History Main / DoorToBefore

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' does this constantly with ledges that you can jump off of, but not climb up to. Finished all the quests in a dungeon? Just look for the 8-foot ledge you can drop from to be back at the starting point. ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands2}}'' adds one-way Fast Travel stations, often placed right before a boss, these let you skip the long dungeon run you just made to get at the boss and just teleport back to sanctuary, and pick up more quests.

** Averted in ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations Revelations]]'', where we never see any doors/passages inside the final chamber. This makes it unlear how Ezio manages to escape, having on at least one occasion destroyed the way in.

* The world of ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' is full of gates or normally-looking walls that you can take a long path to approach from the other side to either hit the switches that keep those gates open or destroy the support beams holding those walls in place, creating convenient shortcuts.

%%* All over the place in ''{{VideoGame/Fairune}}'', mostly in the form of push blocks forming bridges. Mostly averted in the underground caves, though.

* In both ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} I'' and ''IV'', Adol finds himself LockedInARoom at some point, then Dogi the Wallcrusher smashes a hole in the wall leading back to the beginning of the dungeon. Some of the games give you a [[WarpWhistle warp item]] to quick travel to previous areas, which may stop working after the PointOfNoReturn.

** Comes up twice in ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland''. To cross the Brimstone Beach, you have to make a bridge of wet towels to avoid burning your feet on the hot sand. At the end of the beach is a gate that lets you go around the beach instead. When you get to Skull Island, you can only reach the smugglers' cave by falling off the top of the cliff and using an umbrella to glide down to the entrance. Once you're inside the cave, you find a secret back door that cannot be opened from outside.

*** Normally, to fight the Dragon Priest Volsung in Volskygge and claim his CoolMask requires you to fight through the dungeon to the top of the mountain to reach his sarcophagus. However, you can bypass the whole ordeal by simply climbing the mountain from the outside, which doesn't even require any glitch exploits to achieve.

*** Normally, to fight the Dragon Priest Volsung in Volskygge and claim his CoolMask requires you to climb through the dungeon to the top of the mountain to reach his sarcophagus. However, you can bypass it by simply climbing the mountain from the outside, which doesn't even require any glitch exploits to achieve.

* The training level in ''VideoGame/{{Nox}}''. The ogre village level is an odd example of a search-and-rescue mission that ''does'' have a DoorToBefore -- namely, the front gate that can only be opened from the inside.
* The [[BonusDungeon Black Root Burrows]] in ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest: [[UpdatedRerelease Definitive Edition]]'' has a backdoor to Gumo's Hideout conveniently situated next to the [[WarpZone Spirit Well]], which is useful when returning for missed or previously unreachable items or secrets, since the Hideout lacks a warp point of its own.
* In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'':

* The ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series:
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has the warp points that let you teleport to any other one, including the one conveniently located at the entrance.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', the savepoint prior to a dungeon boss doubles as a teleport back to the entrance. Conversely, any time you enter a dungeon, you have the option of starting from the first floor, or going straight to the last floor you reached.
* This becomes a necessity in the ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' series, due to the time limit. You can spend one or more days exploring a particular area and, at some point, find and enable a shortcut (be it blowing up a hard wall with bombs, building a wooden bridge, or the like) so you can resume your exploration the following day.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has quite a lot of these, but the most jarring example is in the Broken Steel DLC where after going through the Satellite Relay Station, which is on a separate map west of the Capital Wasteland, you return to the latter through a door... up a friggin' mountain, at an incredibly small niche in the rocks that you cannot get back up to after jumping off it. Later, to reach Old Olney Powerworks, you have to go through a series of Deathclaw-infested utility tunnels followed by a ruined building, but the exit leads out of a previously locked manhole near where you started. The Powerworks itself has a backdoor to the Tesla Coil room that can be hacked if you've maxed out your Science skill.

* ''VideoGame/DungeonMaster'' has a stairwell spanning the levels past the Tome of the Firestaff. Each floor can be opened on the outside with a skeleton key, except for Des (which is opened from the inside with the switch), and the bottom-most floor which requires the winged key.

** ''Fallout 3'' and ''New Vegas'' also allow you to "fast-travel" to any location, skipping traveling around the world - as long as you've been to said location at least once.

*** As in Vault 114, the basement of Parsons State Insane Asylum is in initally entered via a one-way drop, so the only way out is the previously deactivated elevator to Jack Cabot's office in the administration area.

*** The escape sequence takes you behind Mother Brain's room and through the rest of Tourian as it's exploding, then give you a flat path to run down and inadvertently charge up your speed booster. Speed booster blocks allow you to charge through without knowing it--leading you right back to [[spoiler:the escape shaft from ''VideoGame/{{Metroid 1}}'', which you came back down through at the beginning of the game, allowing you to enter the former location of the Tourian base from the wrong side]].

