |
| 89 | * The final stages of ''VideoGame/DmcDevilMayCry'' have Dante and Vergil assaulting Mundus's headquarters. [[spoiler:However the final battle itself happens in the ruins of Limbo's collision with reality ''after'' you succeed in your mission to unseat Mundus]]. |
| 90 | * ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'': |
| 91 | ** Played straight at first in the original game, with the 1st Rank battle taking Travis well outside Santa Destroy and through an ominous forest, with the battle itself happening right outside the 1st Rank assassin's personal castle. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted with the TrueFinalBoss battle with Henry, however, [[WhereItAllBegan which happens in the parking lot of the Motel No More Heroes where Travis lives.]]]] |
| 92 | ** ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': The 1st Rank assassin (Jasper Batt Jr.), awaits you at the very top of a large and ominous skyscraper, filled to the brim with his guards. Hilariously, it's also right across the street from Travis' home. |
| 93 | ** ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'': The 1st Rank assassin is Jean Baptiste VI, a.k.a. FU, and is fought at the top of the very tall, ominous Damon Tower (itself located in the central island surrounded by the other cities and towns). |
| 94 | * ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' has Kingsparrow Lighthouse, which is either sunny and relatively calm, or filled with dramatic rain, thunder, and way more guards, depending on your choices. The final confrontation is either relatively straightforward on a low-chaos playthrough, or dramatic on a high-chaos playthrough. The sequel gives us Dunwall Tower, which has been converted into a den for Delilah and her witches, and is filled with disturbing imagery no matter what your choices were. |
| 95 | * ''VideoGame/VersusUmbra'': Nivaga in First Strike. Red sky, black ground, full of caves, and level names like "Satan's Backyard" all point to it being the final planet. |
| 96 | * ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'': |
| 97 | ** The first game has its final level taking place in a long hallway within a penthouse. Said hallway is filled to the brim with mooks and you have a BossRush with every single boss you've faced. Beyond the doors at the end of the corridor is [[BigBad Mr. X himself]]. |
| 98 | ** The second game does something similar with its final level by taking place in a penthouse again (along with a rush of mooks and bosses), except the hallway leads to an elevator that takes you up to Mr. X and his elite henchman, [[TheDragon Shiva]]. |
| 99 | ** The third game does it again a third time, but subverts it by revealing the Mr. X sitting in the chair is a robot in disguise and it isn't the final level. Round 7 has two different paths that signify the definitive final area; the bad ending path has you fighting your way to City Hall and the good ending path has you fighting through the robot factory. |
| 100 | ** In the fourth game, after fighting Mr. Y on his private jet, it crash-lands on Y Island where you fight him and his sister, Ms. Y. After beating them up for a bit, one of them jumps into a HumongousMecha... |
| 101 | * ''VideoGame/ActRaiser 2'' has Death Helm, which is {{Hell}} reached through the mouth of a volcano. Entry requires taking the Sky Palace, the throne of the Almighty God, and crashing it through the walls. The final level is littered with dead cherubs and surviving angels are being exterminated, because ''shit just got real''. |
| 102 | * ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'': GEATH-Wahksay, a massive space fortress that appears at the end of the third-to-last level. It serves as GEATHJERK's trump card, and is so heavily fortified that even reaching it with an army of a hundred HumongousMecha takes an entire level on to itself. The FinalBoss of the game is fought in its core. [[spoiler:It is revealed after the first two phases of the boss fight that he controls all of GEATH-Wahksay, to the point where it acts as his mechanical body. Because of this, GEATH-Wahksay doubles as both the endgoal area of the game and the final boss itself.]] |
| 103 | [[/folder]] |
| 104 | |
| 105 | [[folder:Adventure Game]] |
| 106 | * ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'': |
| 107 | ** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage'' has the Tower. You've been talking about it since the start of the game, heard strange noises coming from it, and just acquired the obscure key needed to unlock the way to it. Now you just need to complete 10 extremely difficult puzzles to get to the top and have everything revealed. |
| 108 | ** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox'' has Herzen Mansion. Believed to be haunted by a vampire, Layton and Luke must traverse the woods, lake, and bridge leading to the castle where they must then be tied up by the BigBad only to escape, solve several more puzzles, and prepare for the final confrontation where everything is revealed. |
| 109 | ** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' has [[spoiler:a gigantic mobile fortress full of weapons ready to destroy London, controlled by TheManBehindTheMan who ran away during TheReveal, kidnapping Flora in the process.]] |
| 110 | ** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheLastSpecter'' has the Closed Factory, the main facility where the BigBad creates {{Spider Tank}}s, and [[spoiler:the climax has Layton confronting one of them]]. |
| 111 | ** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheMiracleMask'' has the Reunion Inn, which was built by the search party led by [[spoiler:Henry Ledore to look for Randall in the Akbadain ruins]]. It is now there where the Masked Gentleman ([[spoiler:Randall himself]]) is secretly plotting his dark miracles. |
| 112 | ** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy'' has the Azran Sanctuary, where the ultimate piece of Azran technology lays dormant. It is discovered after the power of the Azran eggs is awakened in the Nest (the headquarters of Targent), and is located [[spoiler:in Froenborg, WhereItAllBegan]]. |
| 113 | ** ''VideoGame/LaytonsMysteryJourneyKatrielleAndTheMillionairesConspiracy'' has the mansion of the late Maximilian Richmond, and [[spoiler:the original source of the riches that made the seven Dragons wealthy]]. |
| 114 | ** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsAceAttorney'' has the [[spoiler:Storyteller's Tower]]. |
| 115 | * ''VideoGame/TorinsPassage'' has the player spending most of the game trying to get to the next progressively deeper layer of the planet. The final battle takes place inside the BigBad's house... located in the very center of the planet (which you've been banished to as a punishment, rather than seeking out and entering for yourself), where gravity pulls from every direction, causing one to float in midair except inside said house. The house itself isn't all that special, except that the entryway is lined with all of the people the BigBad has imprisoned in giant crystals with her powers, including Torin's parents, some of the game's creators, [[Franchise/SailorMoon Sailor Saturn]], and ''[[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]]''. |
| 116 | [[/folder]] |
| 117 | |
| 118 | [[folder:Driving Game]] |
| 119 | * ''VideoGame/FZero'': |
| 120 | ** The SNES game ''VideoGame/FZero1990'' has Fire Field as the final track in the King League. Not only it's [[MarathonLevel longest track in the game]], it also has every kind of obstacle thrown at you all at once; sharp turns, mines, dirt patches, ice, and magnets that pull you in from the sides. The race also takes place over what seems to be a field of lava. |
| 121 | ** ''VideoGame/FZeroGX'' on the Gamecube has two of these. The second-to-last race in the storyline takes place inside a volcano, while the final race takes place on an ethereal virtual track that cycles through the colors of the rainbow. |
| 122 | * ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' has Rainbow Road. A large, hazardous racetrack in space (usually. Once it was floating over a city) with dramatic, upbeat music and looks like it's made out of a...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rainbow]]. There's one of them in every game and it is always the last track in the game (if you do the cups in order, as Rainbow Road is part of the Special Cup). The games with Retro Cups have the Lightning Cup end with a retro Rainbow Road (except in the DS and Wii games, where the last retro tracks are GCN Yoshi Circuit and [=N64=] Bowser's Castle respectively). |
| 123 | [[/folder]] |
| 124 | |
| 125 | [[folder:Fighting Game]] |
| 126 | * ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': |
| 127 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'': You might think the final levels of ''The Subspace Emissary'' take place in Subspace. And you'd be right... [[spoiler:mostly. Actually the final dungeon of Brawl is ''The Great Maze'', which is a literal maze made out of previous levels, where you have to fight off every character you've unlocked, and every boss you've faced so far in order to open the final door to Tabuu. Needless to say, it does feel very definitely final, and even looks final. A big grapeshaped cluster of worlds floating in darkness, with an ominous staircase leading to it and everything. And the ominous shadowed gate with the trophies of all those you defeat inside the Great Maze. The Very Definitely Final Part of the Very Definitely Final Dungeon ''within'' the Very Definitely Final Dungeon.]] |
| 128 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': ''World of Light'' has [[spoiler:the Final Battle, a war between darkness and light that the player must keep balanced. [[DownerEnding If not]]...]] |
| 129 | * Depending on the game, the final battle can take place in the inner sanctum of the final boss (such as Rugal's airship ''[=BlackNoah=]'' in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters '94'', Krauser's great hall in ''VideoGame/FatalFury 2'', Seth's secret laboratory in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'', or Murakumo's operation room [[spoiler: that also houses the biggest of the Blitz Motors]] in ''VideoGame/AkatsukiBlitzkampf''). |
| 130 | * The final boss fight of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' takes place at the Azure Boundary, an otherworldly dark realm dominated by a blue singularity located beyond the Forbidden Gate deep within [[EldritchLocation the Boundary.]] For context and reference, this is the place the villains have been trying to reach over the course of the entire series and whoever wins this battle wins the right to rewrite reality as they see fit. |
| 131 | * ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': The final fight in the Story Mode involves fighting BigBad Kronika [[spoiler:after she's already begun reversing time to the point all of mankind, including the characters in the game save for Raiden and Liu Kang, have been [[RetGone irrevocably erased from existence]]]]. This final bout even decides [[spoiler:how far back history rewinds by the time of your victory; sweep both rounds, Kronika is stopped by the prehistoric era and therefore Kitana is saved, but take all three rounds, and history is rewound to the dawn of time itself.]] Kronika's stage even reflects these changes through the fight. |
| 132 | [[/folder]] |
| 133 | |
| 134 | [[folder:First-Person Shooter]] |
| 135 | * ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'': |
| 136 | ** ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorVanguard'''s final mission 'The Crucible' takes place in a large factory that is visible in the distance during the parachute drop in the previous mission 'Endgame' and is the largest most heavily fortified structure in the game. The mission also takes place on the 25th of March 1945, during Operation Varsity, just 45 days before the war ended in Europe. |
| 137 | ** ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAirborne'' has Der Flakturm (the Flak Tower), a huge structure brimming with [[AntiAir anti-aircraft artillery]], and the last German stronghold in Essen, Germany. |
| 138 | * You catch a glance of Xen at the beginning of the original ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' during the resonance cascade - having spent the first nine-tenths of the game in a mostly-underground military facility, you spend the final tenth suspended in the sky of an alternate dimension, fighting gigantic aliens atop semi-organic purple floating islands. [[DisappointingLastLevel Opinions are divided]]. |
| 139 | * The Citadel in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'': towering ominously over the entire rest of the game, blaring alarms and occasionally releasing hordes of airborne enemies, this [[EvilTowerOfOminousness miles-high spire]] (lit by deadly balls of energy, and consisting almost entirely of [[NoOSHACompliance poorly-safeguarded catwalks]]) clearly fits the definition. |
| 140 | * ''VideoGame/DarkWatch'' has Deadfall, an {{Mordor}}-esque town that is overflowing with fire, lava and brimstone, its populated by demonic ghosts and serves as an entrance for a hellish pocket dimension where the FinalBoss takes place. |
| 141 | * ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' has the final level of Descent 2, Tycho Brahe. Previously, the player would be given an introductory cutscene for each star system they visited (each consisting of 4 levels), but this is the only level that has its own cutscene separate from the ones before it, and it's an ominous one indeed, playing creepy music as you approach the clearly artificial planetoid. |
| 142 | * ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' has [[spoiler:the Black Garden, the Vex "homeworld" and site of the main story's final mission.]] |
| 143 | * ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', which takes place at Area 51. Not only do you find out that [[spoiler:you're a clone and there are more nano-augmented agents like you]], but it's also the place which can bring down the entire world order, has the mastermind of the Gray Death virus stationed there, AND has a malignant AI that wants to merge with you. Either way, it doesn't go down well, especially since [[spoiler:the following game retconned the fact that you killed the mastermind, merged with the AI and destroyed the government AT THE SAME TIME]]. |
| 144 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' has its WhereItAllBegan final level. |
| 145 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' has [[spoiler:Panchaea. A massive building hollowing out a section of the ocean built by one of the richest men on the planet. Due to his plans, it's also infested with augmented people being driven mad by their chips.]] |
| 146 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': |
| 147 | ** ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' has [[spoiler:the crashed ''Pillar of Autumn''. [[BookEnds Also where the game began]].]] |
| 148 | ** ''VideoGame/Halo2'' ends at the building that houses Delta Halo's control room. You fight a lot of Brutes, and then you get to the control room itself where the FinalBoss fight [[spoiler: with Brute Chieftain Tartarus]] takes place. |
| 149 | ** ''VideoGame/Halo3'': Bringing things full-circle, the final mission takes place on the Halo installation being built to replace Alpha Halo, the one the Master Chief destroyed in the first game. |
| 150 | ** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' ends with a firefight taking place on a platform overlooking the [[spoiler:yet-to-depart ''Pillar of Autumn'' in the far distance.]] After firing the MAC at a dozen or so Phantoms and destroying the [[{{BFG}} glassing laser]] on the Covenant cruiser, Noble 6 is then [[spoiler:left behind in a foggy wasteland as endless and increasingly difficult waves of soldiers advance to take you down.]] |
| 151 | ** ''VideoGame/Halo4'' has you single-handedly storming [[spoiler:the Didact's giant spaceship in order to nuke it from the inside before he destroys Earth]]. |
| 152 | * The final part of ''VideoGame/TheDarkness'' has you on a island with a lighthouse where the lighthouse is the where the final fight takes place. The area begins in full daylight, which as it's light you lose your powers, but soon after a solar eclipse happens, making the being inside you extremely powerful... for some reason, who then subverts this trope by destroying everything and body in a mile radius. |
| 153 | * ''[[VideoGame/{{Stalker}} S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl]]'' ends inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant itself, the location you've spent/struggled the entire game trying to reach. [[spoiler:And during a period where you spent your time doing blind local teleportation, you surprisingly do one long distance teleportation on the very first place you began to play.]] |
| 154 | * Somewhat averted in the ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}'' games, as the rest of the game contains such interesting locales that the final dungeons aren't that much of a telltale shift. The biggest indicator they're the final areas are the fact they're named after the {{Big Bad}}s of any of the games. (Primagen's lightship, etc.) |
| 155 | * ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'': |
| 156 | ** The first game has the Eridian Promontory, a winding, snowy mountain pass leading towards the Vault. In the DLC ''The Zombie Island of Dr Ned'', with you heading to the giant lumber mill that can be seen from nearly everywhere on the island. |
| 157 | ** ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' has Hero's Pass, a volcanic cavern excavated by Hyperion that leads to the Vault of the Warrior. |
| 158 | ** ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' has Eleseer, the core of Elpis, and where the final battle is located. As if Tycho's Ribs -- the passage you had to get through to make it this far -- was bad enough, making it to the location of the boss fight itself requires lowering a number of ramps, and contending with some high-levelled enemies. It ''is'' [[SceneryPorn pretty]] though, with a very futuristic blue, black, and pink color scheme. |
| 159 | ** ''VideoGame/Borderlands3'' has [[spoiler:Destroyer's Rift, a massive forming chasm near a small set of Eridian ruins on the surface of Pandora, where [[EldritchAbomination The Destroyer]] emerged after the opening of The Great Vault]]. |
| 160 | * Near the finale of ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'' you descend into a vast underground base with Franchise/StarWars-like bottomless pits, flashing lights and a massive sphere covered by a wave-like forcefield [[spoiler:containing a murderous ghost girl who has been trapped in there for decades]]. Compared to the relatively mundane office buildings and warehouses that you spend the rest of the game running around in, the contrast is pretty jarring. |
| 161 | * The final level of ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'' takes place in [[BigApplesauce Central Park]]. [[spoiler:A Central Park suspended more than a mile in the air by a [[AlienInvasion Ceph]] lithoship previously buried underground. A Central Park you have to navigate while massive chunks keep falling off and the Ceph hunt you across its surface, while you have twenty minutes to reach and destroy the lithoship before U.S. command launches a nuke at it.]] |
| 162 | * ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'': |
| 163 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'': The second episode has the final level, "Tower of Babel" being actively constructed during the Marine's battle across Deimos. |
| 164 | ** ''VideoGame/DoomII'': |
| 165 | *** Icon of Sin, named after the FinalBoss. A giant lake of blood, a demon hundreds of feet tall, and a reverse shooting gallery with rows of monsters blasting away at ''you''. |
| 166 | *** In the Master Levels, the level codenamed Teeth.wad ("The Express Elevator of Hell") serves this purpose (and it's also listed last in the map list in the expansion as included within the Unity ports of ''Doom II''). The level is a complex, challenging facility with an elevator that branches into eight paths (one per floor) which are also identified by number; it is filled with powerful enemies, and requires cleverness for a successful navigation due to parts in some paths that can only open from others; it also features a secret exit leading to a BrutalBonusLevel. Its music is "Evil Incarnate", which was originally the theme for the final level of ''[[VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D Spear of Destiny]]''. |
| 167 | ** ''VideoGame/Doom64'': The Absolution is where the Mother Demon awaits, being a large battlefield with three large gates from which hordes of enemies will come to torment Doomguy one last time before their queen arrives. It's possible to shut down the gates if the secret levels' keys were collected prior. |
| 168 | ** ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'': Final Sin. The [[FinalBoss Icon of Sin]] is stomping across a ravaged Earth as Doomguy returns to finish what he started. |
| 169 | * ''VideoGame/JudgeDreddDreddVsDeath'': After Dredd spends most of the game dispensing justice in Mega City One and tracking down the Dark Judges, the final level sends him to Deadworld again, an AlternateDimension ruled by Judge Death where all life is a crime. |
| 170 | * ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'': The Count's Domain. More specifically, [[spoiler:Malachi's Grave Tomb]]. |
| 171 | * ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' has Deathshead's base, a gigantic Nazi fortress and where the MadScientist does his most terrible experiment. It, and Deathshead himself, are considered so vital to the regime's hold over Europe that the Resistance is more than willing to ''nuke it''. |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:Idle Game]] |
| 175 | * ''VideoGame/FE000000'': With a name like Finality, getting the achievement "Nearing the end" after performing it for the first time, reaching the star cap before it, and having golden buttons, you know that you're in the last stretch of the game from this layer onwards. |
| 176 | [[/folder]] |
| 177 | |
| 178 | [[folder:Light Gun Game]] |
| 179 | * The final battle in ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis2'' takes place in a space center, where the BigBad actually wields the WeaponOfMassDestruction against you. Of course, unless you're a real pro at that kind of games, that means you'll have to spend at least four usually expensive continues. |
| 180 | * Goldman's office building in ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead 2'' and ''4''. |
| 181 | [[/folder]] |
| 182 | |
| 183 | [[folder:Mecha Game]] |
| 184 | * ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact'''s final two levels takes in the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Asteroid Colony Axis]] about to [[ColonyDrop drop to the Earth]] because of [[Anime/Daitarn3 Don Zauser and Koros]]. |
| 185 | [[/folder]] |
| 186 | |
| 187 | [[folder:Miscellaneous Games]] |
| 188 | * ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'': |
| 189 | ** The first game doesn't present a "final dungeon" ''per se''... but while you've been rolling around discrete areas and secluded locations in previous levels, the last stage is actually ''the entire world'' (which contains all the previous locations, but by the time you get to them you're likely far too large to recognize them.) |
| 190 | ** And then, ''We Love Katamari'' goes one step further. The final level is essentially rolling every planet and star around to roll up the sun. Keep in mind the planets and stars are made from levels. The final level is rolling everything you ever rolled in the entire game. In both games if you've imported the save data from the first. You actually have to play this final stage early on in the game, long before you're able to finish it successfully. |
| 191 | ** In ''Beautiful Katamari'', you roll up all the stars and planets, asteroids, strata, constellations, nebulae, King of All Cosmos himself, and if you are exceptional at it, you can roll up the Black Hole in Space that the King caused at the very beginning ''of the game itself''. Very Definitely Final indeed. |
| 192 | ** ''Katamari Forever''. You start about 2m high and work your way up to rolling up everything as in ''Beautiful Katamari'', but the four modes for each level mean you roll up every other level up to ''four times''. Then there's sort of an encore level [[TearJerker or two]]. |
| 193 | [[/folder]] |
| 194 | |
| 195 | [[folder:[=MMORPGs=]]] |
| 196 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' gets special mention because of having ''several'' of these dungeons, all serving this role for their storylines. Such examples are the Shadowlord's Castle for the original storyline, [[spoiler:the floating Zilart city of Tu'Lia]] in ''Rise of The Zilart'', and [[spoiler:the Zilart ''Capital'' of Al'Taieu... in ''another dimension'']] in ''Chains of Promathia'', which also has the very last boss fight take place [[spoiler:''above Vana'Diel!'']] Special mention to the final fight in the ''Treasures of Aht Urghan'' expansion where you fight [[spoiler:a newly summoned [[LightIsNotGood Alexander]] inside the giant shell of his previous summon.]] Although you don't have to fight your way there and you could enter the area before that, it is still kind of freaky. |
| 197 | ** The ''Wings of the Goddess'' expansion has the Threshold, a fragmented town suspended in ethereal space, with a massive maw in the "sky" over it. |
| 198 | ** The ''Seekers of Adoulin'' expansion has the ancient ruins of Ra'Kaznar, where Hades lies in its innermost sanctum. |
| 199 | ** The ''Rhapsodies of Vana'diel'' expansion has players go to the bamboo forest of Reisenjima to get to the temple where they fight the Cloud of Darkness. |
| 200 | * In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', each expansion's main storyline has a climactic final dungeon to end on, with the FinalBoss usually being unlocked after the completion of the dungeon itself. |
| 201 | ** In ''A Realm Reborn'' there's the Praetorium, a massive fortress of TheEmpire which houses the [[WeaponOfMassDestruction Ultima Weapon]], which the Eorzean Alliance invade with the help of the Scions and the [[PlayerCharacter Warrior of Light]]. |
| 202 | ** ''Heavensward'' has the Aetherochemical Research Facility, the interior of the massive Allagan complex called Azys Lla, containing the bioweapons of the Allagan, along with the security systems left in place by them. |
| 203 | ** ''Stormblood'' has the Empire-controlled city of Ala Mhigo, invaded by the Alliance to free it from the yoke of the tyrannical [[BloodKnight Prince]] [[BigBad Zenos]]. |
| 204 | ** ''Shadowbringers'' has [[spoiler: a recreation of the Final Days of the city of Amaurot, filled with eldritch monsters created by the fears of the Ancients. The final part of the dungeon even sends the party ''into space'', allowing them to see the planet below being destroyed by falling meteors, all while Emet-Selch narrates the destruction of his people.]] |
| 205 | ** ''Endwalker'': |
| 206 | *** The entire ''final zone'' of the Expansion could be considered one: [[spoiler: Ultima Thule, an [[EldritchLocation eldritch location]] made up of pure Dynamis and located at the edge of the universe, orbiting around a dead sun where the [[DespairEventHorizon Endsinger]] [[BigBad Meteion]] has made her nest. The place is littered with small-scale recreations of dead or dying planets Meteion encountered, alongside the suffering shades of their long-gone alien inhabitants.]] |
| 207 | *** [[spoiler: The proper final dungeon, the Dead Ends, manages to top ''Shadowbringers'' on sheer scale and drama. Essentially Amaurot on a cosmic scale, situated within the dead sun of Ultima Thule, with Meteion guiding you through the final moments of three of the worlds she visited as she narrates what happened like a macabre fairy tale [[BreakThemByTalking in one last attempt to break your spirit]]. First is an aquatic world whose water-dwelling inhabitants conquered the surface. Then [[ExplosiveBreeders overpopulation]] and pollution made the oceans run dry and triggered a [[BodyHorror flesh-warping plague]] that turned the world into a toxic hellscape, leading the dwindling survivors to turn on each other in a futile attempt to halt its spread. Second is a futuristic planet whose tyrannical leaders fought a war against "[[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist freedom fighters]]", their desperation driving them to create an army of machines whose sole directive was to [[ExactWords destroy anything they identified as a threat to peace]]. [[AIIsACrapshoot Which wound up]] [[GoneHorriblyRight including their makers]]. This led one soldier to ''[[NukeEm nuke all three sides]]'' to end the fighting, leaving himself as the SoleSurvivor as the world was engulfed in nuclear flames. And finally, an idyllic WorldTree utopia whose people achieved perfection and immortality by removing all hardship and sorrow from their lives. [[PerfectPacifistPeople No conflict, no illness, no problems at all]]. [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Then they realized their lives had no substance or meaning]] [[AndThenWhat now that they had nothing left to accomplish or strive for]], concluded that there was NothingLeftToDoButDie, and created a being similar to a Primal for the sole purpose of [[ICannotSelfTerminate killing themselves as painlessly as possible]]; it's rather telling that the environment turns dark and lifeless once you defeat said being. Honestly, from seeing just these three worlds, it's no wonder Meteion went insane.]] |
