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Do Inaccessible Doors and Rooms in Gen VI annoy you?

Boss1708

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Many people criticized XY for the Locked Powerplant sections in Kalos. People even say XY is left incomplete because of those and consider them an "unsolved mystery of Gen VI".

I have also heard people complain about the locked doors in Mauville Hills, and also in New Mauville, both in ORAS.

An other case that could also be mentioned here is the closed Game Corner in ORAS.

So my question is, do these locked doors and sections annoy you? Do you percieve them as unnecessary teasers? Like parts of the game that should be explored, but never are?

Personally, whenever I find a locked door in a Pokemon game, and specifically those in XY and ORAS, I say to myself: "Well, GF probably left those rooms inaccessible, because there is nothing that is meant to be found there, and just put the doors to give the illusion of a bigger world ingame", and I didn´t see them as a teaser from GF to us. Basically, imo, they just serve the purpose of extra world building. And are not meant to be explored at all.

But some people consider them to be unnecessary teasers, because: "Why put doors in a game, only to tell us "the door is locked" when you interact with said door, if there is nothing behind? Why not just leave an empty wall there, if there is not meant to be anything behind it? Why give people the wrong impression on purpose?
Some people even claim that the game in question was rushed for production, and said doors are the proof of that, because they probably meant to make them accessible, but didn´t have time to put something behind them.

So, what is your opinion? Do locked sections bother you and make a game feel incomplete and unfinished, or do you just see them as "fleshing out the region"? Which ones from XY/ORAS bothered you personally?
 
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We might also throw in the perma-blocked doors at Mr. Backlot's mansion in Sinnoh.

These don't really bother me at all. I do wonder why they put the power plants there (particularly that one observatory-like power plant that they showed in the first XY trailer - why show it instead of the power plant that we actually visit?), but then, I also wonder why they have interaction messages for trash cans when so often there's nothing in them. Game Freak are weird sometimes and I guess I'm just used to it. :p
 
The whole Game Corner thing was fine since they don't allow the whole gambling theme in the games anymore. The locked doors at the powerplant probably doesn't mean much as they were probably never intended to be contain anything at all.
 
- Personally, the only locked door that probably bothered me to an extent, was the locked Mauville Casino in ORAS. It is a bit of a controversial thing, though. On the one hand, if they removed the Game Corner completely, people would´ve said that they removed Mauville´s most emblematic building and the only recognizable location of the original RSE Mauville aside of the Gym.
On the other hand, by leaving the building ingame, but having it locked and inaccessible (and putting the sad owner in front of it, complaining about how he was forced to close it, kinda makes me feel teased, because the Game Corner is still there, just a few steps away, but inaccessible.

- The locked Kalos Powerplants imo, are just normal Powerplants, and it makes sense they are locked. Those kind of doors shouldn´t be accessible for common people, only for the staff. I guess t could be argued that they could make them accessible for the Player Character in the postgame, as a thank you for saving them, but then again, there is not moch reason for this, if there is not meant to be anything to be seen there.

- The locked appartments in Mauville Hills are of 2 types: those where people live and don´t wanna open the doors, and talk to you from inside, and those that are empty.
The Empty ones are just for sale, and nobody lives there,s o it makes sense for them to be inaccessible. And those where people talk to you from the inside, idk. They could´ve been open for us to visit I guess. I am not convinced either way.

- The locked doors in New Mauville (and the blocked stairs) I think are just there for extra fluff. To make us feel that New Mauville is a huge complex, that is too dangerous to be explored any further, and that´s why it is inaccessible. And I don´t mean dangerous because something important is in there, but simply because something could fall on somebody´s head, or somthing.
 
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They do kind of bother me because of Empty Room effect, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to bother designing a door if you can't go through it.

But by themselves, they're not a big deal. The only reason the Power Plant is brought up is because it's a symptom of XY feeling incomplete.
 
I've never been bothered by the gen VI doors, because every game has doors you can't open. You want the environment to look real, so it's better to add more doors for that purpose than only add one door which you can actually open. It's more annoying when you can open all the doors and practically nothing is behind them, like is often the case in Castelia and Lumiose :/ I will never forgive all those darn cafes.
We might also throw in the perma-blocked doors at Mr. Backlot's mansion in Sinnoh.

These doors made me so mad though :p I think it's because characters were in front of them, telling you you couldn't go in, so somehow that made me feel like you could go in later, but it just never happened :(
 
We might also throw in the perma-blocked doors at Mr. Backlot's mansion in Sinnoh.

I actually forgot this one... So it´s not Gen VI that started the whole blocked doors thing... Good to know, because I only see people criticizing XY (and sometimes ORAS) on the matter.
The whole Game Corner thing was fine since they don't allow the whole gambling theme in the games anymore. The locked doors at the powerplant probably doesn't mean much as they were probably never intended to be contain anything at all.
Yes, it is fine there is no Game Corner games in ORAS, but my question was, would you rather have the locked Game Corner building in the game, or not have it at all in the game?
 
I actually forgot this one... So it´s not Gen VI that started the whole blocked doors thing... Good to know, because I only see people criticizing XY (and sometimes ORAS) on the matter.

Arguably, it could be seen as having started even further back with things like the upper floors of Silph Co. and the Kanto Radio Tower being blocked off in GSC, although those were due more to cartridge space reasons, which I doubt is the (main) motivating factor in the more modern instances.

Yes, it is fine there is no Game Corner games in ORAS, but my question was, would you rather have the locked Game Corner building in the game, or not have it at all in the game?

Personally, I don't mind it. I thought that what they did was a nice little tribute to/acknowledgement of the Game Corner, lamenting that it had to be removed for reasons outside their control.