** Another random example in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes''--after going up an elevator in the Ing Hive and transporting back to Sanctuary Fortress you go through this dynamo area, letting you save the game. You continue onward to the temple, then backtrack slightly and go a different way. Then you fight the Spider Guardian, and once you've beaten it, you find there is another exit at the top of the battle arena, which leads to a morph ball tube which suddenly ends and drops you--right back at the room just after that first elevator. You don't have to use the portals to get back, as you have the Spider Ball (the lack of which is what made you go into Dark Aether in the first place.)

* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', John initally travels to Mexico on a smuggler's raft down the Rio Grande, while taking fire from enemies on the riverbank, in an event that takes several minutes to get through. When he gets to Mexico, he can travel back to the U.S. by going over an enemy-free bridge, or fast-traveling instantly.

* Used well in ''Film/NationalTreasure'' - [[spoiler: when the BigBad leaves the heroes stranded in an underground mine shaft while he tracks down the next clue. Ben notes that the first thing the builders would have done after completing the first shaft would have been to cut a secondary shaft to promote air flow and decrease the danger of cave-ins. They quickly located the second and unguarded exit... which happens to be in the hidden Treasure Room]].
* In ''The Book of Secrets'' - [[spoiler: After barely surviving the booby-trapped and decaying corridors leading to the treasure, complete with three complicated counterweight devices, the group leaves by a corridor that's only a few yards from the surface. The explanation here is that the corridor allows the temple to be flooded and drained at will]].

* In the Doom novels written by Dafydd ab Hugh the Marines knew they could bust through doors with their missiles. They went the long way around because they needed to save the missiles for the crazed 'Hell Knight' enemies.

* Barnum used this in his American Museum, famously having signs "This Way to the Egress." Naturally, the egress was the exit, not an attraction, and some of his patrons were suckered outside where they'd have to pay to get back in. He exploited Refuse in Audacity.

* Often in ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'', but the numbered rooms in the tower sections are the most obvious.

** The Watcher's Keep in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'' is a pretty straight playing of this trope.

** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia'' forces you to fight a giant crab to get to the other side of a lighthouse. No explanation why you can't just ''go around the lighthouse.''
** ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]'' has a memorable instance of this trope: after exploring a large portion of the castle, you now find yourself on the far side of a wall you passed very early in the game. There is a conveniently placed ''cannon'' that you can use to blast the wall down. There is no reason or use for the cannon other than blasting down this wall.

* Anor Londo from the original ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''. Your first run through is a long and winding ordeal with lots of detours across perilously high scaffolding, eventually breaking into the main castle through a side window, but by the time you reach the fog gate to Ornstein and Smough you can create a path that's a straight shot from the bonfire at the far end of the map all the way to the boss with only a few easily-avoidable Sentinels standing in your way.

* There are many times in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' in which one appears. It's often due to [[BrokenBridge previously locked doors]] opening up, but the occasionally enemy breaking through the door occurs as well.

* All over the place in ''{{VideoGame/Fairune}}'', mostly in the form of push blocks forming bridges. Mostly averted in the underground caves, though.

** Happens in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' with the Teleport spell, but it ''only works in dungeons'' except the final.

* ''VideoGame/{{ICO}}'' employs the Door to Before trope extensively. It starts out deep within a castle's catacombs, then works its way into an EscortMission that takes [[KidHero Ico]] and [[FallenPrincess Yorda]] through a game-long flight across a full-scale island fortress. They navigate [[BrokenBridge inconveniently gaping chasms]], [[DeathTrap death-rigged rooms]], [[BlockPuzzle puzzle-based chambers]] and basically tour the whole building - ramparts, gardens, cemeteries - to [[LockedDoor unlock the one escape door]]. When you finally open the doors, [[spoiler: [[SavethePrincess she gets kidnapped]]]], so you have to climb your way back to where you started out at the catacombs for [[FinalBoss one last fight]].

* Creator/InsomniacGames loves utilizing this trope:

* Used in 'The Great Cave Offensive' in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'': In the beginning of the game you see tiles on the floor that are different than the floor; After making it through the labyrinth, collecting treasure and defeating bosses along the way, you find a bomb block that destroys the tiles leading you back to the surface where the game started with a Warp Star ready for you.

* The entrance to the Vulkar base in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', requiring the player to seek an alternate way through the rakghoul-infested Undercity sewers. There's also the exit from Ludo Kressh's tomb in the sequel, although it isn't visible from the other side.

* The ruin stages of ''VideoGame/LostInBlue'' and its sequel both have this feature.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' sort of has this; shortly after Chell escapes being dropped into a horrible pit made of fire, she slides through a tube into a test chamber she had already completed somewhat early on in the game and must go through it again to move on -- solving it in a different, unintended way.

* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' features plenty of this.

** ''[[VideoGame/PaperMario64 Paper Mario]]'' has some of these, although convenient switches to other characters hide how exactly Mario got out, on his own or by help of the newly rescued Star Spirit.