| 208 | * In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'', the bizarre and dark Ruins end incongruously in a flowery field with a pleasant stone monument in the center. Then Dark Falz appears and the ground turns into ''skulls''. Animate, shrieking skulls. |
| 209 | * Although it's not the ''final'' final dungeon, the final dungeon on ''[[Website/GaiaOnline zOMG]]'' Chapter one is suitably epic. Divided into four parts, the final instance [[spoiler:takes place below the Shallow Sea as your fight your way to Labtech X's UnderwaterBase]]. It is by far one of the most challenging areas in the game, so far. |
| 210 | * ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'', set after Humans defeated the evil Fomors in a great war, ends 2 of its 3 mainstream storylines in a [[spoiler:parallel universe in which the Fomors won instead]]. Interestingly, the ending area of Generation 1 is home to [[spoiler:[[http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/index.php?title=Zombie#Zombie Zombies]]]] that are very useful for training the [[http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/index.php?title=Windmill Windmill]] skill to rank 1. And most people who mastered it on a human can attest to how hard that is. |
| 211 | * An MMORPG like ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' doesn't have a true "final" dungeon as content is continually added, but major plot lines still conclude in epic dungeons. |
| 212 | ** While the era before the first expansion did not have an overarching plot, the final raid it added certainly fit the bill. Naxxramas was a vast necropolis that floated ominously above the blighted plaguelands, looming over you whether or not you ever confronted its challenge. Master of Naxxramas was Kel'thuzad, right-hand man to the Lich King (who himself was the main villain left over from his victory in Warcraft III), making it the most significant confrontation to the plot-light game to that point. The raid itself featured never-before-seen monsters and bosses that tested raids like never before. |
| 213 | ** Competing with Naxxramas in the original game was Ahn'Qiraj. While its story was developed for World of Warcraft and was mostly self-contained, it was introduced with a new epic backstory that established its relevance. Ahn'Qiraj is part blasphemous temple, part insect hive, and home to an EldritchAbomination who whispered disturbing messages to the raid group. Sealed up by ancient protectors millennia ago, players have to undergo a massive quest chain that takes them all over the world to re-open it and bring death to the horrors inside. Populated by enough insectoid aberrations to wipe out several armies and reinforced by gargantuan colossi that were made in the image of one of the most terrifying {{Eldritch Abomination}}s in the Warcraft universe, just opening the gates required a quest chain that took you to some of the longest and most challenging raids of the time and resulted in a world event that simulated a several day long war between the entire server and the denizens of the dungeon. The actual area was split into two regions each with about a dozen extremely hard bosses while the final boss of the forty man raid was completely ''unkillable'' until Blizzard scaled down the difficulty from impossible and fixed a few bugs. The actual mechanics of C'thun's fight could scale the damage to points that reached the tens of millions and massacre half a raid in a second. |
| 214 | ** The Black Temple. While it did not conclude the story of ''The Burning Crusade'' expansion as a whole, it ''did'' conclude the launch plot about Illidan teased with the introduction cinematic. A corrupted temple turned into a fortress, the entire zone that it lies in is designed so all the plot elements do nothing but lead you to the gates, and you need to complete a massive questline requiring completion of ''other raids'' just to enter it. A massive siege is occurring outside of the fortress, and the actual raid involves you entering through a hole you blew into the sewers, before you fight your way up and up until the final boss of the expansion waits on the roof. |
| 215 | ** Icecrown Citadel at the end of the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' expansion might be the most straight example. You know from the beginning that it's the lair of the BigBad and thus your ultimate goal, and as you push his forces back the lands get more and more desolate until you reach the barren glacier upon which the citadel was built. The zone is so overrun with undead that the only safe bases of operations are [[CoolAirship floating airships]], and the citadel itself rises high into the sky at the far end of the zone, designed with an extremely sinister architecture and covered in the black blood of an EldritchAbomination. |
| 216 | ** While ''Cataclysm'''s final raid, Dragon Soul, doesn't stay in one place, instead splitting between breaking the siege at Wyrmrest Temple, and then ''taking'' the fight to Deathwing, finally ending in a desperate struggle to finish him off before he does the same to the entire world at the Maelstrom, a massive vortex at the epicenter of both the ancient Sundering that first tore the continents of Azeroth from eachother and the Cataclysm that nearly broke them altogether. |
| 217 | ** ''Mists of Pandaria'' ends with the Siege of Orgrimmar, which serves as WhereItAllBegan for the Horde, but as this for the Alliance. Ever since ''Wrath of the Lich King'', tensions between the Alliance and the Horde have been escalating, culminating in all-out war that's been raging throughout the expansion. The Siege itself takes place in the very capital of the Horde, first pushing through the bloodied streets of the city before plunging into a massive underground fortress built to house all of the terrible weapons he's plundered from Pandaria. |
| 218 | ** The ''Legion'' expansion has a subversion in the Tomb of Sargeras. |
| 219 | *** From the earliest previews, the Tomb of Sargeras was a massive corrupted temple that loomed over the environment and the great fel green beam it shot into the sky sustained the portal that the Burning Legion was using to stage their largest invasion ever. The expansion starts with the heroes besieging the island to reach the Tomb and seal the portal, and when the [[YouCantThwartStageOne initial siege is broken]], the goal of the expansion becomes to return with special artifacts in order to seal the portal for good. Approaching the Tomb before the counterattack was ready would instantly kill you due to the evil magic emanating from it. However, once the Tomb is attacked once more and the portal is sealed, the heroes decide that they can't simply wait for the Burning Legion to regroup and try again, they need to turn the tables and invade the ''demon's world'' to stop them once and for all, making it not the final raid after all (by the time the raid opened, players knew this, but early in the expansion it was often assumed to be the final location). |
| 220 | *** The ''actual'' final raid of the expansion, Antorus, the Burning Throne, manages to one-up the Tomb of Sargeras and secure its place as a straight example. The demon's world, Argus, is an utter hellscape that stretches all the way to a bleak and heavily detailed skybox. Antorus absolutely dwarfs the Tomb of Sargeras and getting even remotely close to it leads to nearly instant death that cannot be shielded against. Built into the core of a shattered planet, Antorus, like the Black Temple, must be entered through a makeshift entrance that leads the players through increasingly massive and ominous halls that include an absolutely colossal factory with lines of [[HumongousMecha fel reavers]] stretching off into the distance. |
| 221 | ** ''Battle for Azeroth'' has [[spoiler:Ny'alotha, the Waking City, a vision that depicts a possible future in which [[EldrichAbomination the Old Gods']] ancient Black Empire has been restored and completely conquered Azeroth, and thus reflects the manifestation of all of the Old God [[BigBad N'Zoth's]] goals and his vision for the future of Azeroth made real]]. |
| 222 | ** ''Shadowlands'' has [[spoiler:the Sepulcher of the First Ones, an ancient place of power in [[EldritchLocation Zereth Mortis]], containing secrets of the eponymous First Ones that [[BigBad The Jailer]] seeks to use to unmake the balence of the cosmos]]. |
| 223 | ** ''Dragonflight'' has [[spoiler:Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope, growing in the Emerald Dream and meant to serve as the Night Elves' new home on the Dragon Isles. Azeroth's champions band together to defend it from [[TheHeavy Fyrakk]] and his molten allies, and keep Fyrakk from devouring it's heart in order to bathe the world in flame.]] |
| 224 | * ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' has had several new ones of these, as several expansions had one to cap off its plotline. |
| 225 | ** ''The Ruins of Kunark'' had Veeshan's Peak, the tallest mountain on the planet, which was an active volcano at the heart of a very tall mountain range, where the council of dragons that had been referenced in passing since the game was released apparently resides, and required a ridiculously long and convoluted route to get the key to access... which had to be done by every person in the raid (this was dropped later). |
| 226 | ** ''Planes of Power'' had The Plane of Time, a ''PlaceBeyondTime'' where you've learned that the entire pantheon of Norrath (including gods that normally won't cooperate for any reason) have worked together to imprison an outcast deity so that he can't share ''TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow'' that he wants to tell everyone. So of COURSE everyone wants to find out. |
| 227 | * While there still is some way to go until the players reach Mordor, which most likely will be the very final dungeon, in ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'', you will notice when you're at the conclusion for the storyline you're currently following. While Angmar itself felt like this from the start, that storyline didn't end until the final chapter, seven updates after the game launched. The Moria/Mirkwood storyline doesn't end until the players get to Dol Guldur, one of Sauron's fortresses. For raiders, the final challenge is climbing the fortress all the way to the highest tower, where they face one of the Nazgûl and its flying steed. Speculation is that the latest storyline will end at Isengard. |
| 228 | ** At the end of one of Isengard's storylines (fighting against Saruman), you fight through the different wings of Orthanc, overcoming bosses, empowered with rings created by Saruman himself. At the end, you fight Saruman at the pinnacle of Orthanc, using his rings to destroy his own master ring. In fact, most of Nan Curunír, especially inside Isengard, feel like this as well. |
| 229 | * ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' tends to have these for each campaign. The first campaign ended on a volcanic island, for example. |
| 230 | [[/folder]] |
| 231 | |
| 232 | [[folder:Platform Game]] |
| 233 | * ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'': |
| 234 | ** ''Klonoa: Door to Phantomile'' has the Moon Kingdom, Cress, [[spoiler: the home of Klonoa's friend Huepow.]] Klonoa and Huepow must navigate the halls of Cress to defeat [[BigBad Ghadius]] and foil his plan to create [[FinalBoss Nahatomb]] to destroy Phatomile. |
| 235 | ** ''Klonoa: Lunatea's Veil'' has the Kingdom of Sorrow, Hyuponia, where Klonoa and his friends must defeat the [[spoiler: [[BigBad King of Sorrow]] to prevent sorrow from consuming the world.]] |
| 236 | * The ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise: |
| 237 | ** The, ahem, architecture, of [[BigBad Dr. Wily's]] fortress makes it obvious in the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series. A skull? Really? |
| 238 | ** ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'' subverts it thoroughly. After completing 4 levels in the North Pole, you see the [[TheDragon X-Hunters']] base utterly destroyed. So where does X teleport into? Bizarrely enough, Magna Centipede's stage, or just the opening half, replacing [[ThatOneBoss the annoying sword]] with [[spoiler:possibly Zero and]] Sigma. In fact, going to Magna Centipede's stage at that point in time (rather than selecting Sigma) will still make it the closing level. |
| 239 | ** ''X4'' has the Final Weapon, a KillSat that X (or Zero) is trying to stop. |
| 240 | ** ''X5'', originally the final chapter of the ''X'' saga, has Area Zero as one of these. Notice how different the area feels from the final dungeons in the other games, including those after X5; the background solely consists of untouchable electric light animation, giving the creepiest and the worst feeling of loneliness out of all the final stages in the ''X'' saga. |
| 241 | ** The very final boss fight of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero3'' takes place [[WhereItAllBegan in an even more ruined version of the same room where Zero was initially found by Ciel]]. |
| 242 | ** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'': The Ragnarok orbital cannon, falling from space and burning its way into the atmosphere, with only two minutes left to defeat the final boss of the entire series. NintendoHard indeed. |
| 243 | ** In ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'', the landscape of the city is clearly dominated by the huge HQ of Slither Inc., a large tower decorated with things that look like a lotus flower. You visit many places inside the city and near the tower as the game's dungeons, it's possible to see the HQ in the background of some of them, and you can even walk by the front doors past the highway stage. Take a guess what the Final Dungeon is. |
| 244 | ** ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'': The final battle takes place on the {{Ouroboros}}, the ultimate Biometal and fusion of countless [[ArtifactOfDoom Model Ws]], the center of the {{Big Bad}}'s plan to RestartTheWorld, the goal of the enemy Mega Men throughout the series, [[spoiler:and ''heavily'' [[WhereItAllBegan resembling the Ragnarok orbital cannon from which the Model Ws were originally spawned from]].]] |
| 245 | * From the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series: |
| 246 | ** After collecting all four masks in ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'', Rayman must confront the Robo-Pirates in their base of operations and the penultimate level of the game, The Prison Ship, in which Rayman enters the vessel titled The Buccaneer and frees all the slaves the Robo-Pirates have imprisoned. After doing so, Rayman then confronts Admiral Razorbeard in the final level, The Crow's Nest, which takes place at the tipity-top of the prison ship... in the first phase of the battle. The second phase takes place in a lava-filled room in the ship's bottom. |
| 247 | ** ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc'' has The Tower of Leptys, where the BigBad and TheDragon have gone to absorb power from the god Leptys. It's filled with all of the game's toughest enemies in large swarms, the most difficult platforming sections in the game, driving sections, and turret sections all leading to the FinalBoss at the top. |
| 248 | ** ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' has two. The first is Moody Clouds, a steampunk city in the sky. The second one, [[PlanetHeck The Land of the Livid Dead]], is your typical BrutalBonusLevel. |
| 249 | ** The final non-Bonus world in ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' is called Olympus Maximus, inspired by UsefulNotes/AncientGreece. While the first level takes place on Mount Olympus, most others take place in the Greek Underworld, including tidied, trap-filled mazes maintained by Minotaurs, and fiery, lava-filled caverns housed by swarms of dark creatures. The final boss, the Hades' Hand, starts in the fiery depths of Hades, and slowly ascends to the heavenly skies above Mount Olympus. |
| 250 | * ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank'': |
| 251 | ** Veldin in the [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 first game]], which is also WhereItAllBegan, as it was also tutorial level, except now it's set during twilight instead of day, is much longer, and instead of local anklebiters you'll be fighting Drek's [[EliteMook Elite Mooks]], dropships and tanks (though anklebiters are still there). |
| 252 | ** Megacorp HQ in the [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando second game]], with dark atmosphere, two distinct segments which even have different music and loads of enemies going after you as you inflitrate the facility. |
| 253 | ** Mylon in the [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal third game]]. |
| 254 | * The ''[[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]]'' series has various examples over time, including: |
| 255 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'''s Scrap Brain (and, in the [=GameGear=] version, the Sky Base) Zones, both of which being the base of operations in which Eggman's machinations are born. |
| 256 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' and ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'''s Death Egg, a moon-sized space station made in the likeness of Dr. Eggman. |
| 257 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' has Metallic Madness Zone, the factory in which Eggman slowly mechanizes Little Planet. In the past, it is still under construction. In the present, it is simply an ordinary factory. In the BadFuture, it is a horrific wasteland devoid of plants and life slowly crumbling and perpetually malfunctioning, with the entirety of Little Planet implied to be in the same state. In the Good Future, it is a SolarPunk utopia where Eggman's machinations have all but been eradicated and plants and animals grow freely assisted by the same machines that once subjugated them, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick with only a few lingering deathtraps here and there.]] |
| 258 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'' has the Death Egg Mk.II, a recreated Death Egg built around ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'''s Little Planet. |
| 259 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters''' Death Egg ''II'', a new Death Egg where Metal Sonic and Eggman wait to challenge you. |
| 260 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicDrift 2'' has the Death Egg serving as the final track of the Blue Grand Prix. |
| 261 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'''s Final Egg, Eggman's final stronghold after the destruction of the Egg Carrier...at least for Sonic. Inverted for Gamma, for whom Final Egg is the ''first'' action stage. |
| 262 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'''s Space Colony ARK, a derelict space station made by Gerald Robotnik, the posthumous BigBad, in the midst of preparing a laser to be fired directly at Earth, causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. |
| 263 | ** The Cosmic Angel, Egg Utopia and Chaos Angel from the ''VideoGame/SonicAdvance'' series, a pair of space stations and the slowly collapsing, space-distorted remnants of Angel Island, respectively. |
| 264 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'''s Final Fortress, the mothership of an entire fleet of Eggman airships set in the middle of a thunderstorm. |
| 265 | ** ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'''s Black Comet, named in the Very Definitely Final PATH as The Last Way, the biological home base of the Black Arms where the invasion begins in earnest. |
| 266 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'''s "End of the World," the remnants of Sonic's world slowly falling apart and distorting after Solaris's rebirth. |
| 267 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'''s Eggmanland, a hellish carnival city situated on a floating continent hovering over the Earth's Core. |
| 268 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicColors'''s Terminal Velocity, the space elevator connecting Earth to Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park, the latter of which is being consumed by a black hole. |
| 269 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' scales things back by taking place in a simple burning volcano, albeit with the added stipulation of Sonic's world slowly dying thanks to the Deadly Six. |
| 270 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' has the Titanic Monarch Zone, a HumongousMecha the size of the Death Egg at LEAST situated atop Little Planet once more, and a distorted dimension in THERE caused by a malfunctioning [[ArtifactOfDoom Phantom Ruby.]] The ''Mania Plus'' update drives this home by including a new stage transition from Metallic Madness that accentuates that "this is the endgame". Check it out [[https://youtu.be/2CrMnl9pkTY?t=1h45m49s here]]. |
| 271 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' has the Eggman Empire Fortress, a titanic stronghold in the middle of a desolate and dead area of the world, standing as a symbol of Eggman's conquest of the whole world. |
| 272 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'': |
| 273 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroANewBeginning'': You fight Cynder in a world between worlds -- a creepy place filled with unbelievably huge planets, weird floating objects that look like ribbons and whisper Spyro's name, and glowing jellyfish. The battle takes place next to a purple, sucking wormhole that functions as a portal to and from hell. |
| 274 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'': You fight Gaul in the Well of Souls, a looming MonsterShapedMountain with green sludge flowing everywhere and a skylight through which the corrupting lights of the moons' eclipses can shine on you. |
| 275 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': You start out fighting in a fiery void above the destroyed Dragon Temple, then end up falling down an erupting volcano, and end the fight in the ''center of the planet'' as it breaks apart. Damn. |
| 276 | * ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia'': |
| 277 | ** ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones'': The final battle occurs at the top of the Tower of Babel, which provides a panoramic view of ancient Babylon on your way up. Additionally, the battle is followed by an epilogue of sorts where you chase the game's ''other'' BigBad through a weird landscape of swirling mists, neon platforms, strange perspective tricks, and an occasional flash of a scene from the previous Prince of Persia games. Finally, you confront him in a room where the decor is dominated by... [[TitleDrop a pair of elegant thrones.]] |
| 278 | ** ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' has the Tower of Dawn, full of [[EliteMook sword-wielding sand monsters]] and requiring precise jumps to be climbed up, ''without any sand powers''. The BigBad is battled a couple of cutscenes later. |
| 279 | * ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': |
| 280 | ** ''VideoGame/Metroid1'' has Tourian, home of the Mother Brain and the only place you'll find the titular Metroids. ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' also has a Tourian with the same defining traits, with the added bonus of also being the place you finally see the Metroid infant. |
| 281 | ** ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission'' has Chozodia, which happens to contain the Space Pirate Mothership, but considering it more or less just becomes another area later on and [[AntiClimaxBoss the entire anti-climaxiness of the end boss]], it's pretty borderline. |
| 282 | ** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'': |
| 283 | *** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'': The final boss fight(s) take place inside the Impact Crater, the source of the [[GreenRocks space-borne mutagen]] infecting Tallon IV, which you have to collect a bunch of Artifacts (twelve in total) and defeat [[TheDragon Meta Ridley]] to get into. |
| 284 | *** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'' has Oubliette, a surreal... place that Gorea was banished to. It can only be unlocked by gathering all Octoliths across the Alimbic system and placing them in a special chamber in Alinos. |
| 285 | *** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'': To access the Sky Temple in Dark Aether, you have to [[BagOfSpilling get back all of the weapons and abilities you lost]], steal the planetary energy from the rest of Dark Aether, obtain the Annihilator Beam, and [[{{Backtracking}} collect the nine Sky Temple Keys]]. It doesn't hurt that you're told ahead of time that the lord of all [[TheVirus Ing]] is in there, either. [[spoiler:He's not the final boss, but shortly after its defeat you fight Dark Samus, who is. But given that the Emperor Ing makes up one-half of the BigBadDuumvirate and you fight Dark Samus (the other half) in the temple entrance, it still counts.]] |
| 286 | *** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' brings you to the planet Phaaze, the source of all suffering and evil ''from the last two games''. To access it, you have to take control of a Leviathan Seed that is within the domain of the Space Pirates, for which you must have destroyed the injected Seeds from all affected planets (including that from the Pirates' own planet), and input a Pirate Code that is only available in a wrecked vessel whose state requires a new set of Energy Cells (up to nine, if you want to collect all items and get the GoldenEnding) scattered across the galaxy. |
| 287 | ** ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' and by extension ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' have the final nesting ground that holds the source of all suffering and evil from ''the entire series''. It's unlocked after all previous areas are devoid of Metroids, and thus only one such creature remains (though the final area itself has a few more hatch before Samus arrives to the Queen's room, so those have to be slain as well). The remake does hold an additional surprise after the final area's completion, however. |
| 288 | ** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' has two final dungeons, actually. The first one is the secret part of the space station, where the Metroids are being bred. AFTER that, you head to SR-X's secret underground labs, which resemble Tourian. Both this and the final bosses represent the trope WhereItAllBegan. |
| 289 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': At first, only some games marked their respective final levels as ''truly'' being the last (for example, there is no indication that World 8 in the original game is the last, or that the seemingly-normal aerial shmup level in the last level of World 4 in the first ''Land'' houses both its regular boss ''and'' Tatanga), but over time it has become a tradition in the series: |
| 290 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'': World 7-2 starts with the drawbridge to Wart's castle completely open. Though this means World 7 only has two levels instead of three, this one more than makes up for it by being packed by enemies and hazards (including [[BossBonanza up to four boss fights]], and the series' first appearance of conveyor belts), plus being ''very'' huge (almost twice as large as a standard level in this game and the majority of games in the series). |
| 291 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'': Bowser's Castle is reached at the end of an eerily desolate straight path in the final section of World 8's map (the only other level present there is the last RemilitarizedZone level). The level itself also has a unique castle design (plus a new hazard in the form of laser-shooting statues) not seen anywhere else in the game. |
| 292 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' has Bowser's Castle making it clear it's the final destination by displaying the fifty-foot neon letters on the front saying 'BOWSER'; it also brings back several features from previous castles and fortresses, while also adding some new ones. Amusingly enough, the castle has both a front door that can be reached [[SequenceBreaking absurdly fast]] and a back door that leads directly to the room before the boss. |
| 293 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'' has Wario's Castle, tantalizingly located at the center of Mario Land, and only accessible after Mario gathers the eponymous 6 Golden Coins that open the castle's entrance gate. |
| 294 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' has Bowser in the Sky, complete with a NegativeSpaceWedgie if you don't have at least 70 stars. It is located in the highest floor of Peach's Castle, in the same room housing the last bonus level and the last two regular levels. |
| 295 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' has Corona Mountain, a volcanic location whose entrance opens when Shadow Mario is defeated in all regular worlds and Delfino Plaza is flooded. It's a perilous path to the summit, where Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Princess Peach are. |
| 296 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'': The Galaxy Reactor is the center of the universe with multiple planets, and it's there where Mario faces Bowser for the last time in the game. It can be accessed when five Grand Stars are retrieved and a minimum total of 60 stars overall are collected. |
| 297 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' has Bowser's Galaxy Generator, represented in the final world's map with the largest galaxy icon/diorama in the game ''and'' the duology (with the shape of Bowser's head). |
| 298 | ** ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'': In all games, Bowser's Castle is hidden off the edge of the world map, when you get to it, the map extends to reveal a castle that fills the entire screen. ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'' changes it up; the final dungeon is Peach's Castle this time, but you can't see what it has become until you enter World 8. [[spoiler:And it's two stages long]]. |
| 299 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'': The game appears to end in the World 8 Castle following up 8-5. However, when Mario defeats Bowser and approaches Peach, [[spoiler:he notices that this "Peach" is a cardboard modeled after her, and Mario was fooled by it due to DepthPerplexion]]. Then one more level (8-6) is unlocked, and completing it leads to the real last Castle (where the real Peach is held captive as well), represented by a ''gigantic'' castle diorama at the very end of the world's path. |
| 300 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'': The world containing Bowser's Castle, World Castle, is actually the ''[[DiscOneFinalDungeon seventh]]'' world. World Bowser (a.k.a. World 8) is a neon amusement park Bowser creates using the sprixies, complete with a tower [[EvilTowerOfOminousness stretching into the sky]] that serves as the real final level. |
| 301 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' has the Moon Kingdom, where Bowser is planning to have his wedding with Peach. The game introduces it by, instead of playing any music or fanfare, simply showing the sound of the wedding church's bells, audible in the whole place. |
| 302 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'': Castle Bowser, while being technically part of Petal Isles (the game's HubLevel, and at the center of which the castle is located), serves the role of the setting for the game's GrandFinale once Mario and his friends help Prince Florian gather all Royal Seeds from the main numbered worlds and dispel the hovering Piranha Plants that guard the castle's entrance. Once inside, the characters have to climb their way to Bowser's whereabouts by conquering dangerous levels where warlike and electrical hazards await; it all culminates in a climactic final stage where Bowser triggers the Wonder Effect to the fullest extent, which the character will have to endure until they finally meet their enemy. |
| 303 | ** ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' has King Bowser's Castle, always located in the last world (which in turn is signaled as the last for taking place in a shadowy and/or volcanic wasteland). |
| 304 | ** ''VideoGame/WarioLand'': |
| 305 | *** The aptly-named "Really Final Chapter" in ''II''. Wario has to beat all the other endings to fill out a map that contains the location of the Black Sugar Pirates' secret hideout. Additionally, this level is the only one in the game with a Time Attack. |
| 306 | *** The Golden Pyramid in ''Wario Land 4''. |
| 307 | *** ''VideoGame/WarioMasterOfDisguise'' has the deceptively serene Allergia Gardens, played in Chapter 10. It is here where the last fragment of the Wishstone is found and, once Wario finds it and the treasured relic is assembled, [[spoiler:Tiaramisu reveals her evil side and serves as the FinalBoss]]. |
| 308 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach'' has Bowser's Villa, the eighth and final world of the game. A big storming castle on top of Vibe Island. The game stops pulling its punches and starts throwing a variety of challenges and enemies at you, on top of having the most difficult boss of the game, Bowser himself. |
| 309 | * ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' has a Very Definitely Final ''Rooftop'', complete with an apocalyptic musical score, an enemy the size of a building himself, a skyline that is literally on fire from planet-destroying orbital bombardment, and the fact that if you win the fight you've put down almost everyone in the game who the writer gave names to. |
| 310 | * ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'': |
| 311 | ** Krakarov Volcano in ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'', a sinister volcano containing Clockwerk's base. |
| 312 | ** Arpeggio's Blimp in ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'' is a massive flying fortress and the final part of the Klaww Gang's operations. |
| 313 | ** The final level of ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' is the Cooper family vault, where not only are you going through the entire history of the Cooper family, but you're also having to use all your moves to get through it. |
| 314 | ** The final level of ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'' is Le Paradox's airship, which requires the use of all of the Cooper ancestors to navigate so the gang can advance through the airship. The final battle takes place [[spoiler:inside a time vortex and on top of the airship.]] |
| 315 | * ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': Subverted with the windmill. It's visible right in the middle of Windy for the entire game, but teasingly, there's no way inside. [[spoiler:Then, after the War chapter, it gets destroyed by accident when Rodent is bounced away from the then-exploding Tediz island (he survives thanks to his armor). Conker says: "Oh no! Where did the windmill go? I was sure that was the final level!" Instead, the '''actual''' final level is the Feral Reserve Bank [sic] (which is part of the [[BigBad Panther King's]] castle), which has been just out of reach for the entire game until the very end, similarly teasing the player.]] |
| 316 | * ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' The final level is Very Definitely Final not only in appearance, but also in its theme. Visually, it's a CircusOfFear made entirely out of [[LevelAte raw, bloody meat]]--quite possibly the creepiest thing in the game thus far. Thematically, it's inside the head of the BigBad himself, and, due to AppliedPhlebotinum, the ''hero's'' head as well. In the previous level, you've fought the {{Freudian Excuse}}s of assorted people; now you're fighting your ''own'' demons, and those that made the BigBad who he is. |
| 317 | %%* Nightmare Land in ''VideoGame/LittleNemoTheDreamMaster''. |
| 318 | %%* Telos (Greek for "end") in ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfRadGravity''. |
| 319 | * ''VideoGame/{{Vexx}}'' teases the player with this. There's a giant, ominous floating tower visible in the sky from every stage (except for the ones taking place indoors.) You'd ''think'' that it might be the final stage, but ultimately it never comes to play, and instead the FinalBoss is fought in his home dimension, which still is dark and ominous enough to fit this trope. |
| 320 | * The first ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' game ends with [[spoiler:a fight atop a mighty citadel tower]] and the second [[spoiler:in an ominous lair.]] The second last level of the third game takes place [[spoiler:on board an enormous spacecraft, however the final boss fight merely occurs in the wasteland outside Spargus.]] |
| 321 | * ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' has the Tower of Fate, an ominous structure that can be seen looming in the background throughout most of the game. It is the home of the vile Enchantress whose forces have invaded the land, as well as the setting of the final three stages. |
| 322 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Shinobi}} III: The Ninja Master'', Round 7 is titled "The Final Confrontation," and it begins with Joe Musashi clinging to the underside of an airship. |
| 323 | * ''VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall'' has many of them. |
| 324 | ** The first game has a stormy palace at the end of the expert levels, but should you make it to the master stages, you reach [[spoiler: Banana Sanctuary, a temple filled with all the bananas you can eat, should you make it past its trials.]] |
| 325 | ** The second game has Dr. Bad-Boon's space base, where you stop the mad doctor from firing a laser that makes all bananas on the earth taste like curry. |
| 326 | ** You face the final boss of ''Banana Blitz'' in the obligatory SpaceZone, but the secret final world takes place in the sky. |
| 327 | ** ''Step and Roll'' has Siliconia, a futuristic city, which shows up after beating the other 6 worlds. Also the preceding world, [[LethalLavaLand Magma Valley]], also counts. |
| 328 | ** ''Banana Splitz'' has [[spoiler: a time paradox]] make up the final world. |
| 329 | * The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series has its share of Final Dungeons: |
| 330 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'': [[BigFancyCastle Mt. Dedede]], a stage consisting of four sections of every stage and a BossRush. |
| 331 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'': [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Rainbow Resort]], an icy region that is home to the Fountain of Dreams. [[spoiler:You actually fight the main villain Nightmare using the fountain's [[EleventhHourSuperpower Star Rod]].]] |
| 332 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'': [[OminousFloatingCastle Dark Castle]], a bleak fortress from which Dark Matter corrupts Dream Land. |
| 333 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'': [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Iceberg]], a snow-filled trek ending at scaling Castle Dedede once again. The unlockable Hyper Zone is more of a PostFinalLevel. |
| 334 | ** ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'': Ripple Star, the once-peaceful and cutesy home planet of [[FairyCompanion Ribbon]], now corrupted by Dark Matter. Dark Star, similarly to Hyper Zone, is a PostFinalLevel. |
| 335 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'': The Dimension Mirror, a mysterious reflection in the Mirror World where you face off against [[spoiler:Dark Meta Knight and his master Dark Mind]]. |
| 336 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'': The World of Drawcia is a disturbing realm with paint splattered all over and creepy picture frames that attack Kirby, who he must avoid on his way to fight the titular WickedWitch. |
| 337 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'': [[AstralFinale Gamble Galaxy]], a level up in the stars where Kirby fights one last battle against Daroach [[spoiler:and Dark Nebula]]. |
| 338 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'': [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs Dream Land itself]] has been transformed into yarn by Yin-Yarn, so Kirby must venture through several stages and fight the usual bosses to reach and beat the sorcerer. More specifically, [[BigFancyCastle Castle Dedede]] is the last stage before the BossOnlyLevel where Yin-Yarn lies. |
| 339 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'': [[LethalLavaLand Volcano Valley]] is the fourth of the Popopo Islands and the last normal level where Kirby must fight Skullord. [[AstralFinale Necro Nebula]] is a PostFinalLevel with only a BossRush and Necrodeus. |
| 340 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'': [[spoiler:Another Dimension, an interdimensional space through which Kirby and his friends chase after Magolor.]] |
| 341 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'': [[OminousFloatingCastle Royal Road]], an elegant castle which is home to the Sectras and the destination of King Dedede's kidnapper. |
| 342 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheRainbowCurse'': [[OminousFloatingCastle Purple Fortress]] is the final level of Seventopia where Claycia lies at the top awaiting Kirby. |
| 343 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'': [[SpaceBase The Access Ark]], a massive spherical craft which is the main base of operations of the invading Haltmann Works Company. |
| 344 | ** ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe'': The aptly named Decisive Battlefield, which seemingly throws all sorts of badass background elements (fire, ruins, asteroids, at least two different planets and a colorful vortex) into one single stage. The battlefield as depicted on the Quest Board currently provides the page image. |
| 345 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysBlowoutBlast'': [[spoiler:The Secret Path is the final stronghold of King Dedede and a long multi-part level with a BossRush.]] |
| 346 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'': Jambandra Base, a fortress in the far reaches of outer space that is home to the mysterious cult collecting Jamba Hearts. Specifically, the Divine Terminus, the last stage of Far-Flung Starlight Heroes, is where the cult is performing its ceremony to revive Void Termina. |
| 347 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'': The game not only brings back the Decisive Battlefield as a DiscOneFinalDungeon, but also has [[spoiler: the Dreamscape, a stage somehow even more surreal and eye-catching than the Decisive Battlefield, and also where that game's final bosses are all fought]]. |
| 348 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'': The [[{{Mordor}} Redgar Forbidden Lands]], a volcanic wasteland where the Beast Pack have made their base. [[spoiler: Specifically [[PostFinalLevel Lab Discovera]] at the bottom, an abandoned labratory where [[TheHeavy Leongar]] and [[BigBad Fecto Forgo]] reside.]] |
| 349 | * ''VideoGame/FrontMissionGunHazard'' scores a double; first defeating The Society by crashing the ''[[AirborneAircraftCarrier The Sentinel]]'', then it's time to head up the ATLAS SpaceElevator which [[ChekhovsGun has been on the map since the beginning of the game but serves seemingly no purpose]]. |
| 350 | * ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'': |
| 351 | ** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong94'': The Tower. In the earlier worlds, every fourth stage is a BossOnlyLevel. In the Tower, ''every'' level is a BossOnlyLevel, and the stage music during the latter half of the world turns extremely serious, emphasizing that this is really the end of the game and you've finally cornered Donkey Kong. |
| 352 | ** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'': The trope is subverted, as DK and Diddy climb to the top of DK Island for [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Gorilla Glacier]], climb slightly down from the top to reach [[EternalEngine Kremrock Industries Inc.]], an area ''named'' after the main villains of the game... and then just keep going further down the mountain to Chimp Caverns, a generic cavernous area (when there already ''was'' a cavernous area earlier in the game) that looks more like a mid-game stage (it even has a PaletteSwap of the first boss as the area boss) but is the ''actual'' final stage of the game before boarding K. Rool's ship for the FinalBoss fight. |
| 353 | ** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'': K. Rool's Keep is posed to be the climactic finale of the game, not counting the bonus Lost World. It's located at the top of Crocodile Isle, and is where Donkey Kong is held captive. Diddy and Dixie traverse dangerous castle areas as they climb up to their destination. When they finally reach the final area (which is even called Stronghold Showdown), they see DK forcefully tied with a rope and approach him to free him... and then he's pulled upward to be taken outside, and the level ends. The two rescuers then venture into the ''true'' final area (The Flying Krock), which consists of a race level against Screech and then finally the battle against K. Rool. In the GBA version of the game, Stronghold Showdown does have a boss on its own: Kerozene. |
| 354 | ** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'': Unlike its two predecessors, which toyed with the trope in different ways, this game plays it straight with KAOS Kore, a large Bavarian-inspired castle located in a deep jungle at the north of Northern Kremisphere (this once again doesn't count the secret Krematoa, which serves as this game's Lost World). Once Dixie and Kiddy arrive to the jungle, they can see the castle from afar and something... ''sinister'' happening withing, judging from the purple light leaking from the topmost window. |
| 355 | ** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'': Hideout Helm is the last major world, and is accessed by entering the mouth of K. Rool's Island (which only opens when almost all Boss Keys are used in K. Lumsy's jail[[note]]The only Key that isn't required is that from Frantic Factory, but you'll need that one eventually to fully open the jail anyway[[/note]]). It consists of disabling the large energy machine to prevent K. Rool from destroying DK Isles, but there's a time limit whose duration will depend on how many blueprints you retrieved. Interestingly, even after you succeed in your mission, K. Rool isn't fought here because he plans to escape before he's found; you even manage to grab the last Boss Key (provided that you have the required items) without any boss fight. K. Rool is only fought after you free K. Lumsy, in DK Isles. |
| 356 | ** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'': The Volcano area of Donkey Kong's Island houses the lair of Tiki Tong, the leader of all the Tikis that have stolen all the bananas and hypnotized all animals except the Kongs and three of the Animal Buddies (Squawks, Rambi and Professor Chops). The levels within the Volcano are very challenging, and the one housing Tiki Tong himself averts the BossOnlyLevel trait shared by ''all'' other boss levels in the game ''and'' the other 2D games in the series: Before meeting the BigBad, Donkey and Diddy have to reach it by traveling upward through a perilous vertical section with a rocket barrel. |
| 357 | ** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'': The game makes use of DK Island as a whole for this purpose, since the Kongs' objective beforehand was to return to it after being exiled into other islands. The homeland they grew in is now a frigid tundra where all familiar locations from the game's predecessor are now shrouded in snow and ice. |
| 358 | * Played literally in ''VideoGame/MasterOfDarkness''; Round 5 starts you off in the dungeon of Dracula's castle before navigating a maze that leads you to Dracula himself. |
| 359 | * The final location to restore in ''[[VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest Ori and the Blind Forest]]'' is the inside of imposing [[LethalLavaLand Mount Horu]] on the verge of its eruption. The approach up to it is filled with strong enemies and lethal lava flows, the interior is full of dangerously hot surfaces and tricky platforming that requires you to jump off ''enemies'', and your progress through the dungeon is interspersed with cutscenes of what is happening outside. |
| 360 | * In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', the endgame sees you bringing [[spoiler:Seir, the soul of the Spirit Willow]] to [[spoiler:[[WorldTree Willow’s]] [[EldritchLocation End]], the hollow corpse of the Spirit Willow filled to the brim with glowing purple [[TheCorruption Decay]]]] that instakills Ori on contact. You also obtain the single most powerful movement ability in the game in the area leading up to this one—[[spoiler:[[EleventhHourSuperpower Launch.]]]] You will need it, both to navigate the area’s Mount Horu-esque platforming and to beat the final boss. |
| 361 | * ''VideoGame/BlasterMasterZero'' takes place in an abandoned underground human habitat, so most of the areas you traverse through are mostly what you expect. The last area, Area 8, where the [[TheCorruption Mutant corruption]] is heaviest, is a WombLevel. However, the ''real'' final area, Area 9, is a straight-up EldritchLocation with logic-defying environment. |
| 362 | * ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures'': |
| 363 | ** The first game has [[spoiler:Laughin' Jokin' Numbnuts]], the final level of Game Land unlocked after beating all the others. It is a rainbow-themed area that consists of every obstacle and enemy type in the game, all put together to create a tense finale. |
| 364 | ** ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdIIAssimilation'': |
| 365 | *** The main game has the [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Final Tower]], the last world of the game. It consists of only two levels; Virtual Insanity, which is similar to the final level from the first game in that it contains every obstacle and enemy type, but goes upwards instead of right, ending with a final fight against TheRival; and the final boss fight at the top. |
| 366 | *** The ''Tower of Torment'' expansion's only world, Crappy Castle, essentially serves as the true final world, a four-level trek through the titular tower. |
| 367 | * ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom'': The Chum Bucket Lab, the origin of all the robots that have been harassing Bikini Bottom throughout the game. It is a massive arena where the FinalBoss is fought, [[spoiler:with the latter part of it devoted to platforming inside the boss after it grows gigantic.]] |
| 368 | * ''VideoGame/TinyToonAdventures'': Montana Max's Mansion, which serves as the sixth and final world in the game. It features guards that run onto the player's character, butlers who periodically turn the lights off and make everything harder to see, spiky corridors, cannons that shoot money bags, muscular enemies that run very fast, and moving metallic platforms. It all culminates with the FinalBoss battle against Max. |
| 369 | [[/folder]] |
| 370 | |
| 371 | [[folder:Puzzle Games]] |
| 372 | * ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'' has the Cathedral at the top of the seemingly endless tower; from the beginning of the nightmares everyone's major goal is to reach the Cathedral and obtain "true freedom." [[spoiler:Subverted; everyone, including the villains, thought Vincent's journey would end once he reached the Cathedral, but the game actually ends in the Empireo, the heavenly realm above the tower where the gods Dumuzid and Astaroth can be challenged.]] |
| 373 | * ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'': Behind some red bars at the beginning of the game, once you've acquired the Red gun, you can find the exit you've seen for a while behind the wall of glass - and this time, you can actually cross it. Behind it, you'll find a long series of corridors where you'll chase the black block you've seen for the whole game. |
| 374 | * ''[[VideoGame/BugsBunnyAndTazTimeBusters Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters]]'' has one per every era, a level ruled by the local villain. The best and most traditional example of this trope is the [[BigBoosHaunt Transylvanian Era]], a dark and creepy locale ruled by the ravenous vampire Count Bloodcount. And then you get to his quiet, scary castle... |
| 375 | * ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'': |
| 376 | ** In the main game, there's the Tower. That's five floors with puzzles requiring all the mechanics you've used during the game, then some timed puzzles on top of the tower, with two robots (one helping you, one hindering you). After that, you finally get the best ending. |
| 377 | ** In the ''Road to Gehenna'' DLC, there's the Secret World where the gray sigils are located. Only accessible after you've acquired at least 10 stars, it requires to do a series of jumps across several fans over the void, just to reach the entrance. Once there, you'll find a collection of the seven hardest puzzles in the game (both the DLC and the main campaign), which provide you with the sigils required to free Admin, leader of the robots you've been freeing during the DLC. Just to reinforce it, the song played there isn't the usual music which plays in forest exteriors like that place, but instead the song that plays outside of the tower in the main campaign. |
| 378 | * The [[SeasonFinale final districts]] in each season of ''VideoGame/CriminalCase'' are always expected to have much higher stakes and [[WhamEpisode whammy moments]] in its plot. It also helps that the previous districts always have some form of [[TheReveal reveal]] that serve to hype what's coming in the last stretch of the game. |
| 379 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseGrimsborough'' has the Airport district, where you arrive in the wake of [[spoiler:[[DaChief Chief King's]] suicide]] in order to uncover his motivations behind it, only to slowly learn about an AncientConspiracy that is responsible for everything wrong across the city and the season, including the aforementioned [[spoiler:suicide]]. |
| 380 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCasePacificBay'' has The Wastes, a radioactive wasteland at the edge of the city where the masterminds of the previous district (one of which includes [[spoiler:[[TheMole a former member of your team]]]]) have fled to escape justice, and it doesn't take long before an [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt end of the world scenario]] is thrown at you by the now-revealed BigBad. |
| 381 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseWorldEdition'' has North America, where SOMBRA, the NebulousCriminalConspiracy you've been dealing with for the entire season, is planning their final move to plunge the world into chaos by kickstarting WorldWarIII. |
| 382 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseMysteriesOfThePast'' has Capitol Peak, which deals with the player and their team trying to bring down [[spoiler:[[FinalBoss Mayor Lawson's]]]] tyrannical regime as part of LaResistance before he gets all of them executed. |
| 383 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseTheConspiracy'' has Newmark, a futuristic district where the [[spoiler:now-fugitive members of [[CovertGroup Ad Astra]]]] have escaped right after revealing the existence of TheManBehindTheMan, who is responsible TheConspiracy you've been trying to bring down during the entire season. |
| 384 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseTravelInTime'' has the appropriately named [[spoiler:The End]], where the last hope of fixing the BadFuture lies before it's too late. |
| 385 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseSupernaturalInvestigations'' has the South, which is unlocked right after [[spoiler:[[BigBad The Demon Queen]] is freed from her prison]] and has the player trying to stop her before she can complete her EvilPlan and destroy the world. |
| 386 | [[/folder]] |
| 387 | |
| 388 | [[folder:Real Time Strategy]] |
| 389 | * ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' concludes its epic-scale campaign "Fall of the Trident" with Arkantos and his companions successfully sealing the "last" gate to Tartarus, in the Norse lands, and bringing back the head of Gargarensis to Arkantos' homeland of Atlantis in the penultimate level. Just before they arrive, though, they find out that they've been tricked and Gargarensis is still alive and currently leading an invasion of Atlantis, WhereItAllBegan as Arkantos originally left Atlantis to try and stop sea monster attacks against it. In the very last level, the effort to stop Gargarensis from opening the ''real'' last remaining gate into the Underworld results in Atlantis sinking. |
| 390 | * ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'': |
| 391 | ** The original game featured GDI forces assaulting the Temple of Nod, an evil looking building with tall spires that glows red. The temple serves as the main Nod headquarters and has its own built-in nuclear missile silo. Curiously, the final mission briefing implies that GDI had difficulty in locating Kane's headquarters, even though a temple with tall spires and red glow should have been quite distinguishable on satellite surveillance or aerial reconnaissance. |
| 392 | ** The final missions of Tiberium Wars certainly feels like a final dungeon. You start off the campaign in the Blue zones either containing Nod insurgents or causing havoc as Nod, where the tiberium levels are low and contained. Then the action moves into the yellow zones as the fight is taken to Nod's front door, where tiberium proliferates and structures are all dilapidated. The final levels take place deep in red zones, where tiberium contamination is so high there are whole glaciers of the stuff and the blasted landscape looks more alien than anything, and that's besides the gigantic, glowing towers. |
| 393 | ** Kane's Wrath features one where the OhCrap meter boinks the roof. The enemy will spare no expense towards your destruction and you are awarded by Kane all three Nod Factions for use in the mission, allowing you to build three super weapons (normally restricted to one) and all of their units. There's also a count down timer to doom hanging over your head, with the Tacitus going ever more critical the longer you drag your feet. |
| 394 | * ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': |
| 395 | ** ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'' has the Final Trial, a short puzzle course that requires the abilities of all three Pikmin types leading up to the FinalBoss, the biggest creature in the game. |
| 396 | ** ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'' has the Dream Den. The Hocotate Ship will warn that it's exceptionally dangerous, and it's right. The cave has fourteen sublevels with only one rest area and several difficult enemies combined on single floors. [[WhereItAllBegan It is also found in an area modelled off of the first location of the first game.]] |
| 397 | ** ''VideoGame/Pikmin3'': The final area is the Formidable Oak. The entire stage is an ominous, towering termite mound in the middle of a desert. |
| 398 | ** ''VideoGame/Pikmin4'' continues the trend with the Cavern for a King. This cave has a total of ''twenty'' sublevels, of which only three are rest areas. The other seventeen are populated by a wide assortment of enemies and bosses. |
| 399 | * ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'' has [[GrandFinale Modern Day]]. Features include the [[WhereItAllBegan setting of the tutorial and the first game's first map]], [[AllTheWorldsAreaStage gimmicks, zombies and music from all the past worlds]], having the first game's credits theme, Zombies on Your Lawn, as the final wave tone, and being longer than the past worlds and having a boss rush at the last levels. |
| 400 | * In ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'', when you go to [[spoiler:Char]], you ''cannot'' go back. The battles get a lot fiercer, at least in lore terms. |
| 401 | * In ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'', when you invaded [[spoiler:Korhal]], you again cannot go back. This feature is actually used for each set of missions. |
| 402 | * ''VideoGame/StarCraftIILegacyOfTheVoid'' has [[spoiler: the Void]], Amon's home realm, a realm of shadow and darkness with floating desolate rocks. Fittingly, Word of God confirmed that this is the final level of the original storyline that started back in the first game. |
| 403 | * The final mission of either (main series) ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' game takes place in orbit around the eponymous Homeworld: Hiigara. SceneryPorn even despite the original's (relatively) limited graphics. [[spoiler:It also happens to turn into SceneryGorn in Homeworld 2.]] |
| 404 | [[/folder]] |
| 405 | |
| 406 | [[folder:Roguelike]] |
| 407 | * In all of the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' games, the final dungeons involve some sort of [[ItsAllUpstairsFromHere floating structure]]. In order, they are: |
| 408 | ** In the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonRescueTeam'' games, the final dungeon is Sky Tower--an enormous palace made of clouds that floats in the sky and serves as the home of [[PhysicalGod the legendary dragon, Rayquaza.]] |
| 409 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'', the final dungeon (before the postgame, at least) is Temporal Tower: a floating, mystic structure which is the embodiment of time and in the middle of collapsing. However, the postgame continues the storyline, and storyline wise it's a DiscOneFinalDungeon; the ''real'' final dungeon of the storyline is Dark Crater, an active volcano shrouded in dark power which serves as the secret home of the true BigBad, Darkrai. |
| 410 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity'' you have the Glacier Palace: a massive citadel made of ice, the top of which is increasingly warped into an EldritchLocation due to the presence of the local EldritchAbomination. |
| 411 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'' has the Tree of Life, a mountain-sized tree which is the source of all life on the planet. Currently being lifted from the surface of the earth, the top branches reach into outer space. |
| 412 | * The final level of ''VideoGame/NetHack'' is the Astral Plane (AKA Heaven) where you battle swarms of hostile angels and the [[spoiler:other three]] HorsemenOfTheApocalypse. |
| 413 | * Similarly, ADOM has the final battle ([[spoiler:with an [[EldritchAbomination Elder God]] no less]]) take place in the realm of primal Chaos. |
| 414 | * Exaggerated in ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' thanks to years and years of new content. |
| 415 | ** The first such dungeon was [[WombLevel The Womb]], until the Halloween update. After that came Sheol, [[spoiler:where you fight Satan]]. |
| 416 | ** With the ''Wrath of the Lamb'' expansion pack, Sheol is sometimes replaced with The Cathedral, whose final boss is [[spoiler:Isaac himself]]. If you manage to get through all that and have a certain trinket with you, you have one more place left... [[spoiler:The Chest, whose final boss is ???/Blue Baby]]. |
| 417 | ** In ''Rebirth'', you can choose between Sheol and the Cathedral, and while [[spoiler:The Chest]] remains, Sheol has its own equivalent: [[spoiler:The Dark Room, where you fight The Lamb]]. Both of those areas also house the Golden Door, which leads to the real TrueFinalBoss (until ''Afterbirth+'' that is...) |
| 418 | ** ''Afterbirth+'' added yet ''another'', the final dungeon to end all final dungeons, in [[spoiler:The Void: An EldritchLocation where every room's decor is taken from a different chapter in the game, creating an incoherent, delirious mish-mash of locations]]. This one features the game's true ending, wrapping up a lot of speculation and marking it as the real final dungeon. |
| 419 | ** ''Repentance'' adds not one, but ''two'' final dungeons. The first is a fake out, the Corpse, the final dungeon from the ''Antibirth'' GameMod that this DLC canonized. After beating that, you unlock the real final dungeon: [[spoiler:Home.]] The path to this area is a backwards trek through every floor, containing extremely powerful EliteMook variants of various enemies. Once you make your way back through the Basement, [[spoiler:you end up in Isaac's house. His ''actual'' house,]] with no enemies... at least until you come across the actually-seriously-we-damn-mean-it-this-time final boss''es'' - a sequential rush where you have to take on [[spoiler:Dogma, the four Ultra Horsemen, and The Beast]] all in a row. |
| 420 | * ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' has the titular Darkest Dungeon, specifically its deepest floor, past ancient ruins covered in increasingly huge and increasingly disgusting amounts of MeatMoss, you find yourself [[spoiler:walking in what seems like a background of stars, with no torch able to pierce the darkness. Once the real final battle begins, however, you find yourself in the literal belly of the beast, with the background being the internal flesh of some indecipherable abomination while you fight its imitation of your ancestor, and finally its heart]]. |
| 421 | * ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeonII'': The Mountain; it's ominous enough from a distance, but when you're on its slopes, it loses all pretense of being a normal Earthly place, as a lightning storm starts over it and the ground becomes awash in shadowy mist as you approach the cult Ziggurat at its center, where the chapter boss awaits. |
| 422 | * ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'': the final sector strongly implies this even in its name: "Last Stand". Instead of fleeing through space from the ever-encroaching Rebel fleet's advance, the entire sector is occupied right from the start, and the soundtrack eschews the standard VariableMix and leaves you with always-on tense combat music. [[spoiler:The Rebel Flagship is also Very Definitely The FinalBoss - it's easily twice the size and has thrice the armament of any ship you have thus far faced.]] |
| 423 | * ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' has the Temple Of Styx, the area closest to the Gates of the Underworld, and aside from the FinalBoss it's the final challenge the player has to do before ending a run. |
| 424 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfHorror'' has the lighthouse, where the [[EldritchAbomination Old God]]'s summoning ritual is being conducted. It can only be accessed by solving all of the mysteries in a given playthrough, and is a gauntlet of traps, hazards, and a FinalBoss who will try to accelerate the summoning. |
| 425 | * ''VideoGame/{{Returnal}}'': after a [[DiscOneFinalDungeon fakeout end dungeon]] in the Derelict Citadel, the game truly ends in the Abyssal Scar, a deep-sea chasm in planet Atropos. The area is murky and oppressive, with only the bioluminescence of hostile creatures to light the way, and the CosmicHorrorStory vibes of the narrative are ramping to high gear, giving the entire area a dreamlike sense of nightmare logic. No mater which way you go, the branching paths always lead ''deeper,'' forcing Selene to descend downward and downward, a deliberate echo of the descent to the underworld in tales of Myth/ClassicalMythology. |
| 426 | [[/folder]] |
| 427 | |
| 428 | [[folder:Role Playing Game]] |
| 429 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' had an ominous abandoned temple of Bhaal in an underground city, but ''Baldur's Gate 2'' ramped it up to Hell itself, and the ''Throne of Bhaal'' expansion had the final fight at, you guessed it, the Throne of Bhaal (which looked rather futuristic, for the home plane of a god in a fantasy setting). |
| 430 | * ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'': |
| 431 | ** ''[[VideoGame/BatenKaitosEternalWingsAndTheLostOcean Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean]]'': Cor Hydrae, the ancient castle of Malpercio currently floating in the middle of a dimensional rift. |
| 432 | ** ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosOrigins'': Tarazed, a colossal machina construct powered by [[spoiler:captured afterlings]] and serving as both the new capital of TheEmpire and said empire's continent-shattering superweapon. |
| 433 | * ''VideoGame/BloodBorne'' |
| 434 | ** The base game has the Nightmare of Mensis, a DreamLand only available to enter after the blood moon rises. Essentially, it's a large castle-laboratory filled with nightmarish creatures, madmen cultists, and ''three'' [[EldritchAbomination Great Ones]], one of them an infant that powers the entire dream dimension. [[spoiler:However, it's only the final ''area'' that is explored, the actual end of the game and true final boss is in the Hunter's Dream, the hub zone.]] |
| 435 | ** ''The Old Hunters'' DLC has the Fishing Hamlet - the place the Healing Church and the Byrgenwerth institute desperately attempted to keep secret, recreated within the Hunter's Nightmare and the center of the dreadful curse casted upon all Hunters and their descendants for the unforgivable sin they committed there: [[spoiler: slaughtering the Kos-worshipping villagers, and then murdering Mother Kos herself]]. It's as dreadful and moist as a village filled with half-human half-fish hybrids can be, and at the very depths lays the FinalBoss of the DLC: [[spoiler:The Orphan of Kos, a HumanoidAbomination stillborn child birthed from Kos's beached corpse, understandably VERY angry and lashing out at anything that approaches it like a wild and scared animal - killing it and putting its soul to rest is the only way to break the curse of the Old Hunters.]] |
| 436 | * ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'' |
| 437 | ** The first game has Primitive Cube, a huge lava-filled... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cube]], floating [[spoiler: in the void between the two halves of the planet, revealed after Nene saws the world in half]]. |
| 438 | ** The Abyss serves as one for ''Blue Dragon Plus'' and is the deepest part of the Atomic Cube where the party descends in order to finish off Balaur once and for all. |
| 439 | ** ''Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow'' has the Dimension Sanctuary which has two guardians Ghost Demon Malboro and Devil Cupid who need to be taken down to access the final area. The player and their party travel there in order to [[spoiler:stop the Egg of Light from devouring their planet.]] |
| 440 | * ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'': The normal path ends with “Her World,” Arianna’s twisted tech domain beyond the Firewall, where she’s been assembling her “perfect” new reality. If you’re on track for the [[GoldenEnding True Ending]], then the ''real'' last dungeon is the Sky Abyss, a harrowing climb through five strata of Bubbly Clouds guarded by some of the toughest enemies and bosses in the game. |
| 441 | * ''VideoGame/BugFables'': [[spoiler:The Giant's Lair, an abandoned human house that borders Bugaria on the east. Because it is a "Dead Land," bizarre powerful monsters unlike anything else in the game roam here, and the whole place has an oppressive and dark atmosphere.]] |
| 442 | * ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'''s final dungeon is the Palace of the Sun [[UnderTheSea beneath the Cynbel Sea]], where the last of the {{Plot Coupon}}s, the Sun of Lemuria, is held by Nox. Immediately following her BossBattle is Aurora's [[BackFromTheDead death and resurrection]] {{cutscene}}, then the FinalBoss battle with Queen Umbra. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Umbra's castle was planned to be the Very Definitely Final Dungeon]], [[ScrewedByTheNetwork but the developers ran out of time to program it.]] |
| 443 | * The Black Omen in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. An ominous evil edifice constructed by pure evil out of the remains of the Ocean Palace that floats above the earth for eternity, and it's black and covered with spikes, domes, and weird eyes. The first half of the final battle takes place inside Lavos's shell; the second half, meanwhile, is fought at a point where all time converges, shifting from one place in history to the next. |
| 444 | * Terra Tower in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. Another floating edifice, constructed by the now extinct Dragonians, risen by the power of the Dragon God, and inhabited by the embodiment of the forces of nature as well of the already mentioned Dragon God. The final battle, meanwhile, goes down at the junction of all possible dimensions. Both of these are really an aversion, since you don't need to go to a dungeon to get to the final boss, and in fact, the MultipleEndings require you to fight the final boss at arbitrary points in the middle of the game. |
| 445 | * Most of the settings in ''VideoGame/{{Contact}}'' are lush, peaceful islands with the occasional high-tech military base or [[FantasyCounterpartCulture island version of Akihabara]] in between, but the game makes no bones about it when the last island has a great big sinister castle. |
| 446 | * In ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'' it's, surprise surprise, [[spoiler:R'lyeh]]. In the ''Cthulhu's Angels'' bonus campaign, the final dungeon is instead [[spoiler:the Grand Library, where the [[AmazonBrigade all-female team of heroes]] face off against the game's narrator]]. |
| 447 | * ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' boasts a good example of this. The final confrontation takes place inside [[spoiler:the Kiln of the First Flame]], what is essentially a giant fire pit filled with ash, twisted metal, and Black Knights, and the place where [[spoiler:Gwyn burned himself alive to link the fires and ultimately caused the curse of the undead]]. Oh, and the door granting you access to this area requires the ''souls of your enemies'' to open. |
| 448 | ** The ''Artorias of the Abyss'' DLC has the Chasm of the Abyss, a dark rocky cavern situated deep underneath the Township of Oolacile in which [[BigBad Manus, Father of the Abyss]] resides. |
| 449 | ** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' has Drangleic Castle, the former seat of power of King Vendrick and Queen Nashandra covered in constant rain. Interestingly, you get access it right after you get the 4 Great Souls, and it's fully explorable, however the door to the final boss won't open until you go ''beyond'' Drangleic Castle. However since you do return to it to finish your run, and it's the place where the final boss resides, it still counts as the final dungeon. |
| 450 | ** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' sets its final level inside [[spoiler:Lothric Castle]], with gauntlets of extremely tough enemies and apocalyptic scenery. Another contender would be the Ringed City from the eponymous DLC, which technically serves as the final level of the entire series. There are loads of traps, enemies, and brutal boss fights. |
| 451 | * The final battle with the title archdemon of the original ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' takes place on the lowest level of Tristram Cathedral, which thanks to Diablo's fell influence has turned into a scene out of Hell itself! |
| 452 | ** ''VideoGame/DiabloII'''s final showdown takes place in the Chaos Sanctuary, a gigantic hellish pentangle in an infernal cathedral at the end of a river of lava. The expansion, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, ends in the Worldstone Chamber, in the deepest level of a holy cavern, at the top of a very tall mountain. |
| 453 | ** The final battle with Diablo in ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' takes place [[spoiler:atop the Crystal Arch, the very heart of Heaven itself]]. The final battle against [[spoiler:Malthael]] from the expansion, ''Reaper of Souls'', takes place [[spoiler:in the very heart of the Pandemonium Fortress]]. |
| 454 | * ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' ends with you going to [[spoiler: a ruined Sea Fortress off the coast of Revachol to confront [[FinalBoss The Deserter]] and learn the truth about the case.]] |
| 455 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}'' series has several: |
| 456 | ** ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' has HellInvadesHeaven. Enough said. |
| 457 | ** ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'' has you inside [[spoiler:Zenon's castle,]] which is the lair of the main villain that has been present the entire game. It looks awesome in itself. |
| 458 | ** ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'' pulls a WhereItAllBegan for this one. [[spoiler: It's the Overlord's Castle, albeit immensely cleaned up. Originally, everything was black-colored, and now it's a stark white. Quite the contrast, which is noted by the cast.]] |
| 459 | ** ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'', which has you [[spoiler: inside a planet-destroying weapon known as Fear the Great, controlled by God himself and fueled by pure malice.]] The place is bleak, mostly black, grey, and white, and has a bunch of beings of [[spoiler: pure malice]] running around, converging towards the center. The [[spoiler:malice creatures]] were all [[spoiler:made by one guy's malice,]] by the way. |
| 460 | ** ''VideoGame/DisgaeaD2ABrighterDarkness''[[note]]The sequel to Hour of Darkness above[[/note]] has deepest innermost part of the Netherworld, where the game's BigBad is keeping the kidnapped angels of Celestia. |
| 461 | ** ''VideoGame/Disgaea5AllianceOfVengeance'' brings us a two-parter. [[spoiler: The Netherworld Dark Demise is the home base for Void Dark's machinations. You land at the outer areas and have to fight your way in.]] |
| 462 | * ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' doesn't get more final than the assault on Darkspawn-occupied Denerim, which is a PointOfNoReturn, marked by the fact it gives you an entire sequence in which you speak to ''each member of your party'', whether reassurances, final farewells or {{Badass Boast}}ing. As a sort of final-dungeon-within-the-final-dungeon, at the far end of Denerim is [[{{Pun}} Fort Drakon]]. The Archdemon's at the very top--and it's rude to keep him waiting. |
| 463 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'' features Drake's Fall, a [[VestigialEmpire Tevinter]] ruin designed to channel power from bones of the dead dragons outside. Also gives you a nice perspective of how far you've come when you [[CurbstompBattle essentially curbstomp]] a [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere High Dragon from nowhere]]. |
| 464 | * ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'' has [[spoiler:The Everfall]], which only appears after [[spoiler:you kill the Dragon]] and has 12 levels full of stronger versions of earlier enemies. Notable because [[spoiler:you're introduced and even go into it fairly early into the game.]] |
| 465 | * ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' |
| 466 | ** [[VideoGame/DragonQuestI The first game]] sets your final battle in Charlock, the home of the Dragonlord. |
| 467 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestII'' has its final battle in Hargon's Castle, which has you facing off against Hargon and Malroth. |
| 468 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'', after beating the DiscOneFinalBoss, Baramos, has you journeying to the Dark World (actually the world of the original game) and has you returning to Charlock for the showdown against Zoma. |
| 469 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' sends you to what is essentially Hell and has you battling demon lords before storming the palace of Psaro the Manslayer and then climbing his mountain to do battle with him. |
| 470 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' returns to the Demon World and eventually has you climbing another mountain to face Grandmaster Nimzo. |
| 471 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' has you facing Mortamor in his castle in the Dread Realm. |
| 472 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' has you battling Orgodemir in what was once the Cathedral of Light. |
| 473 | ** Subverted in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', in which the very definitely final dungeon ''becomes'' the final boss. Since the DiscOneFinalBoss's dungeon had done such a good job of imitating a Very Definitely Final Dungeon, the real deal had to be something outside the box to top it. |
| 474 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' has [[FluffyCloudHeaven the Realm of the Almighty,]] twisted into a hellish place by [[BigBad Corvus]]. |
| 475 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX'' has a whopping total of 6 final dungeons throughout the game's history. |
| 476 | *** The first Version has the Heart of Hell, a gloomy version of the Reidametes Temple where the Hero can finally fight the Netherlord Nelgel. |
| 477 | *** Version 2 has the Abyss Gate, where Maldragora and Toma are after the Spiritual Core of Creation needed for the former to enact his plan of replacing Rendacia with his Rendacia. |
| 478 | *** Version 3 has Nadolagram Temple, where [[SinisterMinister Patriarch]] [[EvilAllAlong Orstov]] is offering Estelle as a sacrifice to revive Nadraga. |
| 479 | *** Version 4 has the players going back deep into the Kingdom of Tenton's Alchemy lab to fight Kyronos. |
| 480 | *** Version 5 has Doomsday's Garden, Jagonuba's base of operations located at the very bottom of the Netherworld. |
| 481 | *** Version 6 has players finally infiltrate the Evil Eye Moon to put a stop the Jia Kut Clan, a group of crystal alien invaders that Jagonuba, or as he was once known, Jia Gonuba, was once part of. |
| 482 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'': The Fortress of Fear, where the Lord of Shadow awaits, is the final dungeon of Act 2. Act 3 (or the postgame, as it's sometimes called) has the Dark Star, which houses the TrueFinalBoss, though it's less of a dungeon and more of an arena since the battle starts as soon as you enter it. |
| 483 | ** Most of the dungeons in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonstersJoker'' take place in your typical temple locations. However, the final dungeon, in order to stand out, takes this trope way over the top. Basically, [[spoiler:Infern Isle, which was once merely desolate, has been transformed into a barren hellscape covered in dark purple clouds, soaring demonic monkeys, and a couple lava flows here and there. Then you get to the top of the island, enter a creepy-ass stone face, and end up in Tartarus, which is somewhat of a mix between a WombLevel and Hell; all the scenery is purplish, veiny, and occasionally even ''pulsating'', the enemies are all some manner of undead, one room features a sea of ghastly purple faces, and another features a pair of giant pulsating organic tubes that continuously spit out and swallow what appear to be ''enormous balls of tormented human souls''.]] |
| 484 | * The final dungeon in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' is [[spoiler:the skies above Tokyo]]. |
| 485 | * ''VideoGame/DungeonSiege'' (the game, not the terrible movie) concludes with a final fight against the [[BigBad resurrected master]] of [[TheLegionsOfHell a long dead evil race]], in a cavern below a castle, with walls made of human faces and screams echoing in the air. |
| 486 | * ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' has Crumbling Farum Azula, a gigantic, floating mausoleum in the sky, surrounded by tornadoes and whose skybox has dozens upon dozens of flying ancient dragons, said to be a place placed out of time itself. You get hints at its existance ever since the first area of the game, get to briefly visit it in an optional zone in Liurnia, and is the place where [[spoiler: the Rune of Death is sealed, which the Tarnished needs to complete their quest]]. However, [[spoiler: While technically Farum Azula is the last proper dungeon in the game, the actual final area is Leyndell Capital of Ash, which is more of a sequence of bosses up to the final boss.]] |
| 487 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': |
| 488 | ** The series in general ''loves'' housing the main quest {{Big Bad}}s (and some expansion villains) in such dungeons. |
| 489 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'' - Has you battle BigBad EvilSorcerer Jagar Tharn in the Imperial Palace itself. |
| 490 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' - A number of islands and structures ''floating'' just outside of reality. |
| 491 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'': |
| 492 | *** The main game's main quest has [[BigBad Dagoth Ur's]] [[{{Mordor}} Red Mountain]] citadel, an ancient [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] ruin inside an active volcano surrounded by a constant Blight storm. |
| 493 | *** The ''Tribunal'' expansion has [[spoiler: Sotha Sil's]] [[SteamPunk Clockwork City]], full of strong [[OrganicTechnology fabricants]] and numerous death traps. |
| 494 | *** The ''Bloodmoon'' expansion has the inside of the Mortrag Glacier, a giant ice maze full of werewolves and your very dangerous fellow competitors [[spoiler: in Hircine's "hunt"]]. |
| 495 | ** The [[PathOfInspiration Mythic Dawn's]] Paradise from ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' is [[spoiler:ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, an [[{{Arcadia}} idyllic paradise inhabited by the souls of those slain in the service of the Mythic Dawn]]. Oh, except for [[CrapsaccharineWorld bloodthirsty daedra who assault and torture the land's inhabitants]]... and that's only the fate of the loyal servants of Dagon. Those who question him receive a worse, and more [[FireAndBrimstoneHell traditional treatment]].]] Not to mention [[spoiler:the Imperial City afterwards when Mehrune's Dagon launches a full scale assault on the city.]] |
| 496 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'': |
| 497 | *** The base game has [[spoiler:the Nordic afterlife of [[WarriorHeaven Sovngarde]], where the Dragonborn confronts BigBad Alduin for one last time, and can only be reached from the distant temple of Skulldafn. The background music actually chants [[TheChosenOne your title.]]]] |
| 498 | *** The ''Dawnguard'' expansion has the chapel at Castle Volkihar. It also has a DiscOneFinalDungeon location at the top of the Chantry of Auri-El, featuring a balcony overlooking the entire Forgotten Vale. |
| 499 | *** The ''Dragonborn'' expansion has the top of a tower in Apocrypha (the realm of the Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora), which you can only reach by commanding a dragon to fly you there. Appropriately enough, the title of the final quest is "At the Summit of Apocrypha". |
| 500 | * ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'' series: |
| 501 | ** The Rift in ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy3'', an outer space-like PocketDimension with a straight path leading up to Akron at a black hole. |
| 502 | ** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy4'' has the Temple of Godcat, a giant set of ruins that extends to the sky. The final stretch of the game is on a bridge through the clouds, leading to a shrine where the final boss is fought. |
| 503 | ** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'' has the Rapture, the area where the massive meteor landed. It's a huge black wasteland with a lake of lava and a mechanical zone with toxic water. At the center is a portal to the Beyond, a smaller sub-area in space that houses the final boss. |
| 504 | * In ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'', the Final Dungeon is just some tower out in the desert. [[spoiler:However, that desert is located on the Moon, which acts as the dreamworld's Purgatory. The final battlefield (accessed by a portal at the top of the tower) is implied by Website/ThatOtherWiki to be the core of the dream, but by others to be the ruins of the [[WhereItAllBegan Tenuto flowerfield.]]]] |
| 505 | * The fifth stratum in every ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' game is where the story ends (there's a sixth stratum, but it's a BonusDungeon). |
| 506 | ** [[VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyI The original game]] has [[spoiler:Lost Shinjuku, whose existence provides the horrifying reveal that the characters are living in a post-apocalyptic world]]. ''[[VideoGameRemake The Millenium Girl]]'' has Claret Hollows. A stratum with suspiciously organic features located within the deepest insides of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, even below the ruins of [[spoiler:Lost Shinjuku]]. [[spoiler:The corruped core of Yggdrasil awaits at the center, serving as the FinalBoss.]] |
| 507 | ** ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIIHeroesOfLagaard'' has the Heavenly Keep, a regal castle located at the top of the Yggdrasil, and inhabited by the Overlord. ''[[VideoGameRemake The Fafnir Knight]]'' has Ginnungagap, an ancient temple located within a ravine of stone and where [[spoiler:the core of High Lagaard's Yggdrasil Labyrinth is sealed.]] |
| 508 | ** ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIIITheDrownedCity'' has the Porcelain Forest, a disorienting maze that serves as the grounds for the final outcome of the conflict between the Deep City and Armoroad. |
| 509 | ** ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIVLegendsOfTheTitan'' has the [[spoiler:Forgotten Capital, revealed once the Yggdrasil Tree withers and dies]]. It can only be properly explored after opening the Kings' Gate, for which the player's party has to look for the credentials of the Four Kings while venturing into the secret parts of the previous main dungeons. |
| 510 | ** ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyVBeyondTheMyth'' has the Untamed Garden, which is [[spoiler:a half-natural, half-artificial forest located well beyond the planet's atmosphere. It is the homeland of the Eternal Tyrant, the most powerful monster in Yggdrasil and the world.]] |
| 511 | ** ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyNexus'' has the Yggdrasil Labyrinth itself as this, being the ''13th'' dungeon. It serves as the prison for [[spoiler:Jormungandr, falsely believed to be the source of unlimited treasure when it's actually an apocalyptic monster that is sealed by the four Shrines built across the corners of Lemuria]]. |
| 512 | * ''VideoGame/EVOSearchForEden'' has Africa after clearing the Final Ocean in the final era as the climax of the game. After fighting revived bosses, a giant caveman, and mutated dinosaurs, you face off with the only other creature trying to enter Eden: Bolbox, a mutated algae cell who can summon strong creatures from all of history. |
| 513 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': |
| 514 | ** ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' had either the subtle cult's main base: a cathedral built over a Vault infected by its resident, the Master OR a former military base in the Sierras filled with Super Mutants and [[AppliedPhlebotinum vats of the F.E.V.]] Both were pretty ultimate and like everything else in the game, you got to choose! |
| 515 | ** ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' had the Enclave oil rig. After juryrigging a (extremely large) supertanker to sail out to it, you're treated to an FMV of the city-ship being dwarfed by a ''figurehead'' on the side of the base. As a bonus, the Enclave are so well equipped, they even have a spare [[PlotCoupon G.E.C.K.]] sitting in a storeroom closet, after you've scoured the wasteland for one the entire game. After everything you'd done to get there, the FMV of the ship leaving the harbor felt like a happy ending all its own. Quite a grandiose example of enforcing the Chosen One's will on the post-war world. |
| 516 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout Tactics|BrotherhoodOfSteel}}'', set in the Midwest, takes it to a bit of an extreme. Pretty much everything from your first run-in with Super Mutants is basically leading up to the end of the game, which sends you further west than you've ever been, up into the mountains, where you do battle at the entrance of freaking ''Cheyenne Mountain''. Just getting into the vault beyond involves ''carting a nuclear warhead up to the door then setting it off''. And once you're inside? All bets are off. Once you leave for Cheyenne Mountain, you can't go back to your home base. And you're surrounded by angry robots who want to murder you, and once you've blown the door off the whole place is a radioactive hellhole. |
| 517 | ** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has this inside the game's MacGuffinLocation, Hoover Dam. The game asks you if want to commit to this final quest before you start, and automatically creates a savegame either way (not an autosave, an actual permanent save) so that you can go back and explore more of the Vegas sandbox if you so choose. The end result will be a fight with either [[MadeOfIron Legate Lanius]] or [[FlunkyBoss General Oliver]], depending on who you sided with (though only [[VillainProtagonist Caesar's Legion sympathizers]] will fight Oliver). |
| 518 | * ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' |
| 519 | ** ''Observer on Timeless Temple'': The [[spoiler:[[EldritchLocation Solomon Singularity]], The fusion between [[TheArchmage Solomon]]'s Temple, Ars Paulina, and the [[EldritchAbomination 72 Demon God Pillars]]]], Where Chaldea goes to prevent [[spoiler:[[ArcVillain Solomon]]/[[BigBad Goetia]]]]'s Incineration of Humanity. |
| 520 | ** ''Epic of Remnant'': The town of Salem, [[spoiler:Which Raum has trapped in a time loop in order to summon Sut-Typhon/[[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Yog-Sothoth]] in order to create a HellOnEarth.]] The FinalBattle of the arc against [[spoiler:Sut-Typhon in Abigail Willaims' body]] takes place within [[spoiler:a courtroom twisted into an EldritchLocation filled with keyholes.]] |
| 521 | * The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series is big into this. In order: |
| 522 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy|I}}'': The [[NoobCave Chaos Shrine]], only this time [[WhereItAllBegan it's 2000 years in the past!]] |
| 523 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'': Pandaemonium, the capital of hell which [[BigBad The Emperor]] emerges in Palamecia after his death. The ''Soul of Rebirth'' questline has Arubboth, the castle of heaven, [[spoiler:which the Emperor's [[LightIsNotGood light half]] has taken over.]] |
| 524 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'': The World of Darkness, where the Cloud of Darkness resides. |
| 525 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': The Lunar Subterrane, a pathway leading down to the crystalline core of the moon. |
| 526 | *** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'': The core of the True Moon, a massive spacecraft used by the [[BigBad Creator]]. |
| 527 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'': The Interdimensional Rift, composed of the pieces of the world destroyed by the Void. |
| 528 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': Kefka's Tower, a monument to death and destruction formed from rubble collected from around the destroyed world. |
| 529 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': The Northern Cave, a complex cave system leading to TheLifestream. |
| 530 | *** ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'': Banora Underground, a dungeon hidden beneath the namesake town, where Genesis awaits Zack for their final showdown. |
| 531 | *** ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'': The insides of Omega, the planet's last resort when all life on it is threatened. |
| 532 | *** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'': Singularity, a portal guarded by the Whispers of Fate and an incarnation of Sephiroth. |
| 533 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': Ultimecia Castle, a giant floating fortress in compressed time. |
| 534 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Memoria, a land comprised of Gaia's memories that the heroes chase Kuja through into the Crystal World, where the Crystal resides. |
| 535 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': [[spoiler:The Insides of Sin, with the final battle taking place within a recreation of Zanarkand.]] |
| 536 | *** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'': [[spoiler:The Farplane, where Yuna, Rikku and Paine go to stop [[BigBad Shuyin]] from using [[MechanicalAbomination Vegnagun]] to destroy Spira.]] |
| 537 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': The Sky Fortress Bahamut, a flying fortress designed by Doctor Cid to be Archadia's ultimate airship. |
| 538 | *** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIIRevenantWings'': A floating temple called the Womb of Feolthanos in outer space with a nice view to the planet below. |
| 539 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Orphan's Cradle, a strange, shifting, "digitized" dimension that is the "cradle" for Cocoon's power source. |
| 540 | *** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'': Academia in the year 500 AF, totally deserted and in the midst of being torn apart by chaotic energies. Might not be the most impressive, but certainly the most unnerving. |
| 541 | *** ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'': Luxerion Cathedral, the seat of power for the [[KnightTemplar order of Salvation]] surrounded by chaos as the world gets destroyed. [[spoiler:After that, the FinalBoss battle takes place in Cosmogenesis, the seat of the God of Light who watches over the creation of the new world.]] |
| 542 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': The ruins of [[spoiler: Insomnia, where mutated humans and literal hellspawn freely roam the streets after the world fell to darkness.]] |
| 543 | %%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'': Drake's Spine, with Origin, the home of [[BigBad Ultima]], serving as the PostFinalLevel. |
| 544 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'': [[spoiler:Doom Castle, the [[BigBad Dark King]]'s lair situated at the top of Focus Tower]]. |
| 545 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': A dead city called the Necrohol of Mullonde, where Saint Ajora was burned and where Ultima can be resurrected. |
| 546 | *** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'': Ambervale, a royal palace in the throes of excessive reality warping. |
| 547 | *** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'': Zellea, the Forbidden Land being torn apart by an interdimensional rift. |
| 548 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'': Mount Vellenge, isolated far away from known civilization and right at the edge of the visible world, bearing the meteor which first brought miasma to the world. Then right when you are about to destroy the [[spoiler:Meteor Parasite]], [[spoiler:Raem]] intervenes and teleports you to an AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield called the [[spoiler:Nest of Memories]]. Interestingly, after [[spoiler:Raem]]'s defeat, you are returned to right where you left off -- dealing the finishing blow to [[spoiler:the Parasite.]] |
| 549 | ** ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' has the Edge of Madness, the throne of the god of destruction and disorder. Interestingly, the representative stages for each game are the final dungeons listed above, with the exception of ''I'' (the present day, wrecked shrine) and ''IV'' (the moon's ''surface''). Same goes with ''Duodecim'', but is named the Edge of Discord instead. |
| 550 | *** ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015 Dissidia Final Fantasy NT]]'', in a unique case, reuses the Interdimensional Rift from ''V'', simply named here the Dimensional Rift. It's where Shinryu, the ancient dragon that is the cause of the cycles of war, resides. |
| 551 | ** ''VideoGame/WorldOfFinalFantasy'' has Exnine Castle, where the three Heralds, Brandelis, Segwarides and Pellinore, await. |
| 552 | * ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' |
| 553 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'' has Dolhr Keep in the depths of Dolhr. |
| 554 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'': Duma's Tower, located at the northernmost extreme of Rigel. It is tackled in two parts: [[spoiler:the main part of the building is initially tackled by Celica with the intention of confronting [[SinisterMinister Jedah]], but she and her party are captured and trapped in its basement. The second half of the tower is its sprawling, cavernous, [[ZombieApocalypse Terror-ridden]] basement, which Alm and his party have to traverse in order to obtain the Valentian Falchion and rescue Celica's party.]] Duma is situated in the deepest cavern below. |
| 555 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'' has the Dragon's Table, a plateau on the border between Dolhr and Macedon, and the massive altar attached to it. |
| 556 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' averts this, as the final map is like all the other map in the game, which are much larger in scale then in any other game, spanning large regions with many different locations in them. The last boss fight takes place OUTSIDE Belhalla Castle (which is a location visited previously in the game). |
| 557 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'' has the Altar of Loptous, a castle under the Loptous Cult's control that stands near Munster. |
| 558 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' has the Dragon Temple. |
| 559 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' at first uses the Dread Isle as the DiscOneFinalDungeon, but eventually you return there as the Dragon's Gate, which is located on there, is the real Very Definitely Final Dungeon. |
| 560 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' has the shrine in the Darkling Woods. |
| 561 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' averts this with the final battle once again taking place outside the "final dungeon", in this case the Crimean Royal Palace. |
| 562 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' has the Tower of Guidance, a sacred tower dedicated to the Goddess Ashera [[spoiler:who is said to sleep there for 1000 years - only she wakes up prematurely thanks to war. She will be your final opponent, though not before you finally get to take out every other villain you've wanted to throttle, plus a couple of [[TheReveal unexpected]] foes.]] And the ''tower itself'' [[PowerGlows is glowing]] like a beam of light. As a bonus, the dimensions are distorted inside, though you only get to find out when it is already firmly established as The Very Definitely Final Dungeon. It's also the only place in the entire game where simply standing on a tile can boost one's magic power or defense. Before then, only mundane terrain like bushes could help with defense. |
| 563 | ** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' ups the ante: [[spoiler:the evil dragon Grima, whose revival you've been fighting to prevent for the whole game, has been brought back to life. The last stage takes place ''[[ColossusClimb on his back]]'' as you fight to [[MultipleEndings either]] put him back down for another thousand years or so, or kill him outright.]] |
| 564 | ** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' has one for each of the three routes, with the final battle being in the throne room of the castle of a different faction depending on which one you picked: |
| 565 | *** ''Birthright'' has Castle Krakenburg of Nohr, where the Avatar faces King Garon. |
| 566 | *** ''Conquest'' has Castle Shisaragi of Hoshido, where the Avatar faces both the monstrous Garon and a [[spoiler:possessed Takumi]]. |
| 567 | *** ''Revelation'' has Castle Gyges of the Kingdom of Valla, where the Avatar and the united royal families of Hoshido and Nohr face the true BigBad, [[spoiler: Anankos]]. |
| 568 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' plays with this depending on which route you pick: |
| 569 | *** The Azure Moon route appears to have a straight example with the Imperial Palace in the Adrestian Empire's capital city of Enbarr. However, the exact same map is used in the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes as the DiscOneFinalDungeon. |
| 570 | *** The Crimson Flower route, likewise, has the final map be the streets of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus's capital city of Fhirdiad, but you also fight there in a climactic battle most of the way through the Azure Moon route. Though, the difference is that in the Crimson Flower version, [[spoiler:[[BattleAmongstTheFlames the city is on fire]]]]. |
| 571 | *** The Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes seem to have a straight example with [[spoiler:Shambhala, the underground AdvancedAncientAcropolis of "those who slither in the dark", the remnants of the ancient Agarthan civilization]]. However, in both routes, that is only the penultimate map, with the actual final battles being set in much more mundane locations. For Silver Snow, the Outer Wall of [[HubLevel Garreg Mach Monastery]] (where you've already fought multiple times). For Verdant Wind, the Caledonian Plateau, which has been turned into [[SwampsAreEvil a toxic swamp]] by dark magic. |
| 572 | * ''VideoGame/FullmetalAlchemistAndTheBrokenAngel'' uses the highest tower on a castle, which was built for some inexplicable reason by the leader of the town, who isn't even a villain. ''VideoGame/FullmetalAlchemist2CurseOfTheCrimsonElixir'' goes even further by having the final area be an enormous super-pyramid (the Spire of Lebis) in the middle of a reconstructed ancient city (complete with Golems imitating era-accurate people), and then when you reach the top of that, you're transported to the basement of the Spire, which is a humongous cavern (the ceiling fades to black), characterized by stone ledges built seemingly in the middle of an abyss with torches of blue fire set along them. And the far-off walls have rocks with glowing red eyes carved into them. |
| 573 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' series plays with this a good deal, with most sequels playing the trope more straight than the last: |
| 574 | ** ''1'' averts this to a certain extent; the game's climax will always take place in the Research Core, the series of warrens sprawling the northeast corner of the island the game takes place on, all building up to [[spoiler:the [[TitleDrop Geneforge]], the final experiment that got Sucia Island barred]]. Depending on your faction, the game's final major challenge can also potentially take place in the Great Temple, a massive, ancient structure overlooking the wastes to the northwest. However, the actual final location the player will always be forced to visit is the Guarded Docks... a small, moderately guarded fort situated on a grassy plain over the ocean. The player can even sneak around the south end of the fort if they have the right Spore Baton, bypassing the fortress entirely and beating the game on even more of an AntiClimax. |
| 575 | ** ''2'' and ''3'' play the trope a bit more straight, with Benerii-Uss in ''2'' and Benerii-Eo in ''3'' taking the place and the role of the Research Core, and [[spoiler:Dhonal's Keep, the center of all Shaper affairs on the Ashen Isles]] taking the Great Temple's place in ''3''. The games themselves will only end when the player returns to the entrance of the Drypeak Valley in ''2'' or goes to the final docks to Terrestia in ''3''; however, with the exception of the Rebel-aligned docks in ''3'', all of these final areas are simply walks to the end and can't really be considered any sort of "final dungeon" in the same way the Guarded Docks can. |
| 576 | ** ''4: Rebellion'' is the first game to play this mostly straight; the game will end regardless of faction in Northforge Citadel, a massive Rebellion stronghold and the seat of [[spoiler:both a Geneforge and the final undertaking of the Unbound project]]. If the player aligns with the Shapers, the place's final dungeon status is taken a bit more literally, while if the player sides with the Rebels, they will have to investigate the warrens before going to the Inner Shaping Hall to defend from the Shapers' final seige. |
| 577 | ** ''5: Overthrow'' plays this totally straight, with 4 of the 5 major factions ending the game at [[spoiler:Gazaki-Uss, a massive underground city that serves as the heart of the Rebellion and the home of its leader, [[FinalBoss Ghaldring]]]], while the fifth faction ends at [[spoiler:the Shaper Citadel, the largest seat of Shaper government in which the leaders of the Council and the Shapers as a whole convene.]] |
| 578 | * ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': |
| 579 | ** ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'': has [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Mars Lighthouse]], the final CosmicKeystone that you've hiked across six continents (and [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo two games]]) to reach, located at the very edge of the world. It isn't even marked on your map. |
| 580 | ** ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' has the Apollo Sanctum, which sits on top of the world's tallest mountain, and has you spend a good chunk of time scaling the mountainside just to reach it! If that doesn't scream final dungeon, the last portion of it also has you walking through a [[spoiler:shower of light that is so strong it will completely destroy you unless you use the Umbra Gear, which creates a shadow barrier to protect you temporarily from the intense light]]. |
| 581 | * ''VideoGame/GrimDawn:'' |
| 582 | ** In the base game, the final dungeon is the Necropolis, an ancient and absolutely massive graveyard of old where thousands upon thousands of the Empire's citizens lay buried, and where the Cult of Ch'thon has holed up to finalize their summoning ritual, causing the very last floor of the Necropolis' central tower to overlap with the very Void itself; it is here that the Loghorrean awaits to be unleashed upon the world, and where you must put it down. |
| 583 | ** ''Ashes of Malmouth'' has the Fleshworks, right at the heart of the titular Malmouth (one of the greatest cities of the empire, and that which fell fastest and hardest to the Aetherials due to infiltration). A titanic construct of amalgamated, living human flesh created by Theodin Marcell, the Flesh-shaper and effective commander of the Aetherials. It is here that he runs his operations to provide bodies to his troops, where he constructs some manner of weapon that will end all resistance in Cairn forever if he gets his chance to use it, and where he must be dug out and finally killed if the Aetherial menace is to ever end. |
| 584 | ** ''Forgotten Gods'' keeps escalating as the endgame approaches. First you have the ruins of Korvan, the city that Korvaak, the Eldritch Sun (the titular forgotten god) once ruled and was worshipped by, followed by the Tomb of the Eldritch Sun, the gigantic temple at its very heart where the clergy and the god himself once resided, with a portal right at the bottom leading to the Eldritch Realm, an EldritchLocation of pure magic that the Witch Gods usurped from Korvaak... and finally, the Throne of the Three, the drifting, skyborn prison where the Witch Gods chained the Eldritch Sun up, and from where they had to flee in a hurry before he could finally break free and take his awful vengeance on realms both material and immaterial. |
| 585 | * ''VideoGame/HeroesMustDie'' has [[spoiler: Skullcrusher Mountain, the BigBad's base where you worked prior to your HeelFaceTurn.]] |
| 586 | * ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' - the Imperial Palace is [[OminousFloatingCastle a gigantic, floating palace]] inhabited by the BigBad and the [[PoweredByAForsakenChild source of their power]]. The entire purpose of the fourth chapter, the Lotus Assassin Fortress, is to gain access to the palace. Then you [[StormingTheCastle storm the palace]] and defeat the BigBad, only to [[spoiler:be killed in turn by [[MagnificentBastard your teacher]], who set the whole thing up. You get better and promptly come ''back'' to the Imperial Palace to kick even ''more'' ass.]] |
| 587 | * ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': |
| 588 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' has the End of the World, a twisted world formed from the shattered remains of worlds lost to the Heartless. |
| 589 | ** Played with in 1, as Hollow Bastion fits this trope more despite being a DiscOneFinalDungeon. The End of the World isn't the fortress of the Heartless, it is their leftovers (and largest concentration). The area is impressive, but closer to a protracted FinalBossNewDimension. However, fitting ''that'' trope more is the final battle in an expanse of swirling darkness, and that is only after you finish the part where you fight in a battlefield formed from the [[WhereItAllBegan broken remains of Sora's world]]. |
| 590 | ** Sora spends all of ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]]'' in Castle Oblivion, but the last floor still fits. Every previous floor had retold the story of a world from his memories. The [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteenth floor]], however, is simply the stark white halls of Castle Oblivion itself. |
| 591 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' has The World That Never Was, home to a sprawling yet empty Dark City, above which floats the central headquarters of Organization XIII, the [[OminousFloatingCastle Castle That Never Was]]. |
| 592 | ** Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'' in that while the Keyblade Graveyard -- an eerie barren world [[FieldOfBlades filled entirely with abandoned Keyblades]] created from the titanic Keyblade War -- serves as the final dungeon for all three scenarios and certainly has the tone and style to match, there is still one more scenario [[spoiler:with Aqua, culminating in a boss battle against the newly minted Xehanort at Radiant Garden]]. Also, said graveyard pops up as a dungeon early on in Ven's scenario as well as in various cutscenes in Terra and Aqua's scenarios. ''[[UpdatedRerelease Final Mix]]'' adds another new scenario [[spoiler:where Aqua wanders the [[EldritchLocation Realm of Darkness]].]] |
| 593 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsCoded'' (as well as ''[[UpdatedRerelease Re:coded]]'') has a data recreation of [[spoiler: Castle Oblivion]], where the cast ''finally'' gets to figure out the meaning of the mysterious message in the journal. |
| 594 | ** ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]'' features The World That Never Was again, only this time it's even more ruined, warped, and twisted after the destruction of ''II'''s final battle. |
| 595 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has the Keyblade Graveyard once more, the fated setting for Xehanort's final bid to recreate the Keyblade War. [[spoiler:While the actual last world visited is Scala ad Caelum, a grand, long-abandoned city floating atop an endless ocean, it serves more as a FinalBossNewDimension as very little of it is explored before launching right into the final battle.]] The [[DownloadableContent Re: Mind DLC]] on the other hand [[spoiler: does have Scala ad Caelum as the final dungeon, since Sora has to find five pieces of Kairi's heart scattered around the town before the game begins the final battle (starting with Sora fighting a Darkside Heartless holding the fifth piece and ending with Sora and Kairi facing off against a copy of Armored Xehanort)]]. |
| 596 | * The ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' games were based on the ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise, so the final battles (and most boss battles, for that matter) were guaranteed to take place at impressive locations. In particular, the first game ended at the Star Forge, an ArtifactOfDoom [[LostTechnology factory]] that could pump out [[OffscreenVillainDarkMatter entire fleets]]. And it siphoned a sun for a power source. The sequel set the finale on Malachor V, a less visually impressive but still very definitely final dungeon - a planet literally torn apart by a gravity weapon. Again, don't TakeOurWordForIt. You can see it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrBk2VKlrws here]]. And because there's also a secret academy under the surface, with the final boss fight taking place in the center of a hole in the force, above a pit of fiery death. |
| 597 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' has the Moon That Never Sets. |
| 598 | * The Dominion of Hate in ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' is [[spoiler:what remains of the Kingdom of Lucrece, once a vibrant and magical medieval kingdom, after it was scourged by the wrath of the demon king Odio. The castle is barren, the village depopulated, and all that remains besides wandering monsters is Odio and his boundless hate.]] |
| 599 | * [[SpoilerTitle As predicted by the title]], the last battle of ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom''... is in the Fortress of Doom, which sits on a floating island. Not too surprisingly, this is also where the game usually sends the players in all the other games... |
| 600 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': |
| 601 | ** The final battlefield of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' turns out not to be the planet Ilos, as initially suspected, but [[spoiler:the [[BookEnds Citadel itself]]. And you climb a kilometer-high tower in zero-gravity fighting [[KillerRobot many Geth along the way]] while being buzzed by their {{Big Damn Gunship}}s. And then the {{Foreshadowing}} really hits - near the beginning of the game, Ashley mentioned that the stair arrangement in the Council chamber makes for a great defensive position. Now you have to fight through it just to get to Saren!]] |
| 602 | ** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has [[spoiler:the Collector base. An enormous (Citadel or bigger) biomechanical space station, suspended in the middle of a huge ancient debris field. [[RuleOfCool In the accretion disc of the supermassive black hole at the very center of the galaxy]].]] |
| 603 | ** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' [[spoiler:the final dungeon consists of two separate areas. The first area is London, which is on Earth, which is where [[WhereItAllBegan the third game began]]. The second area is the Citadel, a major area throughout the trilogy, now in the hands of the Reapers. The final battle takes place in London, while the trilogy's conflict is resolved on the Citadel.]] |
| 604 | * The ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' games have their own [=VDFDs=] as well, each on their own more VDF than many of the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork Battle Network]]'' games. |
| 605 | ** ''Leo/Dragon/Pegasus'' take place inside a space station that went missing for ''three years'', and everyone onboard with it. [[spoiler:The [=FMians=] who came to invade Earth under a Gemini-influenced Cepheus use it as their staging point and a place to store EM wave-eating Andromeda as well.]] |
| 606 | ** ''Zerker x Saurian/Ninja'' has the [[FloatingContinent floating continent of]] [[{{Atlantis}} Mu]][[spoiler:, which Lady Vega raised as part of her misguided agenda to take over the world. While she does earn woobie points for how she suffered due to idiots being in charge of her home nation, it doesn't completely justify raising a continent as well as restoring all its weapons with it.]] |
| 607 | ** ''Black Ace/Red Joker'' [[spoiler:takes place inside Meteor G, a meteor-sized cluster of ''[[TheCorruption Noise]]!'' King tried using it to take over the world, Jack and (Queen) Tia want to use it to destroy the world's technology, and in case you thought a plot thread was left hanging for two games, ''Kelvin Stelar'' has been in there for over ''three years'' as an EM body slowing the damn thing down to the best of his ability. Saving your dad, and the world with him, put this head and shoulders above the others easy.]] |
| 608 | * In the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' franchise, you can usually tell that you are close to the end of the game once SciFi-elements start showing up. The VDFD is usually some kind of starship or control room for the planets, though in MM IX it changed the theme significantly, making the VDFD a hellish crypt called the [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Tomb of a Thousand Terrors.]] ''VIII'' had the complication that whether it had a very definitely epic final dungeon or didn't really ''have'' a final dungeon depends on how strictly you define "dungeon" -- the Plane between Planes is a strange, alien place with skeletal remains of a truly giant creature found towards the centre, actually done as a full landscape (meaning flight and such works) and where even creating the key to enter the crystal dungeon that has its entrance was the work of a third of the main quest… but it also has smaller, more proper dungeons inside it, and while Escaton's Palace could itself be called epic (it's built out of the skull of the aforementioned giant, and harbours the closest-thing-to-a-BigBad, Escaton the Destroyer), the quest structure also means it will always be the first dungeon in the Plane between Planes you complete, with one of the four small and rather less impressive elemental prisons in each corner of the plane being the actual final dungeon (any one -- they can be done in any order). |
| 609 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'', we have the creepy, otherworldly [[spoiler:and aptly named Otherworld, which sets the game's AstralFinale.]] |
| 610 | * ''VideoGame/MinecraftDungeons'': The Obsidian Pinnacle, a.k.a. the ramparts of Highblock Castle and the place where you finally fight the Arch-Illager. |
| 611 | * ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series examples: |
| 612 | ** ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' has either a very small final dungeon, or a very large final dungeon if you count all of Mount Itoi. |
| 613 | ** In ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', the final stage, the Cave of the Past, is achieved after crossing the PointOfNoReturn. While its present-day version is a series of green platforms floating in the middle of somewhere very mysterious, its past version, where the final battle occurs, is a ghostly mass of gray cliffs and otherworldly shapes floating amid a foggy void. Such an eerie place is fitting for the BigBad, [[EldritchAbomination Giygas]], to take up residence. |
| 614 | ** The final chapter of ''VideoGame/Mother3'' takes your party to New Pork City. It's clear that there's no going back, since the overworld has been [[DoomedHometown completely abandoned]], and just about every NPC you've ever met is there with you. The final battle itself takes place deep underground, like in ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994''. |
| 615 | * ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'': The Source Stone in the original campaign. The Netherese city of Undrentide in ''Shadows of Undrentide''. |
| 616 | * ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' ends with one of these as you attack the Big Bad's stronghold. Of course, you just drove his army away from yours minutes earlier... |
| 617 | ** And even though it's ''really'' short, ''[[ExpansionPack Mask of the Betrayer]]'' has you fighting through ''the depths of your own soul''. |
| 618 | ** The second {{expansion|Pack}}, ''Storm of Zehir'', has the Temple of the World Serpent. Subverted in that you can continue adventuring afterward ''a la Franchise/TheElderScrolls''. |
| 619 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}''. There's a giant door of no return that leads to what the characters are calling the Shadowlord's Castle, all the {{Plot Coupon}}s have been found, and everyone's gearing up for the final battle. They go through the door...and find that it looks like a cross between a high-end apartment building and an office. [[TheEndingChangesEverything This is the first sign that something is]] ''[[TheEndingChangesEverything deeply]]'' [[TheEndingChangesEverything wrong]]. |
| 620 | ** Played with even more in the remaster, where the final dungeon that composes Ending E is ''completely different'' from the rest of the game: [[spoiler:a virtual-looking space made out of blocks and recycling architecture from the Shadowlord's palace, with Grimoire Weiss' powers gaining a blocky appearance as well and '''[[PaintingTheMedium the HUD itself]]''' changing to the one featured in ''Videogame/NierAutomata'']]. |
| 621 | * ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' pulls this thrice. The first is the Copied City, a blank white replica of a Renaissance city, with Adam waiting inside, littered with corpses of [=YoRHa=] corpses, possibly from the battle with Grun you just struggled through, as 2B. Later, you have to escape from a suicide cult in the depths of the Abandoned Factory's basement, with assistance from 9S in hacking space, making it one for both Sides A and B. The final battle of Sides A and B just takes place in the City Ruin's crater. [[spoiler:The true final dungeon, The Tower, doesn't reveal itself until after 2B is corrupted and commits [[SuicideByCop suicide by A2]], which causes 9S to snap and swear [[{{Pun}} revengeance]].]] [[spoiler: Both 9S and A2 trek through it, with 9S getting a MirrorBoss ZergRush of 2B clones to fuck with his head, while A2 sneaks in after him and reaches a replica of Devola and Popola's library from ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}''. Then both battle against [[UndergroundMonkey Ko-Shi and Ro-Shi]], two revamps of So-Shi and Boku-Shi, fought at the end of Sides A and B, A2 on the ground, 9S in the air. After beating them individually (and briefly teaming up to kill Ko-Shi and Ro-Shi's combined form, 9S and A2 then face off, who you choose to control decides whether you get Endings C or D.]] |
| 622 | * ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' has the Gate of Finis, which as the player learns during the endgame is where the fallen god Galdera is sealed. |
| 623 | ** ''[[VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII The Sequel]]'' has [[spoiler:the Isle of Illusions Vidania, where [[TrueFinalBoss Vide the Wicked]] is sealed away.]] |
| 624 | * ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'': The place where Basil is being help captive; [[spoiler:Black Space, a ''[[VideoGame/YumeNikki Yume Nikki]]''[=-=]esque area with a nexus with multiple doors leading to several nightmarish areas- you must go through a little more than half of them to be able to reach the Church of Something and the game's endings. Unusually, you reach this area after fighting the standard FinalBoss, Humphrey. The TrueFinalBoss is fought at White Space, where [[WhereItAllBegan the game began]].]] |
| 625 | * ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' has the Museum of Natural History as its final area for you to explore. It has multiple floors, lots of backtracking, powerful enemies, creepy atmosphere, and the BigBad is waiting for you to show up at her room. The actual final battles take place in a different location, but the museum pretty much screams that it's the beginning of the end. |
| 626 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar''; King Lassic's tower of Baya Malay is at first glance the Very Definitely Final Dungeon, until you reach its peak and discover it's merely the gateway to King Lassic's ''invisible flying city'', the Air Castle. The game then subverts the trope the second time when, after finishing the dungeon and killing Lassic, the ''real'' final dungeon turns out to be an unimpressive catacomb beneath Paseo, where [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Dark Force]] has taken up residence. The other games in the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' series, however, usually play it straight: [[VideoGame/PhantasyStarII The control center for the entire solar system]], [[VideoGame/PhantasyStarIII an ancient city]], [[VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV the other side of a dimensional prison]], etc.... |
| 627 | * The Fortress of Regrets in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' is a fortress that stretches for hundreds of miles, located in a Plane of total entropy, [[spoiler: built from the regrets of all the vastly terrible deeds in the main character's countless past lives and populated by the shadows of all the people who have died because of him. And the portal leading to it turns out to be in [[WhereItAllBegan the room you started the game from]].]] |
| 628 | * Most main ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'' games have ''two'' of these, one for the evil team plot and another for the Pokémon League challenge. Before you can face the EliteFour and the [[FinalBoss Champion]] at the Pokémon League, you must go through each region's [[DeathMountain Victory Road]], a long cave or series of caves filled with powerful wild Pokémon and trainers that you pass through while scaling a mountain. You also generally have to fight [[TheRival your rival]] either before you enter or at the exit. In addition, while early installments had the League Building itself be a normal skyscraper, from [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Gen IV]] onward, they're ornate buildings designed to look like either Eastern- or Western-styled castles. There are also different "final dungeons" for the villainous team plotlines, which typically end at a different point to the League plotline. Each of these takes its time to hammer home what you're getting into here, with dramatic music, face-offs against the villainous bosses and Legendary Pokemon, large and complicated puzzles, and sometimes certain features being disabled (such as music overrides not occurring or bottom screen features not functioning). |
| 629 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'': Silph Co., a ten-story skyscraper filled with teleporters and Team Rocket members, where you fight Giovanni at the top. |
| 630 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' (and by extension ''[=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]''): |
| 631 | *** The Team Rocket plot Goldenrod Radio Tower, which has you fight ''three'' Executives in one building to stop them from broadcasting a message to Giovanni. |
| 632 | *** Victory Road and the Champion are the last challenge of the main game, but the post-game final dungeon is Mt. Silver, a gargantuan mountain in-between Kanto and Johto. And at the top you fight [[spoiler:''Red'', the protagonist from the first games]]. |
| 633 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'': |
| 634 | *** Seafloor Cavern, where Groudon and Kyogre are awakened by Teams Magna and Aqua respetively, which is shortly followed by the smaller but no less majestic Cave of Origin. |
| 635 | *** The ''Delta Episode'' of the remake has the Sky Pillar, a tower where Rayquaza must be awakened to get its help in saving the world. |
| 636 | ** ''Videogame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'': |
| 637 | *** The original games have Mount Coronet, which must be scaled to reach the Spear Pillar and stop Cyrus from destroying the universe. |
| 638 | *** ''Platinum'' turns Mount Coronet into a DiscOneFinalDungeon as afterwards the player must go into the [[EldritchLocation Distortion World]], which is essentially Pokémon's version of ''Hell''. |
| 639 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', has [[spoiler:N's Castle, which [[BigBad N]], the leader of Team Plasma, summons after you battle the Elite Four. After you go through the castle and reach him, the version legendary appears (who [[ButThouMust you must catch]]) and you must fight N, who has the opposing legendary. And after you defeat him, ''[[TheManBehindTheMan Ghetsis]]'' appears and reveals the true intentions of Team Plasma and [[FinalBoss you have to take him down]].]] That's where the game ends. Going back to properly challenge the League and actually battle the Champion is treated as something to close out the ''[[PlayableEpilogue epilogue]]''. |
| 640 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'': The Great Chasm is the final area of the Team Plasma story, though most of it is spent in the second visit to the [[CoolAirship Plasma Frigate]] within the Chasm. |
| 641 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'': Team Flare Secret HQ, a huge, clinically-styled ElaborateUndergroundBase hidden below [[spoiler:a civilization-ending weapon]]. |
| 642 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'': Vast Poni Canyon, a Victory Road-esque cave which is the only place you can summon your version legendary and access [[spoiler:Ultra Space]]. |
| 643 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'': Instead of a Victory Road and an Elite Four, you go to Wyndon Stadium, where a [[TournamentArc single-elimination knockout tournament]] takes place. Instead, your final dungeon is [[spoiler:Rose Tower, which you must climb in order to stop Chairman Rose after learning of his plans]], which happens just before your Champion match. |
| 644 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'': Due to the open-world formula change in this instalment, there is no Victory Road (although the questline for the traditional eight gyms and the Pokémon League is named after it). In fact, the Pokémon League is just a short walk away from the central city of Mesagoza and all of the Pokemon up the path are low-level. However, upon completing all three main storylines, one final storyline takes place which takes the player and their friends to [[spoiler: Area Zero, a crystaline biome deep within the Great Crater of Paldea where powerful Pokémon roam, including very dangerous Paradox Pokémon brought from the distant past/future whom threaten to break free of their containment within the Crater and overun Paldea's ecosystem if not stopped.]] |
| 645 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' ends in the Realgam Tower. It spends the entire game being constructed, and in the final act it opens as a glittering Vegas-style resort complex run by the Cipher syndicate. You dismantle Cipher at the top of the spire by battling in Realgam's private Colosseum, while thousands upon thousands of screaming spectators view your final struggles. |
| 646 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'', the sequel to ''Colosseum'', sees Cipher confronted in their newest base, Citadark Isle. This hideout is still under construction, and the tunnels in the complex weave in and out of an active volcano. |
| 647 | * ''VideoGame/RadiataStories'' ends in the City of White Nights, a decaying structure located at the literal end of the world that is shrouded in perpetual night. At the top is the castle of the Gold Dragon, where all reality is due to be reset any time now... |
| 648 | * ''VideoGame/ResonanceOfFate'': The Basilica. If the entire gameworld is an enormous tower, where else can the ultimate confrontation be but at the very top? And then the BonusDungeon takes place at the bottom of the tower. |
| 649 | * "Mother's Lair", the core of the GhostPlanet you've spent 90% of the game trying to reach, serves this role in ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy''. |
| 650 | * ''VideoGame/SaGaRPG'': |
| 651 | ** ''VideoGame/TheFinalFantasyLegend'' has the heroes ascending the tower for the second time, after falling victim to a booby trap after the battle with Ashura. Once they finally make it to the top, they meet the Creator. |
| 652 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyLegendII'' has the Central Temple, which is in the verge of collapse and will take down the entire world with its destruction as a result of BigBad Apollo's abuse of the MAGI. |
| 653 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyLegendIII'' has Xagor's Castle, the BigBad's base of operations atop Mt. Goht. |
| 654 | ** ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa'' has [[spoiler:Quietus, the prison of the evil god Saruin, sealed beneath Isthmus Keep.]] |
| 655 | ** ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa2'' has the Sealed Dungeon, where the Seven Heroes retreat to after their defeat by the generations of emperors that ruled Avalon. |
| 656 | ** ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa3'' has the Abyss itself, where the personification of the destructive power that the Rise of Morastrum represents resides. |
| 657 | ** ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'' has several final dungeons depending on the chosen scenario. A traditional example is the HQ of the evil organization Black X in Red's scenario. |
| 658 | ** ''VideoGame/SaGaFrontier2'' has the Last Megalith, where the Egg, the ArtifactOfDoom, SealedEvilInACan, and EldritchAbomination rolled into one, resides. |
| 659 | ** ''VideoGame/UnlimitedSaga'', like ''[=SaGa=] Frontier'', has several final dungeons depending on the chosen scenario. Here, however, the FinalBoss is always Chaos. |
| 660 | ** ''VideoGame/SaGaScarletGrace'' has Ei-Hanum, the mystical city where the BigBad, the Firebringer, resides. |
| 661 | * ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'' has [[spoiler:the Still Palace, where the actual Nameless God resides. A gigantic, luxurious palace that is floating upside-down in the middle of a black void, where only the roofs and the undersides of stairways can be properly traversed. There is nothing inside except for you, him, and thousands upon thousands of lit candles that give the entire place an eerie look of pure, white light against endless dark. It's also the only place in the entire game to get unique music, setting the tone for the final battle of the game]]. |
| 662 | * ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' series: |
| 663 | ** The first ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts1'' game had its final dungeon be a gigantic castle that acted as a beacon for an [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien alien of godlike power]]. This castle was also a biomechanical space station. In a game set in Asia and Europe in 1913. Telltale shift in scenery doesn't even begin to describe it. |
| 664 | ** ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'' has the Asuka Stone Platform, which when activated teleports one to the Vessel, a massive series of tiers powered by crystals, with bizarre shapes floating by in the distance. |
| 665 | ** ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsFromTheNewWorld'' has The Gate to the World of Malice, basically the very dimension where all Malice originates, complete with a black sun that's the game's FinalBoss [[spoiler:(well, [[DualBoss him and Lady/Grace Garland]])]]. |
| 666 | * The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series has no shortage of epicness, and the final dungeons are no exception. In particular: |
| 667 | ** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' ends at the great Cathedral of the Messians, a [[EvilTowerOfOminousness towering monument built for the glory of God]] after He has flooded the world and left only you, tiny island pockets scattered across Tokyo, and people already at the Cathedral as the only survivors to the End of the World. Who you fight there depends on your alignment. |
| 668 | ** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' sends you to the Ark, a space station ''also'' dedicated to God, from which He intends to cleanse the entire planet forever, and filled with His various avatars and incarnations. |
| 669 | ** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' climaxes in a climb up a tower which leads to the center of the inside-out Vortex World. |
| 670 | ** ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga: Avatar Tuner 2''. The final dungeon of that game is [[spoiler:the afterlife, after all the main characters have died and Serph and Sera have fused into a superbeing on the way.]] And [[spoiler:the afterlife is inside the sun, and the reason they're going there is to speak to God and convince him to stop destroying the world.]] Also, [[spoiler:the inside of the sun is apparently purple and kind of sparkly. Looks pretty, though.]] |
| 671 | ** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'': While the entire game takes place in the Schwarzelt, the final sector, [[spoiler:Horologium]], just plain screams '''FINAL AREA'''. The influence of [[spoiler:Mem Aleph]]'s presence is so great that the area ''takes the form of primordial Earth'' -- ie, FireAndBrimstoneHell. The fact this sector is '''''absurdly large''''' and filled with powerful demons, as well as featuring a ''very'' confusing move-tile maze, contributes to making this sector one ''hell'' of a trek. |
| 672 | ** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'': The Law path goes through [[spoiler:Lucifer Palace, a gilded palace with an infinite hall puzzle]]. The Chaos path has [[spoiler:Purgatorium, a flying golden clockwork city with reversing gravity]]. The Neutral path gets [[spoiler:both]]. |
| 673 | ** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'': The final dungeon of both Peace and Anarchy is [[spoiler:an entire alternate dimension ruled by God called YHVH Space, where Nanashi and Flynn fight through both the dead armies of Law and Chaos before confronting Metatron, Satan, and YHVH]]. |
| 674 | ** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'': The final destination is the Empyrean, the pathway to the throne of the world's Creator, which is a pure white space with a tower made of cathedrals stuck together in Alien Geometries that ascends into the heavens. |
| 675 | ** Interesting aversion from the original ''VideoGame/Persona1'': The alternate path has you battle the Snow Queen, whose final dungeon is the school the kids go to, as she's really one of the teachers. The normal path ("SEBEC Route") however, sends you into the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avidya Avidya]] World -- a cavern deep beneath Mikage-cho which Pandora (the creature born from Maki's innermost sense of denial and delusion) has hidden herself in. That is, ''the entire final dungeon is Maki's willing ignorance and self-denial made manifest''. |
| 676 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona2 Innocent Sin'' takes you aboard the Xibalba, an ancient spaceship that rumors across Sumaru City have just recently brought into existence... in time to see the ''entire'' rest of the world be destroyed. Its sequel, ''Eternal Punishment'', sends you to the Monado Mandala, Nyarlatothep's domain in the deepest reaches of the Human Collective Unconscious. |
| 677 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has also a downplayed example since the final dungeon is the only dungeon. Doesn't stop it from being difficult to reach the top, especially if it is the first play. (It also has the fact that most of the time, there's timed barriers.) |
| 678 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' is tricky, given that there are many wrong choices the characters and even the player can make. |
| 679 | *** [[spoiler:While Mitsuo's dungeon is an obvious DiscOneFinalDungeon, both Heaven and Magatsu Inaba could very well count, depending on what ending the player gets. The ''real'' deal is Yomotsu Hirasaka, where the game's real BigBad lurks. Yomotsu Hirasaka is also a GeniusBonus for those aware of Shinto mythology: it is the path that leads down to Yomi, the Shinto underworld.]] |
| 680 | *** The UpdatedReRelease, The Golden, adds in another such place with [[spoiler:the Hollow Forest, unlocked only when the player maxes new character Marie's Social Link before the new winter events. Made even more convincing by the boss having the combined power of both Namatame and Adachi's powers given by the true final boss forced onto herself.]] |
| 681 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' will have the following examples if you're able to avoid making the wrong choices. |
| 682 | *** The original game is strange in that [[spoiler:the dungeon is really a place you've already been exploring for leveling up: Mementos, the collective unconscious. Turns out this "side area" is mandatory in order to complete the game unlocking the last area where the GreaterScopeVillain is hiding.]] But it's only part of the endgame (assuming you avoid [[EarnYourBadEnding an obvious choice that leads to a bad end]]). Part two is [[spoiler:the real world, which is starting to fuse with Mementos.]] |
| 683 | *** The UpdatedReRelease, ''Royal'', will have a new dungeon take place after the above example if the player manages to reach the highest possible rank for the Councillor Confidant before the start of the third term. When the protagonist and Akechi notice some oddities in the world despite the destruction of the Metaverse, it is revealed the cause is [[spoiler:Takuto Maruki, Shujin Academy's guidance counselor and the Councillor confidant, who is revealed to be a Persona user in control of his own Palace[[note]]The [[ChekhovsGun very same Palace]] where Kasumi awakened to her Persona.[[/note]]. Yaldabaoth's influence, the stress brought about by his failures, and his anger at his research being stolen by Shido have caused Maruki's Persona to go berserk, carrying the risk of bringing back the Metaverse and forcing the Phantom Thieves to go on one last heist through his Palace before their school term ends.]] |
| 684 | * Soltis in ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' is a whole continent, but fits this trope perfectly. It appears ominously from [[WhereItAllBegan the happiest and lowest-level area in the game]], raising up dark clouds and the game's strongest monsters with it to change everything around. Everybody in the world automatically fears it, even when they can't see it. It was the original home of the CrystalSpiresAndTogas civilization that bore the MysteriousWaif, and [[spoiler:inside is the power to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]].]] [[spoiler:Not only does Soltis appear in the lowest-level area of the game, but the ''entrance'' to the dungeon is Shrine Island, [[BookEnds the first dungeon in the game,]] which turns out to have been a piece of Soltis that broke off when the continent originally sank.]] |
| 685 | * ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' has [[spoiler:Clyde's Fortress]], an enormous [[spoiler: treehouse in the backyard of Clyde's house, who has just revealed to be the one who stole the [[MacGuffin Stick of Truth]]. ]] |
| 686 | * Lampshaded in ''The Speris Legacy'', when [[TheHero Cho]] enters [[BigBad Gallus]]'s imposing fortress of Spiral Castle: |
| 687 | -->'''Cho''': I've finally got here! What a journey! |
| 688 | * ''VideoGame/StellaGlow'' has the Moon where [[spoiler: [[BigBad Mother Qualia]] rests, which the Tuning Knights must put a stop to save both the world and [[EveryonesBabySister Marie]].]] |
| 689 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series subverts this trope by relying on the series' emphasis on war: the last dungeon in most of the games is usually the other army's biggest fort or capital city. In the latter case, it almost feels anti-climactic, as the player had to fight ''to'' said city, ensuring most of the enemy army would be in tatters. The examples are as follows: |
| 690 | ** ''VideoGame/SuikodenI'': Gregminster Palace, the home of TheEmperor, and [[WhereItAllBegan the building where the game begins]]. |
| 691 | ** ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'': L'Renouille, the capital city of Highland, the nation which has been the main opposing force for the entire game. However, [[spoiler:the last dungeon is not the [[PostFinalBoss last (optional) confrontation]], which occurs at Tenzan Pass, [[WhereItAllBegan where the game began]]]]. |
| 692 | ** ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'': [[spoiler:The Ceremonial Site, a suitably ancient series of ruins, which also happens to be the LostSuperweapon central to the WellIntentionedExtremist antagonist's plan]]. |
| 693 | ** ''VideoGame/SuikodenIV'': Fort El-Eal, the southernmost stronghold of the Kooluk Empire. |
| 694 | ** ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'': [[spoiler:The Sindar ruins of the Ashtwal Mountains, where Lord Godwin has threatened to use the power of the Sun Rune on the country, and which requires three parties to get through]]. |
| 695 | ** ''VideoGame/SuikodenTierkreis'' has a more traditional example: [[spoiler:the tower of the Order of the One True Way functions as this well enough the first time through, but after that, The One King arrives and turns the whole thing into a giant, but hollow, statue of himself, which you have to go through again]]. |
| 696 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 697 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' had a double subversion. Bowser's Castle. The sword sticking out of appears to be the final boss... except that the sword is the gateway to the ''true'' final dungeon, Smithy's weapons Factory (complete with Smithy, the FinalBoss and BigBad, at the very end). |
| 698 | ** ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' |
| 699 | *** The final dungeon of the original ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' is a flying castle ([[BigBad Bowser's]]). The final ''battle'' is on a special Bowser-boosting arena mimicking the appearance of his Clown Car, and is accessed via a temporary bridge leading from Peach's Castle, which is on top of Bowser's Castle. And all this happens IN OUTER SPACE. |
| 700 | *** The final dungeon of ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' is behind the titular door, a gigantic downward-going complex that houses powerful monsters and ''[[SealedEvilInACan the entombed soul of a demon.]]'' |
| 701 | *** The final dungeon of ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' was an entirely black-and-white castle ''in the middle of a void that threatens to devour all of existence.'' In both cases, with the way they are designed, as well as the dark and bleak moods of the places, there is no doubt of their validity as TVDFD. |
| 702 | *** Although far more mundane, World 6 of ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' takes place in the skies of the Mushroom Kingdom and sees Mario [[BattleshipRaid attacking Bowser Jr's airship]] to reach Bowser's Sky Castle, having a final confrontation with [[TheDragon Kamek]] and finally confronting [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Bowser]] in a battle that ends on the edge of the castle, right in front of Peach. |
| 703 | *** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'' has Black Bowser's Castle, which looks almost the same as Bowser's Sky Castle from the previous game... except this one is floating in the middle of a island, and you can only reach it by traversing a rainbow. |
| 704 | *** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' has Origami Castle, which [[BigBad King Olly]] used his power to turn Peach's castle into. Aside from being positioned on top of a volcano, the castle is filled with powerful enemies, monuments to Olly and Olivia, and pits full of living cootie-catchers that can kill Mario in a couple of hits. |
| 705 | ** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' |
| 706 | *** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', the final dungeon happens to be Bowser's Castle... a giant castle floating in mid air that even LOOKS like a giant statue of the Koopa King. Done differently though in that Bowser isn't actually the BigBad; the villain who hijacked his body took his castle, army, and technology for the invasion. |
| 707 | *** Shroob Castle plays this role in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', being the Shroobified version of the past Peach's Castle complete with [=UFOs=], Mordor style conditions, and a giant statue of [[BigBad Princess Shroob]] on top. |
| 708 | *** Peach's Castle in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory''. It's huge, it looks extremely ominous on the upper levels, is filled to the brim with Fawful-style decor, and turns into a giant black hole shooting mecha to fight Bowser directly. |
| 709 | *** On the Bros' side, there's the Airway, Bowser's insides final location, which is full of enemies corrupted by the [[ArtifactOfDoom Dark Star]]. |
| 710 | *** Neo Bowser Castle in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam''. It's huge, it looks like something from a nightmare itself, floats high in the sky, has a dark forcefield around it, a death ray that it demonstrates on a few nearby islands, and is even shown being wished for by the [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bads]]. |
| 711 | *** A completely different Neo Bowser Castle in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam''. [[RuleOfThree It's huge]], floats in the sky (and you actually storm it while it is flying, unlike Dream Team where you had to send it crashing to the ground) and sports a giant cannon used to destroy Peach's Castle. |
| 712 | * ''VideoGame/SweetHome1989'': The game is spent wandering around Mamiya's mansion, in gardens, courtyards, inner quarters, ballrooms, basements, and even underground caves. The final stretch, however, takes place in a strange, glowing, red-and-purple twisted nightmare scape with chasing specters, as well as {{Doppelganger}}s of the party to act as bosses. |
| 713 | * The Hanging Gardens/Eden in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre''. A surprisingly tranquil looking place full of palm trees and waterfalls...until you get to the final stages, which are crawling with undead and a ''gate to hell''. |
| 714 | ** ''VideoGame/TacticsOgreTheKnightOfLodis'' features the prison of a fallen angel. It's surprisingly beautiful. |
| 715 | * ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'': |
| 716 | ** The final dungeon of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' is Dhaos's Castle. Not the ''same'' Dhaos Castle that was the DiscOneFinalDungeon; this one has a totally new layout and it's hidden in a ''different time period''. The heroes have to bend space-time to their will to even make it to the front door. |
| 717 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': |
| 718 | *** The game has Derris-Kharlan, which is a purple, gaseous planet that is just a bit too close to the planet where most of the game takes place. Inside you've got really powerful [[OurZombiesAreDifferent undead monsters]], [[spoiler:[[LightIsNotGood evil angels]]]], and it ends with a busted up castle with what appears to be a black hole behind it. Yeah, AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield. Oh, when Derris-Kharlan appears, it is started with the BigBad [[spoiler:''hijacking the body of TheHero's closest friend (who may be his lover)'' then causing [[EvilTowerOfOminousness the Tower Of Salvation]] to EXPLODE, sending chunks of it raining down as meteors. If that's not enough, when the dungeon does appear, it is seen with it so close that bolts of space lightning are raining down from it and its gravity is causing huge storms on the planet.]] And it turns the sky purple. |
| 719 | *** [[spoiler:The sequel sets the final battle at the Ginnungagap, the gateway in between the heroes' world and Niflheim, the realm of the demons. Failure means the heroes' world will become one with Niflheim. But seriously, no pressure.]] |
| 720 | ** Due to it having 2 mostly independent stories, ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' has 2 of these. First is the Wings of Light, which is ridiculously obscenely long and has 3 distinctive sections, each of which could qualify as a full dungeon on its own. The second, the Cradle of Time, isn't so impressive length-wise, but it's a place that exists outside of time, and is made of small floors that on each one is a boss fight. |
| 721 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' ends at the Absorption Gate, a castle located at the North Pole where all the world's energy returns to the Core. [[spoiler:Then the game pulls a YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle on you and it turns out that the real Final Dungeon is Eldrant, a replica of an entire island, which is now capable of flight (until it crashes by way of your party), and resting place of the CrystalDragonJesus.]] |
| 722 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' has the Tower of Tarqaron, a floating city which has been converted to a {{Magitek}} weapon of enough power to annihilate an EldritchAbomination... by sacrificing the life force of ''every human on the planet'' for its power source. |
| 723 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' has the Lastalia, the core of the planet Ephinea and the source of all eleth that gives life to the planet. [[spoiler:It was about to be corrupted by Lambda until Asbel and co. put a stop to his plans. The final dungeon for the ''Lineage and Legacies'' storyline is another Lastalia, but this time, of the dead planet Fodra.]] |
| 724 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' has as its final dungeon the Temporal Crossroads. [[spoiler:It is located somewhere between the worlds of Rieze Maxia and Elympios, but is not normally accessed except via dimensional scars. You visit it twice -- first, when Jude and Milla unite to confront the real Maxwell; and second, when the united party faces the final bosses of the game, Gaius and Muzét.]] |
| 725 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' ends at the Land of Canaan, where some say that it leads its travelers to the "Promised Land". |
| 726 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'' has Artorius' Throne, an enormous ruined temple, where [[BigBad Lord of Calamity]] lurks. The skies here has [[RedSkyTakeWarning blood-red color]], and the sun is turned black. Curiously, it's actually [[spoiler:the DiscOneFinalDungeon of the [[VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria prequel]]. What appears to be a random final dungeon in the first game suddenly makes a lot more sense, given what happened in the epilogue of the second one]]. |
| 727 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'' has [[spoiler: Innominat's Domain]], a huge palace in the sky where the party confronts [[BigBadDuumvirate Artorius and Innominat]]. |
| 728 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'' has [[spoiler:Del Fharis Castle in Ganath Haros, where it's built up to be the Final Dungeon as it is the residence of Big Bad Vholran, the last Renan lord to be fought against. As per Tales series tradition though, it is actually a Disc-One Final Dungeon, with the real one taking place in the decimated planet of Rena.]]. |
| 729 | * ''VideoGame/TokyoXanadu'': |
| 730 | ** The base story has Pandora which opens up on the Final Chapter, [[spoiler: caused by Shiori remembering that she's an outright paradox: she died during the Tokyo Twilight Disaster and it was the Twilight Apostle who brought her to life. Killing her saves the city, but it makes her RetGon to everyone that isn't able to manifest soul devices. It isn't until dealing with the FinalBoss of the base game, the Nine-Tailed Fox, that Shiori is brought back to life and undoes her RetGone.]] |
| 731 | ** The After Story, set three months after the end of the base game, has the Boundary of Death. [[spoiler: Because of the Nine-Tailed Fox undoing Shiori's death, the Twilight Apostle is free to pick up where it left off, throwing Morimiya into a shadowy purgatory and plans to do it to the rest of the world.]] |
| 732 | * ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]'': |
| 733 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'': |
| 734 | *** ''First Chapter'' sets up the finale to be in Grancel Castle, which you've been to earlier in the Final Chapter but has now been taken over by the Intelligence Division. The party is sent on a mission to [[StormingTheCastle break into it and rescue Queen Alicia]], but then you find that the real final dungeon is the Sealed Area, a secret multi-level ancient ruin hidden beneath the Castle. |
| 735 | *** ''Trails in the Sky Second Chapter'' has [[spoiler:the Liber Ark, a [[FloatingContinent floating]] AdvancedAncientAcropolis built by the ancient Zemurian civilization that's been perfectly preserved by being sealed in a pocket dimension for 1,200 years, with a large part of the villains' plan throughout the game being spent just getting it to reappear]]. The very last part of the game is spent [[spoiler:climbing to the top of the Axis Pillar, a tower in the center of the city, then taking an elevator down the middle of it into the very core of the Ark, where [[MacGuffin the Aureole]], is kept]]. |
| 736 | *** ''Trails in the Sky The 3rd'' has Phantasmagoria Castle, which is the home of [[spoiler:Anima, the living core of the artificial dimension of Phantasma]]. |
| 737 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure'': |
| 738 | *** ''Trails from Zero'' has the Sun Fort, a centuries-old military fortress now being used as the lair of the [[ReligionOfEvil D∴G Cult]]. |
| 739 | *** ''Trails to Azure'' one-ups that with [[spoiler:the Azure Tree, a massive, tree-shaped tower made of blue crystal formed by the [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] powers of [[LivingMacGuffin the Azure Demiourgos]]]]. |
| 740 | ** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' has a rather different approach to this in the first few games. |
| 741 | *** For the first game, the final main dungeon, the Realm of the Great Shadow, is in the seventh floor the Old Schoolhouse outside of Thors' Military Academy where Class VII has been going all year long investigating its depths. The final dungeon is not only longer and larger than any of the floors they've been to at that point, but they then have to deal with an EldritchAbomination in Loa Erebonius, which is very much a ClimaxBoss. The TrueFinalBoss is set well after the events of this dungeon. |
| 742 | *** In ''Cold Steel II'', the Finale ends with the Imperial Palace in Heimdallr transformed into a hellish fortress called the Infernal Palace. While it's quite the big dungeon for the story, it only marks a turning point at the end of the civil war. It's only during the end of the school year in March, in the Epilogue, that Class VII and their allies have one last adventure in the Old Schoolhouse, which has been transformed into the Reverie Corridor, the true final dungeon of the story. |
| 743 | *** ''Trails of Cold Steel III'' ends in a bizarre pocket dimension called the Gral of Erebos, located underneath the Karel Imperial Villa. |
| 744 | *** ''Trails of Cold Steel IV -the end of saga-'' has [[spoiler:the Tuatha Dé Danann, [[OminousFloatingCastle the "Phantasmal Mobile Fortress"]], the ultimate weapon created by the Gnomes for their war against the Witches, that disappeared in the space-time disruption caused by the clash between the two clans' Sept-Terrion. Now recovered and rebuilt by the Gnomes' descendants, the Black Workshop, it emerges above Osgiliath Basin, then moves to floating above the capital city of Hemidallr. Its appearance is accompanied by five duplicates of the mysterious "Salt Pale" that destroyed the country of North Ambria that emerge across the Erebonian Empire and sustain a barrier around it, necessitating the party to split up and destroy all of them just to get inside.]] |
| 745 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie'' has [[spoiler: Reverse Babel, the massive tower that houses the Elysion system and acts as the base for the Eighth Awakener, [[BigBad Ishmelga]]-[[RogueProtagonist Rean]]]]. |
| 746 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsThroughDaybreak'' has [[spoiler:[[ItsAllUpstairsFromHere Genesis Tower]], a tower with the ability to stop time created by the Seventh Octo-Genesis, where the heroes go to stop the Armata mafia syndicate, with [[BigBad Gerard Dantès]] at the very top]]. |
| 747 | ** ''Trails through Daybreak II: Crimson Sin'' has [[spoiler:Octradium, a phase space where multiple parallel dimensions overlap and a place for the Oct-Genesis to observe humanity's sins.]] |
| 748 | * ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'': |
| 749 | ** The last level set its final confrontation in a cavern beneath a volcano, 1000 years in the past. It may have been monochrome and not that visually impressive, but it was about as very definitely final as one could hope for on an Apple II computer in 1980. |
| 750 | ** ''The Great, Stygian Abyss'' from the fourth and ''Dungeon Doom'' from the fifth installment of the series should also qualify, if only for its name and the damnable somersaults you have to perform to get in there. In ''VideoGame/UltimaIV'', the player characters need to have completed a number of highly virtuous tasks in a highly virtuous manner, learned the Word of Power, and collected several {{Plot Coupon}}s; in ''VideoGame/UltimaV'', you have to drag your tired arses halfway across the Underworld, the Word of Power is needed again, as are several other items (actually usable items with other functions) and it's combined with the fact that once you go in, ''you can't leave until you reach the very bottom'' and hopefully have everything you need to complete the final puzzle. |
| 751 | * ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' takes place in the city of Lea Monde, which was governed by a theocracy. The [[CosmicKeystone entire city is a giant Grimoire]], its walls inscribed with magical runes and ancient languages. At the very locus of the city, where all the power of the Dark gathers, stands ''the Cathedral''. |
| 752 | * ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' |
| 753 | ** The first game has [[spoiler: The Marmota, an enormous vehicle commanded by [[BigBad Maximilian]] that's much less a tank and more of a land dreadnought. In addition, it also serves as a platform to utilize the largest Valkyrur weapon ever created, [[WaveMotionGun the Valkof]].]] |
| 754 | ** [[VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesII The second game]] has the Dandarius, a heavily armed battleship given to the Gallia Revolutionary Army by the Atlantic Federation that's crawling with soldiers and tanks, equipped with a powerful rail cannon that will [[OneHitKill one-shot]] anything caught in its blast, [[spoiler: and where [[FinalBoss Baldren Gassenarl]] [[OneWingedAngel turns himself into the strongest Artificial Valkyria]]]]. |
| 755 | * ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': Venture Tower, a massive high-rise visible from almost every location in the game. A long climb up impeded by elite vampires, [[DemonicSpiders SWAT agents]], and some villains who ''really'' had it coming. |
| 756 | * The ''VideoGame/WildArms'' games have a tendency to employ this. Given that they have a Wild West theme (with some steampunk elements thrown in), their final dungeons are really out there. In order, we have had: |
| 757 | ** [[VideoGame/WildARMs1 A space station/colony]] |
| 758 | ** [[VideoGame/WildARMs2 The living heart of the planet, reached through an inverted spiral tower that stretches on for deities know how long full of its own mini-bosses]] |
| 759 | ** [[VideoGame/WildARMs3 A fortress/mansion in an alternate plane of reality]] |
| 760 | ** [[VideoGame/WildARMs4 A deranged, ARM-particle-infested Alcatraz overgrown with crystal and bizarre ARM mutants, with its own Load Bearing Final Boss]] |
| 761 | * ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} 8'' has Ascension Peak. The top of a mountain, where the player's party must find three temples where the {{Plot Coupon}}s must be placed. It also has a teleporter to the Cosmic Circle, residence of the universe's gods, the Cosmic Lords, where the player party will ascend in order to become Cosmic Lords themselves. |
| 762 | * ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' decided that an awesome spot for the final several fights would include [[spoiler:God (or a god)'s drinks parlor/pad]] and that the ultimate final [[spoiler:cutscene]] would occur [[spoiler:in a massive room where soul-stuff gets refined and remade. And promptly does, post scene.]] The door to the former is lampshaded by one of the characters - "This door just screams of endgame!" |
| 763 | * The final dungeons of the ''VideoGame/WorldOfMana'' games tend to take place in or near the [[WorldTree Mana Tree]]. One exception is ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'', with a [[ThatsNoMoon floating superweapon that's big enough to be mistaken for a]] FloatingContinent. |
| 764 | %%* Enix games aren't innocent, either: |
| 765 | %%** Outer space in ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer''. |
| 766 | %%** [[spoiler:Between two planets bound for impact]]. |
| 767 | %%** The Dark World. |
| 768 | %%** A comet in ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia''. |
| 769 | %%** Death Heim (which rises from the sea) in ''VideoGame/ActRaiser''. |
| 770 | %%** [[spoiler:Atop an endless staircase inside the sun of the internal face of the planet]] in ''VideoGame/{{Terranigma}}''. |
| 771 | * ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'': The final area takes place inside an large artificial constructed body formed by the FinalBoss, who is within the core at the epicenter. |
| 772 | * ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'': |
| 773 | ** Episodes 1 and 2 have the Proto Merkabah and Omega System, respectively. Both are weapons of mass destruction awakened by that game's BigBad, with the latter being especially notable for [[spoiler: erupting from the core of the original planet Miltia everyone's been trying to locate throughout both episodes]]. 2 also has a sort of "epilogue" final dungeon: [[spoiler: a Space-Time Anomaly created by Albedo, Episode 1's BigBad, where Jr's confronted with a lot of disturbing memories and has a final showdown with his twin brother.]] |
| 774 | ** Episode 3's final dungeon is so massive that it'll easily make up at least 1/5th of your total play time. [[spoiler: Planet Michtam, once home to the antagonist organization Ormus and one of your party members Ziggy, also houses the device Zarathustra BigBad Wilhelm's planning to use to enact Eternal Recurrance.]] All of the mysterious artifacts and important players of the story have gathered here; what follows is a line-up of climactic cutscenes and boss battles against all the remaining antagonists as the party [[spoiler: starts on the planet's surface, descends into an ancient factory, before navigating the maze-like crystalline control structure of Zarathustra before finally reaching the planet's core for the final showdown.]] |
| 775 | * ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'': |
| 776 | ** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' has you entering [[spoiler:the massive titan controlled by the BigBad, and fighting a boss in its heart. Then, you are returned to one of the {{Disc One Final Dungeon}}s, a demonic prison now sunken into the titan's head, and completing ''that'' takes you to ''outer space'']]. |
| 777 | ** The final story mission in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' takes place inside [[spoiler:the Lifehold Core, located very far from any of the five continents explored up to that point]]. |
| 778 | ** The World Tree, and Elysium up top, has long been hinted to be the final destination in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'', but few anticipated that [[spoiler:it and the landscape around it are what remained of the old world with massive roots entwined around a high-tech orbital elevator]], and fewer still suspected that [[spoiler:the very satellite where Klaus conducted his fateful experiment]] was at the very top. |
| 779 | ** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' has [[spoiler: Origin, the super-computer floating in the center of Aionios created by the Queens of Agnus and Keves which has become Moebius and Z's base of operations for sustaining the eternal war.]] |
| 780 | * ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series by Falcom is a big fan of these. Let's elaborate: |
| 781 | ** ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'': The Darm Tower - the huge architecture built by demons to reach the floating continent Ys, blocked off to the outside world by a [[PointOfNoReturn one-way door]]. Unusually for this trope, it takes up about half the game (except in the combined ''Ys Book I and II'', where it's [[DiscOneFinalDungeon only the final dungeon of the first part of the game]]). |
| 782 | ** ''VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter'': The Center of Ys - the headquarters of the ancient kingdom Ys that houses [[ArtifactOfDoom the Black Pearl, the source of all magic]]. |
| 783 | %%** ''Videogame/YsTheOathInFelghana'': The Genos Island. |
| 784 | %%** ''Ys IV / ''VideoGame/YsMemoriesOfCelceta'': The Temple of The Sun (or the Golden Temple in the SFC version). |
| 785 | ** ''VideoGame/YsVLostKefinKingdomOfSand'': The inner keep of Kefin Castle, the capital of the titular lost kingdom of sand. |
| 786 | ** ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'': The titular ark. |
| 787 | ** ''VideoGame/YsOrigin'': The Darm Tower (same tower from Ys I since it is a prequel) - rare case where ''the whole'' game takes place in one of these. |
| 788 | %%** ''VideoGame/YsSeven'': The Well of Souls. |
| 789 | ** ''VideoGame/YsVIIILacrimosaOfDana'' has Octus, an alien dimension inside of the Great Tree of Origin filled with otherwordly beings. However, if you reached the True Ending, the ACTUAL final dungeon is the Abyss of Origin, a strange primordial location in which lies the [[TrueFinalBoss Origin of Life]]. |
| 790 | ** ''VideoGame/YsIXMonstrumNox'' has the Balduq Fortress of Yore, a timelocked version of the Balduq Prison from 500 years ago from the Hundred Years War where the BigBad of the game has been conducting his experiments to end the Grimoire Nox. The party fights through all of his hellish creations to learn what he had been up to, especially involving Adol: To make a godlike being from Adol's memories named Atra Nox Philius who wipes out [[TheHeartless the Lemures]] outside of the castle, but now decides that humanity is to blame for the Grimwald Nox and is the final boss. Luckily there's a NO TURNING BACK door that lets you know this is where the game ends. |
| 791 | [[/folder]] |
| 792 | |
| 793 | [[folder:Shoot Em Up]] |
| 794 | * ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance EXTRAPOWER Star Resistance]]'' The Stage 5 ascent up the Shakun Star Central Computer tower is penultimate stage where the player is pursued by swarms of enemies from above and below before the final boss fights. |
| 795 | * If you can complete all the objectives in ''VideoGame/XenoFighters R'', you get to make a decisive raid on the refitted space colony the BRES army calls home. And of course, that means a very, ''very'' large fleet of fighters is there to make life short and exciting for you. It doesn't help that this isn't just BRES's administrative base; it's also an industrial colony--in part, their ''main shipyard''. So yes, a few of their capital ships and a ''lot'' of their recently-constructed higher-grade fighters are ready and willing to fight. Have fun! |
| 796 | %%* Final boss fight locations in ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' include: the depths of a nightmare made real; the skies of Pandemonium, the realm of demons (which the boss progressively tears apart over the course of your fight); the highest tower of a vampire's mansion, framed by a BadMoonRising; beneath the branches of a demonic sakura tree in the realm of the dead; a magical SpaceElevator a with a humongous moon visible outside; the shore on the other side of the Buddhist version of the River Styx; over a lake that was ''transported'' on the top of a mystical mountain inhabited by {{youkai}}; in ''Heaven itself''; a nuclear reactor powering the deepest depths of Hell; onboard a magical airship after it plane-shifts to Pandemonium; in the crypt of an ancient god prince (who is currently being revived); in a palace where literally ''everything'' is reversed; ''the Sea of Tranquility'' (you know, the area ''on the moon''); an omninous cityscape in the outside world; the divine Realm of The Backdoor; in the skies above a metropolis in the Buddhist Hell of fauna; witin the auroras of a moonbow... |
| 797 | [[/folder]] |
| 798 | |
| 799 | [[folder:Simulation Game]] |
| 800 | * ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series: |
| 801 | ** The Electrosphere in the American version of ''VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere'' (and one of the multiple endings in the Japanese version), a stunning void space crisscrossed by infinite planes covered with shiny luminous grids, with a big green vortex on the background, where you must fight a really tough [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-91_Aurora [=UI4054 Aurora=]]] fighter. Fortunately, by that point you're already flying the mighty [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_X-36 XFA-36A]]. |
| 802 | ** ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' had you raid the entrance of and then fly into a giant underground tunnel with an enemy ace on your tail. Except that it is not the true final dungeon. The very definitely ''final'' final dungeon is not really a dungeon, [[spoiler:it's the open sky of a capital city]]. |
| 803 | ** ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'' had you fly through a canyon with heavy anti-air fire, then into the interior of a dam. |
| 804 | ** ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'' had you enter a series of underground tunnels leading to the International Space Elevator against a small agile drone that can start a [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} Skynet-esque]] revolution. |
| 805 | * The Tower of Maximus from ''VideoGame/SkyOdyssey''. As it's the goal of the game for the player to rediscover this lost city, it's no secret that this is the final level. When flying here the music suddenly changes to a more mysterious/ominous tone, the massive tower appears out of the mist, and the players has to avoid massive waterwheels along an underground river to reach the center of the city. |
| 806 | [[/folder]] |
| 807 | |
| 808 | [[folder:Stealth Based Game]] |
| 809 | * ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'': |
| 810 | ** In ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'', after visiting such Victorian/medieval/steampunk locations as a mansion, a cathedral, city streets, an opera house, a prison, a thieves' guild etc., the last level is the Maw of Chaos, a hellish dimension of weird layout, magic and the Elements, spewing forth an unlimited horde of monsters. With an Elder God inside that most people in the enlightened world no longer believe in. |
| 811 | ** ''VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge'' has Soulforge Cathedral, the home of the insane religious leader who has spent the majority of the game trying to kill you, and has now sent a battalion of guards and robots to find you. Your strongest ally and the only other person who knows about his [[OmnicidalManiac plan]] has just gotten herself killed in a last-ditch attempt to give you a chance to succeed in stopping him, and you're not going anywhere until you do. |
| 812 | ** ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows'' actually averts this, as the final sequence of the game takes place all over the [[HubLevel City's streets]]. |
| 813 | * In ''VideoGame/SheepDogNWolf'', you have Marvin the Martian's Planet X. |
| 814 | * The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series has a few. |
| 815 | ** [[spoiler:REX's hangar]] in the original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', which even has its own ominous theme music (Rex's Lair). |
| 816 | ** [[spoiler:Arsenal Gear]] in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. |
| 817 | ** Groznyj Grad in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', the fortress where Shagohod is being kept. |
| 818 | ** [[spoiler:Outer Haven (a new model of Arsenal Gear)]] serves as the setting of the final mission in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''. |
| 819 | ** The US missile base in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' is an aversion, since [[spoiler:that's only the end of Chapter 5, the main campaign actually ends with a fight against Metal Gear ZEKE atop Mother Base, the player's base of operations.]] |
| 820 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' has OKB Zero. |
| 821 | [[/folder]] |
| 822 | |
| 823 | [[folder:Survival Horror]] |
| 824 | * ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'' has Ink Bendy's lair, where Henry must reach the throne room to play [[SecretWeapon "The End"]] in order put an end to Ink Bendy once and for all. |
| 825 | * In the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' games, it's usually a lab. ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil0 0]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 1]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 2]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica Code Veronica]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor Survivor]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilOutbreak Outbreak]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilTheUmbrellaChronicles Umbrella Chronicles]]'' follow the normal formula, While the rest is a bit of a mix up... |
| 826 | ** ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis 3]]'''s is a abandoned factory. The [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake 2020 remake]] turns the final level back into a lab, however. |
| 827 | ** ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 4]]'''s is a military base on a island (''Dead Aim'' also does this, but with a different island). |
| 828 | ** ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 5]]'''s is [[spoiler:Wesker's personal battleship, which is bursting into flames by the final segment]]. And the ''final'' final showdown takes place [[spoiler:inside an [[ConvectionSchmonvection active volcano]].]] |
| 829 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 6]]'', Leon and Ada's stories end in a zombified and exploding city, finishing with a trek up a skyscraper. Chris and Jake's stories end in an undersea research facility, and both have opposing elements surrounding the final bosses, water and fire. |
| 830 | ** ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations Revelations]]'' ends in [[spoiler:The Queen Dido, a sunken luxury cruise ship]] |
| 831 | * ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' generally has its final location be the site of the failed ritual, though later games have begun to play with this idea. |
| 832 | ** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameI'': The Hellgate. A barren location underneath the Himuro Mansion, where Kirie was supposed to keep the gate closed and prevent the Malice from escaping. |
| 833 | ** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameII'': Two locations, actually. The underground path leading to the area just before the ritual's location, where the player has to defeat the Kusabi. Depending on certain conditions, the player may be allowed to proceed to The Abyss, the place where the ritual of the twins takes place, and pits them in one last battle against [[BigBad Sae]]. |
| 834 | ** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameIII'': The Abyss of the Horizon. Located right next to the Shrine of Thorns, where the priestesses are laid and have to keep the Rift from leaking out. |
| 835 | ** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaskOfTheLunarEclipse'': Shaken up by making the final location the {{Lighthouse|Point}}, which is not where the ritual took place. The final battle takes place at the top of the lighthouse. |
| 836 | ** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaidenOfBlackWater'': The Shadowspring. Played with, as the shrine leading to the Shadowspring is one that Yuri has been heading to previously, but was not able to pass through the last door, until it came time for the showdown. |
| 837 | * You always know when you're at the end of a ''Franchise/SilentHill'' game - if the {{bizarrchitecture}} and increasing grossness of the environs don't tip you off, the increase of monsters surely does. |
| 838 | ** ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill1 1]]'': About 90% of the way into Otherworld. Order? Logic? Sanity? Causality? You wish. |
| 839 | ** ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill2 2]]'': The hotel itself is very final, but the ''true'' hotel is very ''definitely'' final. |
| 840 | ** ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill3 3]]'': The Church of the Order. Welcome home. |
| 841 | ** ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill4TheRoom 4]]'': Walter Sullivan's Re-Birthing Dimension. |
| 842 | ** ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'': Where it ALL began. |
| 843 | ** ''VideoGame/SilentHillHomecoming'': The Chamber of Child Sacrifices |
| 844 | ** Subverted in ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories''; the Lighthouse looks this way, and is built up this way by the characters, but the end of the game comes right ''before'' you enter it. |
| 845 | ** ''VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour'': The local [[TheAlcatraz island-based prison]]. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that Murphy had no plans to go there, and indeed, was in the clear until [[spoiler:Anne shoots him, causing him to wake up there, reflecting the game's "Full Circle" theme]]. |
| 846 | * ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'': The House Of Truth has shifting rooms, much more linear gameplay, [[spoiler:a fake-out final boss,]] a ''teleporting'' ImplacableMan for a stalker, and one of the most foreboding tracks in the game on a loop in the background. |
| 847 | * The ''VideoGame/ObsCure'' games: |
| 848 | ** In the first game, after spending most of the experience fighting through a high school crawling with monsters, you enter the villain's lab beneath the school, which had been briefly seen in the prologue. The giant metal doors in one room are a pretty good indicator that whatever's behind them is probably the endgame. |
| 849 | ** The second game, however, tops the first by a long shot. What initially seems like the FinalBoss fight takes place in the desolate ruins of the high school where the first game was set, in a WhereItAllBegan sort of manner. Once that's over, however, the game waits until ''[[TheStinger after the end credits]]'' to reveal that [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle it's not over just yet]], dropping the player in a NoGearLevel before you meet the TrueFinalBoss. As if the giant football stadium where you fight him wasn't enough, you've also got [[CueTheSun the sun coming up over the horizon]] (the monsters are WeakenedByTheLight) and [[SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity a mountain of weapons and ammo]] right at the gate. Yeah, it's goin' down. |
| 850 | * ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' has the central hall of the Washington Estate, where up to five of the eight surviving characters[[note]]Mike and Sam are definitely still alive by this point. Whether or not Chris, Emily, and Ashley are present depends on whether they lived long enough to reach that point. If Jessica, Matt, and Josh are still alive, then they are trapped in the underground mines, Matt and Jessica trying to escape and Josh [[spoiler:having been taken away by the Wendigo-ized Hannah to suffer a FateWorseThanDeath]].[[/note]] must escape from [[spoiler: the Wendigo]]. Doubles as a case of WhereItAllBegan, as the central hall is the first main area of the estate that you explore. |
| 851 | [[/folder]] |
| 852 | |
| 853 | [[folder:Third Person Shooter]] |
| 854 | * The final showdown of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne1'' takes place atop the Aesir Tower, headquarters of Aesir Corporation and BigBad Nicole Horne. ''VideoGame/{{Max Payne 2|TheFallOfMaxPayne}}'''s final battle happens inside the Woden Manor, and is initially a two-person [[StormingTheCastle castle storm]] until [[spoiler:Mona is gunned down by Vlad]] at the end of the second to last level, at which point Max chases the BigBad straight to the top for the final level and faces off with him for the last time. |
| 855 | * The final showdown of the Creator/JohnWoo game ''{{VideoGame/Stranglehold}}'' has Tequila storming the gates of Wong's Manor in order to save his daughter, with the showdown with Wong and Dapang proper taking place in the big chamber with the huge jade dragon statue. |
| 856 | * ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' at least has quite a big change of scenery, while ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' has you see the ArtifactOfDoom and the [[spoiler:Convergence they have been talking about for all of the two games]] all through the final section. And all culminates in [[spoiler:your own mind, fighting off ThePlague]]. |
| 857 | * ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves''' final boss fight takes place within the mythical [[spoiler:neon-blue, glowing Life Tree]] that was mentioned very early on and then repeatedly discussed the entire game. |
| 858 | * The final dungeon of ''VideoGame/TheBureauXCOMDeclassified'' is the Outsider space station where [[BigBad Origin]] is trying to rebuild [[HiveMind Mozaic]]. Interestingly, you never actually square off against Origin. Instead, you are besieged by a never-ending swarm of enemies. Also, [[spoiler:you control a different PlayerCharacter for this mission, unless, of course, you think of [[EnergyBeing Asaru]] as your PlayerCharacter]]. |
| 859 | * ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' subverts this with Konrad's hideout, which the player spends the majority of the game trying to get to. After finally getting there, the last of the Damned 33rd immediately surrenders, leaving the player with just Konrad to face, and after climbing the Burj Khalifa and finally meeting him face to face...[[spoiler: you discover that he was DeadAllAlong, and the Konrad that was talking to you for most of the game (as well as the Damned 33rd who surrendered) were just hallucinations. While there ''is'' a "fight" with the hallucinatory Konrad, it just consists of "Shoot Konrad and win." There's an optional final battle after that, but it just takes place in some nondescript ruins against the rescue team who comes for you, and fighting and killing them just triggers one of the bad(der) endings.]] |
| 860 | * The last three missions in ''VideoGame/{{Robokill}}'' definitely give off this vibe. The scenery, previously featuring [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience color-coded levels]], is now all jet black with a post-apocalyptic look: partly molten holes in the hull, smouldering explosion craters and makeshift barricades, to name a few. There is a noticeable spike in difficulty as well, with much more dangerous enemies as well as generous usage of BottomlessPits. |
| 861 | [[/folder]] |
| 862 | |
| 863 | [[folder:Turn Based Tactics]] |
| 864 | * ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerAttackOfDarkforce EXTRAPOWER Attack of Darkforce]]'' has the Dark Force army's mothership. |
| 865 | * The ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'' games all feature some variation on this. |
| 866 | ** ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'' (aka ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'') had the 'Cydonia or Bust' mission on the surface of Mars, and the following base mission with the alien overmind. |
| 867 | ** ''VideoGame/XComTerrorFromTheDeep'' had the two-part assault on the [[Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu alien underwater city T'Leth]]. |
| 868 | ** ''VideoGame/XComApocalypse'' had a series of raids to the alien world ending with a battle over dimension gate generators. With a stream of alien reinforcements teleporting in. |
| 869 | ** Even the final hidden star system in ''X-COM: Interceptor'' can be considered an example of this trope. |
| 870 | ** The SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/UFOAftermath'' stays true to the spirit and ends with a do-or-die assault on the Reticulan mothership docked on the far side of the Moon. |
| 871 | ** Another SpiritualSuccessor, ''{{VideoGame/Xenonauts}}'', has your scientist switch on his FTL jammer, preventing further alien reinforcements from arriving. The alins already in orbit then move to plan B, sending down their flagship filled with [[DemonicSpiders Reapers]] to a large city to start a ZombieApocalypse to wipe out humanity. Your team has to board it in mid air, then assassinate the alien commander on board and sabotage the ship to escape. |
| 872 | ** The final dungeon of ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' is the Temple Ship, an enormous UFO that encompasses a decent chunk of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also crewed by almost every alien species in the game. |
| 873 | ** The final confrontation in ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' takes place in an alien facility, built at the bottom of the ocean. To hammer home the point that this is the endgame, you are allowed to take injured soldiers on this mission. |
| 874 | * ''VideoGame/SilentStorm'' ends with your squad storming the Thor's Hammer headquarters and facing off against the leader of the conspiracy who is [[spoiler:wearing a flying version of a [[PoweredArmor Panzerklein]]]]. The goal is to stop them from launching a KillSat that would allow them to dominate the ravaged post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarII nations. |
| 875 | * In ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' 2 The Capital of Arulco, Meduna is the final area of the game. It is by far THE hardest portion of the game. The garrison is almost all Blackshirt Elites, armed with the best weaponry available and have access to TANKS. So if you weren't stockpiling those M79 LAW's, you're in for a bad time. |
| 876 | * ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'' outright tells you when you're at the final scenario of a campaign with a bit of text at the bottom of the scenario objectives. |
| 877 | [[/folder]] |
| 878 | |
| 879 | [[folder:Visual Novel]] |
| 880 | * You read that right. Even a visual novel like the Ace Attorney series can have a Very Definitely Final Dungeon. |
| 881 | ** The final case of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'' is tried not in a normal, run-of-the-mill courtroom, but in the exploded remains of one that had been bombed earlier in the game. |
| 882 | ** The final case in the duology of ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' is in a secret courtroom, has a special judge, the Lord Chief Justice himself, and is full of plot points from all over the duology. Its name? ''The Resolve of Ruynosuke Naruhodo''. |
| 883 | * Each ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' game has the final chapter (usually Chapter 6), where the final investigation begins. |
| 884 | ** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' has Chapter 6's investigation, [[spoiler: where the remaining students must now investigate the truth about their time at Hope's Peak Academy in order solve the unfinished case of Mukuro Ikusaba's death and deduce the mastermind's identity]] |
| 885 | ** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' has [[spoiler:the Graduation. A simplified version of the class trial room, however, it's in a tower in the middle of nowhere, with the background constantly changing between a neon-orange with Monokuma faces and black with Matrix's green numbers behind as the Neo World Program glitches and threatens the survivors' very existence. When Junko finally reveals herself, some walls go down and a giant Junko shows up stares down at the survivors while another Junko on her cellphone interacts with them]]. The investigation leading up to this also had an example of this, taking the remaining survivors through [[spoiler:a glitched-out, exposition-heavy version of Hope's Peak Academy, the setting of the first game and a key location to the entire franchise.]] |
| 886 | ** ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'' has Towa Hills, the former headquarters of the Towa Group which are now used as the hideout of the Warriors of Hope, the antagonists. It is an EvilTowerOfOminousness that is scaled in Chapter 5, and consists of one long climb with several areas and tough enemies and puzzles. |
| 887 | ** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' has the investigation of chapter 6 as this: [[spoiler:you investigate the entire school, now being destroyed by a battle between Keebo and the Exisals; this battle is happening while you investigate and you must fight the robots while investigating.]] |
| 888 | * Both ''Spirit Hunter'' games have a final location that is where the investigation of the last chapter takes place. |
| 889 | ** ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterDeathMark'': The [[spoiler:Underground Shelter]] serves as this for the main game, as it is the setting of Chapter 5, the last chapter, and where the endgame reveals start to happen. Like most levels, it is maze-like and has some puzzles and Live or Die choices in your way. |
| 890 | ** ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'': The [[spoiler:Momoi Department Store]] is the final area of the game where the final chapter takes place. Unlike the Underground Shelter from the previous game, which was a big maze, this area only consists of four rooms and has a single Crisis Choice and only one puzzle (gathering the items to carry out the Demon Tsukuyomi ritual), albeit one that takes a little while and requires a lot of searching. |
| 891 | [[/folder]] |
| 892 | |
| 893 | [[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]] |
| 894 | * ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours'' ends in Sosa's rather large mansion, fighting through his large personal retinue of mooks to finally give him his comeuppance. It's small hat compared to pretty much everything else on the list, but the game is fairly realistic as it stands, so it should be forgivable. |
| 895 | * ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'''s main storyline (initially) ends with the player character [[OneManArmy singlehandedly]] assaulting the Philips Building, a massive Combine Citadel-esque black tower that's been standing in the middle of the Saint's Row district for the entire game. First with an attack helicopter, and then breaking in and fighting the rest of the way up the building on foot. |
| 896 | * ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' [[spoiler:"ends" rather aptly, in The End, an EldritchLocation filled with nothing but endless expanses of air, a background that looks like TV static, making it very hard to see, tons of Endermen, massive Obsidian towers, and the Enderdragon. Although beating the Enderdragon serves as the final major scripted event in the game, the whole thing is a bit of a parody/subversion since it doesn't, well, ''end the game'' in any meaningful way. Once the dragon is dead, the game continues as before, and you can travel between the main world and The End at will, making it just another part of the open-ended sandbox.]] |
| 897 | * The final dungeon of ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' takes place on a prison island, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by floating mines, in a building run by the big bad and filled to the brim with hoards of hungry undead. And you can't leave once you've travelled there. |
| 898 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' has [[spoiler:Big Smoke]]'s Crack Palace, an abandoned set of apartments that the Ballas have taken over to install their drug factory. |
| 899 | * The GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' (Ending C, or 'Deathwish') has two - the foundry, where Michael, Franklin, Trevor and Lamar must fight off waves of [=FIB=] and Merryweather agents, and Devin Weston's mansion, where Trevor must sneak past Weston's guards to kidnap the CorruptCorporateExecutive himself. |
| 900 | * ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', with the majority of the game taking place in Florence, Tuscany, Venice, etc. has the last level as [[spoiler:Rome, your objective being to head through dozens of Templars trying to stop Ezio getting to the Vatican. You'll have to use all your horseback, blending, and sword-fighting skills to make it to the end, and the final boss battle does not disappoint (Unless in terms of difficulty, but it's satisfying.)]] |
| 901 | * The final mission of ''VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon'' takes place at Augustine's tower, a news building commandeered into DUP's base of operations and surrounded by concrete structures. The first half of the mission is a climb up the outside of the tower with the help of Delsin's smoke powers [[spoiler: and support from Fetch and Eugene,]] culminating with Delsin breaking in through the roof. The second half is a battle against [[BigBad Augustine]] [[spoiler:with Delsin absorbing Agustine's powers and memories, learning the truth of the DUP, and Augustine going OneWingedAngel with Delsin having to stall until Eugene can get him Core Relays so that he can actually use his new concrete powers.]] |
| 902 | * Level 7 in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun''. [[spoiler:It's the suburbs from Levels 1 and 4, but overran by zombies and given a Treehouse of Horror makeover. This is where Kang and Kodos' plan is at their peak, and the final missions of the game all involve driving across the entire map to blow up their alien ship.]] |
| 903 | [[/folder]] |
| 904 | |
| 905 | !! Non-video game examples |
| 906 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 907 | * The ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' FanFiction ''Fanfic/ThoseLackingSpines'' features one in the Fandom Hearts world "Los Machosexos", which Vexen, Xaldin, and Lexaeus lament about being a shoddy rip-off of [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII The World That Never Was]] ("Except they have a bowling alley."), and our three heroes, as usual, lampshade this. |
| 908 | -->"Let's go through the checklist," Xaldin suggested, one eyebrow raised high over the other as he examined their surroundings quizzically. "Dark skies?" |
| 909 | -->"Check," Lexaeus nodded. |
| 910 | -->"[[BizArrchitecture Foreboding, overly complicated architecture and/or some kind of ruins?]]" |
| 911 | -->"Indeed," Vexen confirmed. |
| 912 | -->"[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Epic-sounding technopop and/or metal music in the background?]]" |
| 913 | -->"Yep." |
| 914 | -->"[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Cryptic clues and references to the end of things, and/or excessively pretentious area names?]]" |
| 915 | -->"We have stepped into the Haven of Wasted Epiphanies," Vexen announced, reading from a convenient nearby sign. "Up ahead is the Village of Twisted Thoughts and the Subdivision of Broken Endings. Triple check." |
| 916 | -->"Yes. I thought so," Xaldin sighed. "This is a Final World if ever I saw one." |
| 917 | [[/folder]] |
| 918 | |
| 919 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 920 | * In ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', the ArcVillain intended for the dungeon of the hundredth floor of Aincrad, the "Ruby Palace", to serve this role. When Kirito uncovers the villain's plot, however, they allow him to fight the final boss right away, [[SubvertedTrope Subverting]] this trope. The video games ''Infinity Moment[=/=]Hollow Fragment'' play this straight, as the player is tasked with fighting their way through the last twenty-five floors of Aincrad and beating the game the way the villain intended. |
| 921 | * The Great Orcus Labyrinth from ''Literature/ArifuretaFromCommonplaceToWorldsStrongest'' was intended by [[GreaterScopeParagon The Liberators]] to be this by its creator and leader: Oscar Orcus. His Labyrinth consisted of around 200 floors to it: the first 100 floors being the '''Upper Levels''', and the lower 100 floors being known as the '''True Labyrinth''' which had far tougher enemies than the previous 100 floors, and required the usage of Magic learned from the previous six Labyrinths to successfully clear it. With those whom cleared the Orcus Labyrinth being gifted with access to [[PowerOfCreation Creation Magic]] as well as knowledge about the Liberators attempted fight against [[GodIsEvil Ehit]]. Unfortunately for the Liberators, many of the inhabitants of their world 2,000 years later all thought that The Orcus Labyrinth was actually the NoobCave due to how relatively easy it was to find, and aside from [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Yue]] and [[MainCharacter Hajime]]; nobody ever managed to get past floor 70 of the Upper Levels. |
| 922 | [[/folder]] |
| 923 | |
| 924 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 925 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The 5th edition storyline ''TabletopGame/TyrannyOfDragons'' has the Well of Dragons, the VolcanoLair of the Cult of the Dragon. The place is defended by armies of evil mercenaries, giants, devils, and chromatic dragons, and the Temple of Tiamat, an eldritch castle that exists simultaneously within the Material Plane and the Nine Hells, stands in the volcano's caldera. It is here that the Cult's leaders are performing a grand SummoningRitual to bring the dragon goddess Tiamat into the Material Plane. |
| 926 | [[/folder]] |
| 927 | |
| 928 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 929 | * The UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, especially in modern times. Whereas the other major American sports leagues (the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} MLB]], and the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL]]) have the teams play at each other's stadiums and arenas in a best-of-seven series, the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]] schedules the Super Bowl years in advance, ostensibly in order to prevent a team from playing the one-off championship game on their home turf.[[note]]It is theoretically possible for a team to do so, but until 2021 no team ever made it to the Super Bowl in a year when their stadium was hosting it. The 1979 Los Angeles Rams and the 1984 San Francisco 49ers both made it to the Super Bowl in years when it was held in their home cities, but both of those Super Bowls were scheduled for different stadiums (the Rose Bowl and Stanford Stadium, respectively). This streak was finally broken in 2021, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reaching the Super Bowl played in their own Raymond James Stadium.[[/note]] Furthermore, they typically award it to the biggest, most modern, and most high-tech football stadiums in the country, often in a place like UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}, UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, or UsefulNotes/LosAngeles that is virtually guaranteed to have warm weather even in the dead of February.[[note]]Only six Super Bowls have been played in northern cities, and of those, only one was in a stadium that did not have a dome or a retractable roof, Super Bowl XLVIII at [=MetLife=] Stadium in UsefulNotes/NewJersey.[[/note]] This means that the two teams are facing off in one of America's biggest and fanciest sporting venues, one that was most likely built for exactly that purpose. |
| 930 | * For [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball the other football]] across the Atlantic, the Usefulnotes/UEFAChampionsLeague ends in a single game at a high-end stadium that is chosen years in advance. The South American version is the final of the UsefulNotes/CopaLibertadores (originally played in both stadiums of the respective finalists, but eventually changed to a grand single match in a neutral field). |
| 931 | * What the Super Bowl is to American Football, and Usefulnotes/TheWorldCup for [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball everyone else's football]], the UsefulNotes/OlympicGames is to most other sports, and sports as a whole. Host countries spend years building entire sports complexes and, often, entire ''towns'' from scratch to accommodate the ridiculously high-profile event. Afterward, since the locals can't possibly make sufficient use of all the enormous facilities, the area usually becomes a GhostCity. |
| 932 | * As far as college goes, the Capstone Project is this when it comes to classes. It takes your knowledge gained via your Bachelor's program, and puts it to the test in an actual real world scenario to prove that you earned that degree. |
| 933 | [[/folder]] |
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