You say that it feels like it's "only a few steps away," but realistically, the room itself is probably empty aside from maybe some decommissioned slot machines resting under sheets and tarps. Not a lot of fun to be had there even if you could go in. :p
 
Personally, I don't mind it. I thought that what they did was a nice little tribute to/acknowledgement of the Game Corner, lamenting that it had to be removed for reasons outside their control.
I guess you are right... If they had completely removed the Game Corner building, it wouldn't really feel like Mauville City anymore. I mean, with how much Mauville City changed between Gen III and ORAS, other than the Gym and the Bike place, the Game Corner building is probably the only thing left to remind us we are indeed in the same City from Gen III, so it makes sense that they left the Game Corner and its owner in ORAS. Besides, now that I think about it, the guy gives you all 3 dolls that were formerly prizes in Gen III, so that's gives even more purpose for him to be in the game, I suppose.

I just remember some people saying "Game Freak taunted us" by adding the locked Game Corner in ORAS, but yes, now that I think about it, it does makes sense that it was left in ORAS, as a homage and as a place of interest in the originals...

You say that it feels like it's "only a few steps away," but realistically, the room itself is probably empty aside from maybe some decommissioned slot machines resting under sheets and tarps. Not a lot of fun to be had there even if you could go in.
Yes, you may be right. It's just that I always imagined that the slots and roulette are in there, and fully functional, but just not allowed to be used xD
But I suppose that's just my fault for assuming this. They may be broken and unusable xD
 
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I guess locked doors for decoration would be pointless. As for the Game Corner issue, I think they really should have kept it accessable. The slot machines can be beat with skill and good eyes so it's not much gambling. The real gambling in Pokémon is catching them. Seriously. They removed the slots but kept the luck of catching Pokémon?
 
I don't mind doors that are just there for decoration. I only mind it when you have the ability to interact with the door, only for it to say "the door is locked." Having a door with interaction that never goes anywhere gives the illusion that it can be opened, if you find some kind of key or something. In my opinion, if the door is not meant to be opened, don't put text there at all that says "this door is locked" and just have it be a prop with no interaction.
 
I guess locked doors for decoration would be pointless. As for the Game Corner issue, I think they really should have kept it accessable. The slot machines can be beat with skill and good eyes so it's not much gambling. The real gambling in Pokémon is catching them. Seriously. They removed the slots but kept the luck of catching Pokémon?

Gambling laws in certain territories prevent them from including gambling in the games. They had no choice but to remove it.
 
I guess locked doors for decoration would be pointless.

It really isn't. Imagine you're walking into a hotel in the game. To make it look like a hotel there should be lots of doors, right? Because there should be lots of rooms in a hotel. Actually being able to open every door would be more pointless, cause most of the rooms will probably be empty (and GF already makes us do that lots of times). So only the doors that actually have someting of use in them are accessible.

I'd rather have the door locked than having to waste time walking inside only to find nothing there.
 
I'd personally be fine with purposeless doors being around places. It'd help give a feel that the places hold more than you think, just not in terms of stuff you'd get, but rather in a feeling kind of sense.

I mean, adding in inaccessable doors in houses can let us know that people actually have bathrooms and don't have to run to the woods to "do business". :p
 
Eh. I've played enough JRPGs to see this trend pop up again and again, so I'm pretty desensitized. In fact, I usually feel relieved when there's a locked door. Because of this crazy compulsive urge I have to open every single door and to explore everything. If there are too many paths, I tend to get really stressed out and frustrated. Seeing a door I can't open makes me go: "Whew. On to the next one!" I'm more of a linear type of person and don't feel the need to have control of every aspect of a game.
 
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I'd personally be fine with purposeless doors being around places. It'd help give a feel that the places hold more than you think, just not in terms of stuff you'd get, but rather in a feeling kind of sense.

I mean, adding in inaccessable doors in houses can let us know that people actually have bathrooms and don't have to run to the woods to "do business". :p

I don't really see the benefit in that kind of feeling because it's a pretty empty feeling, you don't get it from the game's actual content and merits, it's just implied realism. Meanwhile, from a gameplay perspective it can just come off as trolling/laziness, because it gives the impression that the game could've been bigger than it actually is.
 
Eh. I've played enough JRPGs to see this trend pop up again and again, so I'm pretty sensitized. In fact, I usually feel relieved when there's a locked door. Because of this crazy compulsive urge I have to open every single door and to explore everything. If there are too many paths, I tend to get really stressed out and frustrated. Seeing a door I can't open makes me go: "Whew. On to the next one!" I'm more of a linear type of person and don't feel the need to have control of every aspect of a game.

This though haha. I always obsessively have to explore every single corner of the game and am more than relieved when a world finally ends and I can't go any further. Which is why I hate Lumiose City so much, every time I arrive there I'm like 'welp there goes an hour of door opening again'. I'd rather just go on and play the game, but I don't want to miss out on something, so I can't skip all the door opening.

More closed doors would actually be a blessing :p
I don't really see the benefit in that kind of feeling because it's a pretty empty feeling, you don't get it from the game's actual content and merits, it's just implied realism. Meanwhile, from a gameplay perspective it can just come off as trolling/laziness, because it gives the impression that the game could've been bigger than it actually is.

In that case about 50% of all the buildings in towns should be deleted too, as you can't access them. But they're there anyway, so it actually looks like a town. Same goes with doors, they're there to make a building look like an actual building.
 
Eh. I've played enough JRPGs to see this trend pop up again and again, so I'm pretty sensitized. In fact, I usually feel relieved when there's a locked door. Because of this crazy compulsive urge I have to open every single door and to explore everything. If there are too many paths, I tend to get really stressed out and frustrated. Seeing a door I can't open makes me go: "Whew. On to the next one!" I'm more of a linear type of person and don't feel the need to have control of every aspect of a game.

Cool to know I'm not the only one who experiences this. :p
 
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