* Moria Gallery in ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' has a switch halfway through pulling which opens a staircase straight to the first level and another one at the end of the dungeon which goes straight to the previous, making a very convenient shortcut to the exit. Thankfully, both switches remain on for the whole 150 years, meaning [[BonusDungeon the newly discovered parts]] are accessible straight away.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' offers this option in the last dungeon, provided that you don't go straight for the last boss right away. Upon reaching the last area, a bit of hunting will provide you with a key item called the Sacred Stone that allows you to warp between the entrance of the last dungeon and the area right before the final boss. Also, there are a couple dungeons that you must pass through to get into some towns, like the Meltokio Sewers. To save players the frustration of having to traverse these dungeons each and every time you need to go into those towns, the game offers a "Quick Jump" option that lets you warp between the dungeon's entrance, and the town itself. Lloyd also [[BreakingTheFourthWall breaks the fourth wall at one point]] by asking why there isn't a Quick Jump option for a dungeon they had to go through a second time due to plot reasons.

** These generally take the form of elevators which are "in use" and inaccessible until you reach the point where they lead to. One ''particularly'' notable example, however, is a bird that will ferry you over a [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence three-tile-wide river]]. The resulting cutscene takes approximately 20 seconds and has [[https://tobyfox.bandcamp.com/track/bird-that-carries-you-over-a-disproportionately-small-gap its own triumphant musical theme]]. There's also the River Person, who doesn't appear until you reach Hotland, at which point you can get them to take you between there, Waterfall, and Snowdin.

** The Deadmines are a weird example. Even though you enter them through a house in the town of Moonbrook and keep going downwards all the way through, the one-way exit from the final cave takes you to a hill ''above'' Moonbrook.

* The Watcher's Keep in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'' is a pretty straight playing of this trope.

* In ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', there are literal doors and elevators that grant the players access to previously explored areas. These doors to before are locked the first time around, but, once unlocked with a key or keycard, they can be used in whichever direction the characters want, serving as a usfeul shortcut. [[LoopholeAbuse An improvised variation includes the players jamming one-way doors (like the one without a number in the hospital room) so they can backtrack.]]

* The ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series:
** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', the savepoint prior to a dungeon boss doubles as a teleport back to the entrance. Conversely, any time you enter a dungeon, you have the option of starting from the first floor, or going straight to the last floor you reached.
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has the warp points that let you teleport to any other one, including the one conveniently located at the entrance.

* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games have those ubiquitous ledges. You can hop down them, but not up, and they're often used as one-way shortcuts. Many Gyms also have puzzles that must be completed in order to reach the Gym Leader, but their completion sometimes opens a second route that makes a direct path out of the gym (but puzzles reset upon leaving. Alternatively, the Gym Leader may handily have a Warp tube back to the starting location.

* The hidden tombs in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' contain elaborate, time-consuming jumping puzzles. The final room of each tomb contains a convenient door leading directly outside.
** Although, in ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations Revelations]]'' we never see any doors/passages inside the final chamber. This makes it unlear how Ezio manages to escape, having on at least one occasion destroyed the way in.
** These jumping puzzles are made slightly less annoying by Ezio opening a Door to Before at fairly regular intervals, in the form of causing ladders or bits of masonry to fall such that you can climb back up if you fall off.

** Other examples include the Dunwich Building, the National Guard Depot, the National Archives (if you pass Button Gwinett's Speech challenge), the Statesman Hotel, the Chryslus Building basement, and the Germantown Police Station in ''Fallout 3'', the Sea Cave in ''Point Lookout'', and the REPCONN Test Site in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. In some (but not all) cases, the door can be opened by picking a lock or hacking a termnal, or an upper floor can be reached with precise jumping, [[SequenceBreaking allowing you to bypass the entire 'dungeon']]. Subverted by the Bomb Storage in Fort Constantine, where the outer doors can be picked, but the inner door is unpickable, and can only be unlocked with Tara's key, which to reach, you have to get Dukov's, Dave's, and Ted Strayer's special keys during "Shoot 'Em in the Head" to enter the bunker from the other side.
** Another example in ''Fallout New Vegas'' is Vault 22. You have to go through four floors, unlock a door and wander through a cave to reach the computer terminal. At which point a NPC appears to fix the elevator so you can easily travel across all the floors. However if you have a high repair skill you can fix it yourself, happily take it down to the lowest level, then only go through 1 room and a corridor to get to the terminal.

*** Another one opens earlier in the game after you defeat the boss of Maridia (though a few rooms before the boss chamber, rather than the boss chamber itself), allowing you to return to the area near the upper entrance. Though you'll probably be going a different way to continue the game, the passage is helpful when circling back to collect items that lie beneath one-way [[QuicksandSucks sand pits.]]

* The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'' series: