One-Time Dungeon

In video games with wide open worlds built on revisiting the same locations over and over, there are certain places that you can only enter once and never again. Sometimes this is because the place no longer exists thanks to being a Doomed Hometown or a Collapsing Lair. Sometimes it's because the plot keeps you out of it. Whatever the reason, these are places that can never be returned to.

The items inside the dungeon are frequently Permanently Missable Content and there are often times that you can only fill up your Monster Compendium by grinding there.

Note: In order to qualify, a game must generally be open to backtracking and not just have a linear advancement through it. So the 1950s areas in Portal 2, for example, don't qualify here.

Subtrope of Point of No Return, which is a part in a story after which you can't access anymore earlier areas. Every One Time Dungeon has a point of no return after which you can't access it anymore.

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Examples:

Action Game

• God of War (PS4): The duo can't return to explore most of Thamur's Corpse or Helheim beyond the bridge after completing those sections in the story.
• In the first Xbox Ninja Gaiden, you can't go back to the Ninja fortress of chapter 1 nor in chapter 3's airship since it crashes.

Action-Adventure

• The insides of Demon Whale in Alundra 2, which becomes unavailable after the thing turns back into a normal whale.
• In ANNO: Mutationem, the rooftops of Noctis City, the first major area, cannot be revisited after Loki's mecha is beaten, leaving any Treasure Chest left behind unobtainable until New Game Plus.
• Brave Fencer Musashi has the Noob Cave where Lumina is found, which can't be revisited after it is completed. You also can't enter Steamwood outside of the two Timed Missions where you need to prevent it from exploding nor can you ever ride the underground gondola ever again, not like any sane player would ever want to.
• In Cave Story, Waterway is accessible only from an area whose entrance shuts permanently after a certain point. Depending on which story-path you take, the entire Labyrinth may become inaccessible.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • Zelda II: The Adventure of Link provides an example with the Palaces that become Mountain squares on the overworld map after you beat them, but only after you both defeat the boss and collect the required item. The only things that can truly be lost are some Experience Point bonuses and a 1-Up doll in the sixth Palace.
  • In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Hyrule Castle and its tower are permanently locked after defeating Agahnim and entering the Dark World for the first time.
  • In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it is impossible to reenter the courtyard of Hyrule Castle after recovering all three Spiritual Stones and Zelda flees from the castle, as guards will be blocking the passageway indefinitely from that point on.
  • In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the areas at the very beginning of the game cannot be revisited once you have passed through them. This includes the Lost Woods, which cannot be returned to after Skull Kid transforms Link into a Deku Scrub, and the underground section (referred to as the "Portal" in the official Player's Guide) that follows, as the door in the Clock Tower basement can never be reopened. Fortunately, no items of any significance are in these sections. These areas are briefly revisited during the credits, though, where it is revealed that the withered tree in the Portal is actually the Deku Butler's deceased son.
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker:
    • Tetra's Ship is only ever visited at two points during the game. The first time is when Link joins Tetra's crew at the beginning of the game; the ship goes away after Link arrives at the Forsaken Fortress. The second time is when the ship is docked at Windfall; it will vanish after Link obtains Nayru's Pearl. The ship is seen again during the ending cutscene.
    • The Ghost Ship will permanently disappear the moment Link collects the treasure that's inside.^note A Triforce Chart in the GameCube version, replaced with a Triforce Shard in the Wii U version. Upon receiving the treasure, the screen will fade to black, and Link will reappear back on the open sea upon the King of Red Lions.
    • Subverted with the Forsaken Fortress, which sits completely abandoned after Link rescues Aryll and defeats the Helmaroc King, save for a few Keese, Rats and the lone Floormaster that will put Link into the prison cell on the second floor from when he lost his sword during the first visit. Link can still revisit the fortress, especially through the portal activated in Ganon's Tower, but the chambers for the Helmaroc King (consisting of the prison where Aryll was locked up along with Maggie and Mila and the top of the tower) and Ganon (the old pirate ship, also at the top of the tower) cannot be accessed again due to the old ship being burned up by Valoo just after Link and Tetra (later revealed to be Princess Zelda) escape with Komali and Quill. Moreover, if Link forgets to collect the Heart Container dropped by the Helmaroc King, he can still retrieve it in the Courtyard.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has the sewers and rooftops of Hyrule Castle. You can only explore these sections at two different points during the game, namely when Link first enters the Twilight, and again after clearing Lakebed Temple.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass has the fourth dungeon, the Ghost Ship. It has a Developer's Foresight moment: if you leave without taking its Heart Container, the only item in the dungeon relevant to 100% Completion, it is sent to you via mail to avert Permanently Missable Content.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has the final dungeon, the Sky Keep, which is inaccessible after you grab all of the Triforce Pieces due to falling into the Sealed Grounds to crush The Imprisoned. It has no Heart Pieces.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has the Divine Beasts that, unlike the shrines, can't be visited after clearing them. The Heart Containers found within are placed just outside them should you not pick them up before finishing the dungeon.
• Ōkami has the Moon Cave dungeon that cannot be accessed again once your defeat Orochi and leave it. There is also Oni Island, the miniature sections of the Imperial Palace, the Sea Dragon's body and Past Kamiki. This is generally not frustrating since these areas only contain Shop Fodder, but no important secret item — with one exception to the spoilered area, which has a dog to feed. If you overlook this on your one visit to that area, you cannot get 100% Animal Tome completion and you'll have to wait until the New Game Plus for another chance.
• Ōkamiden, the sequel to Okami, is not so forgiving. It has the Five-Story Pagoda, the Moon Cave (again), the Underground Ruins, and the Ice Room; all of these contain unique items that are needed for 100% Completion.
• Star Fox Adventures: DarkIce Mines and CloudRunner Fortress are the only satellital areas in the game that get sealed off after you defeat their respective bosses and retrieve their Spellstones. Fox can hang around their Arwing landing sites (as long as you replay their associated Arwing shooter levels), but that's it. The good news is that there's nothing missable (like Energy Cells or Cheat Tokens) in them, if only because none of the satellital regions have optional collectibles anyway.
• Pathways into Darkness: The Plot Tunnel starting with the one-way door near the end of "Warning: Earthquake Zone" and concluding with "Okay, Who Else Wants Some?" cannot be revisited, so missing either the Nuclear Device or the Lead Box before heading in, or forgetting to set the bomb or pick up the Alien Gemstone at the end of it renders the game unwinnable.

Adventure Game

• The Multi Dimensional Thief has a Portal Painting leading to Kansas, but is closed off once the witch is defeated.

Eastern RPG

• Breath of Fire:
  • In Breath of Fire I, Nanai and the dungeon beneath it are destroyed after you leave. Neither Mogu nor Mote's dream dungeons can be re-entered once you complete them. The Goddess' Tower is also destroyed after Jade releases the Goddess.
  • In Breath of Fire II, a few locations become unrevisitable:
    • The well beneath Capitan, as it floods after beating the boss. A few items can be missed, but furthermore, there are several trapped and possessed villagers (some of whom can potentially be chosen as carpenters to build Township later on) who can be missed for good if you don't go back for them.
    • The vast majority of Mt. Fubi, as a rockslide destroys it after you beat the bosses (though a shortcut gets created as a result).
    • HighFort can only be done once, as the fortress undergoes extensive damage following the boss fight there, and becomes completely inaccessible following Sten's arc.
    • The levels that take place "inside" someone or something — the interior of Grandpa the Whale is inaccessible after you wake him up; Gandaroof's mind is only available until you defeat Aruhamel/Alzheimer; and the Queen of Tunlan's body is only available until she loses all her excess weight.
    • Gandaroof's mind even has its own example-within-an-example: The initial village you visit, populated by elderly men? Once you visit the town of Gandaroof's youth, one child there will remark that there's no town there, but a tower. Returning to the town of elderly men will reveal it to be the actual dungeon of the area.
    • The trial/catacombs area of Wyndia is unavailable after Nina completes her trial there.
    • The Grand Church is only available to visit once. It collapses after you defeat the boss and either kill or free Ganer. Similarly, the toilet dungeon you escape through on your initial visit can only be done once.
• Chrono Trigger:
  • The Fiendlord's Keep is this once you defeat Magus and the Time Warp sucks in the fortress itself.
  • The Black Tyrano fortress in 65,000,000 B.C. is destroyed when Lavos crashes into it (although its boss reappears in the Giant's Claw dungeon later on). Mt. Woe in 12,000 B.C. (a floating mountain) is no longer accessible after the chain anchoring it to the ground breaks and it falls into the sea.
  • The Ocean Palace in 12,000 B.C. is no longer accessible after Lavos awakens, destroying it and the Kingdom of Zeal.
  • Also the Black Bird as the heroes accidentally shoot it down after recovering the Wings of Time and finding that Dalton not only installed weapons but altered the controls while failing to label the buttons.
  • The Black Omen is also a possibility, depending on which time period you finish it in. Completing it in the earliest time period (12,000 B.C.) prevents you from finishing it in the other two (600 A.D. and 1,000 A.D.) Going from the most recent time period to the oldest allows you to complete it 3 times total.
  • Once you beat the boss of Geno Dome, Robo shuts the place down permanently, putting an end to its human-processing operations but also effectively killing the robots and computers inside. Including whichever one was responsible for opening the front door.
• Several areas in Cosmic Star Heroine cannot be revisited, especially ones you visit before getting your own spaceship. Among them are the building from the opening mission, the jungle path to a lab on Rhomu (the lab itself can be revisited later), API headquarters, the Underwater Base on Araenu and the asteroid.
• The Ultharian spaceship in Cthulhu Saves the World becomes inaccessible once you defeat its boss because it crashes into the planet. Not even a chance to revisit it in the form of a holodeck simulation which wouldn't be out of place in a silly game.
• The beginner dungeon in Dubloon cannot be accessed after Bradley curb-stomps you. Thankfully there is nothing in this dungeon that can't be acquired anywhere else.
• The Final Fantasy series has plenty of these.
  • Final Fantasy II has the Dreadnought, which is destroyed by the party and Emperor Palamecia's cyclone castle, which dissipates once he's defeated. Unfortunately, the cyclone also wiped half the towns off the world map before that, so here it's not just dungeons that get the worst of this trope. The towns are still visible on the map, but they are completely wrecked and cannot be entered. Castle Palamecia is also one of these thanks to the Emperor destroying it with his newfound demonic powers.
  • Final Fantasy III has a floating Hyne Castle, which after finishing gets planted into a forest you're not allowed to get back to.
  • Final Fantasy IV has the Tower of Zot, which collapses once finished with, as well as the Giant of Bab-il, and the Tower of Bab-il's two parts. Unlike the first two, the Tower of Bab-il actually remains on the world map — it's simply closed off.
  • This happens in quite a few dungeons in Final Fantasy V, such as Karnak Castle, the Lonka Ruins, the Barrier Tower, Exdeath's Castle, Fork Tower and others are destroyed or otherwise disappear.
  • In Final Fantasy VI there's the Imperial Camp, Phantom Train, Magitek Research Facility, Sealed Cave, Floating Continent, and Cyan's Soul. There's also Kefka's tower, but only half of it.
  • Final Fantasy VII has several locations that can only be visited once: Sectors 1 and 5 reactors, Shinra Headquarters (won't be revisited again until the raid late in Disc 2, and can't be revisited after that), Cave of the Gi, Corel Prison, Temple of the Ancients, Gaea's Cliff (and by extension the Whirlwind Maze), Underwater Reactor, and Midgar sector 8 during the raid.
  • In Final Fantasy VIII, there's Dollet Communications Tower, Galbadia D-District Prison, Missile Base, Galbadia Garden (during the attack), Great Salt Lake and Lunatic Pandora (only visited twice) leading to almost all locations inaccessible due to Time Compression. Not to mention the Laguna dream sequences.
  • Final Fantasy IX: Evil Forest, the Ice Cavern, Cleyra, Fossil Roo, and all of Terra (including Pandaemonium).
  • Final Fantasy X has Home which is destroyed immediately after leaving, the Bevelle temple and the Via Purifico (which are blocked off).
  • Final Fantasy XII has several, and in an uncharacteristic act of kindness, the programmers indirectly tell you which ones by giving you a prompt about not being able to leave them until you finish them when you try to save in them:
    • Nalbina fortress which is only there in the prelude due to it being destroyed.
    • Rabanastre Palace during the heist.
    • Nalbina Dungeons which is only accessible during your escape.
    • Several airship dungeons including the Leviathan and Shiva.
    • Draklor Laboratory in Archades.
  • Final Fantasy XIII is mostly linear, with only the areas you can access in the last few chapters being revisitable. Among those, Orphan's Cradle has the paths you traverse between its boss fights disassemble themselves after you move on, leaving its hub section as its only permanently accessible area.
• The Golden Sun franchise has a few:
  • In the first game, the very first dungeon, Sol Sanctum, becomes inaccessible after you've completed it.
  • Dark Dawn has multiple Points of No Return, but two stand out for completely opposite reasons. The first one is the Clouds of Passaj, which come immediately after the second Point of No Return and the only one where the game warns you ahead of time that there's no going back after this point. ^note Ironically, every area in between the first and second Point of No Return actually does become accessible again after the final Point of No Return and there's one sidequest that can only be completed by returning during this time, though it still counts as a Point of No Return because there's one Djinni that can only be obtained before this point. After getting through the Clouds, you can't reenter them. The game's fairly merciful, though, in that the only treasure chests in the area contain common items that can easily be bought in item shops. The second, far more insidious one is the Belinsk Ruins. There's nothing to indicate that once you have the band play Arangoa Prelude, you won't be allowed to leave Belinsk until you complete the Ruins and even less to indicate that once you do, you'll have to leave Belinsk by sea when you entered it by land, and furthermore that Arangoa Prelude was in fact the third PoNR and that leaving Belinsk after the Grave Eclipse has started is the fifth, since you also can't go back into the Ruins after you've beaten their boss. There are two special summons that are only available during this time, as well as one Djinni and some fairly nice items in the dungeon's chests.
• Kingdom Hearts:
  • Kingdom Hearts: Destiny Islands cannot be revisited after the prologue, since it is destroyed. While you can visit Halloween Town anytime, Oogie's Manor cannot be revisited after defeating Oogie Boogie, as he merges with his manor for another fight. Thus the manor is destroyed afterwards, as well as a Red Trinity Mark that, if missed, can't be recorded in the journal (subverted with any regular treasure chests that were missed, which just get moved to the area that had been under the manor before its destruction). The Final Mix Updated Re-release moved that Trinity Mark to fix the issue.
  • Birth by Sleep: The Land of Departure and Keyblade Graveyard cannot be accessed in the Final Episode, since Aqua transforms the former into Castle Oblivion, while the latter is inexplicably locked. Their Endgame+ superbosses can only be fought in the other episodes and only after you beat the Final Episode, so if you deleted your old save files before starting the Final Episode, you are screwed.
  • Kingdom Hearts III: The Realm of Darkness (or the Dark World) and the Land of Departure are this, as you cannot visit them again after your business there is finished.
• Last Scenario generally averts this, with one notable exception; the Biorite Facility can only be visited once, given that the party rigs it to explode.
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails: A frequent occurrence from Trails in the Sky SC onwards is to have at least one dungeon that can only be explored on the first visit, or if it can be revisited to make things like Monster Encyclopedia data only obtainable once. This includes the Lakeside Laboratory, the first part of the Glorious and the 'Another Dimension' versions of the four Towers in Sky SC, Gehenna in The 3rd, St. Ursula Medical College Research Building in Trails from Zero, lots and lots of dungeons in Trails to Azure and everything in Trails of Cold Steel other than the Old Schoolhouse, since Trista is the only location you get to see in more than one Chapter. Despite having free travel for much of the game, most of Cold Steel II's dungeons are also single-visit because the situations that lead you to fight in them go away after the first time. Notable exceptions are the four Shrines and the Ancient Quarry.
• Mother:
  • In both EarthBound Beginnings and EarthBound (1994), Magicant vanishes. In the first game, Magicant can be revisited prior to completing a particular subquest; in the latter, it's a true One-Time Dungeon with a few special items that are permanently missable. There's also Moonside in EarthBound, which is just an illusion created by the Evil Mani Mani, and disappears when it is defeated.
  • Mother 3 uses a Chapter system, but most dungeons and areas in the game can be revisited in at least one later chapter (although the enemy types and layout will change with the plot). The major exceptions are the Attic Dungeon in Chapter 4, which becomes inaccessible once the Chapter ends with its completion, and the Thunder Tower, which is only accessible in Chapter 5 because the story at that point involves infiltrating and destroying it.
• Octopath Traveler II: The Sacred Guard Ship, which is explored during Temenos' second chapter, sails away and cannot be revisited after fighting the boss there (though its icon still appears on the world map).
• Persona:
  • Persona 2: Most of the dungeons are these. When you try to reenter, a member of your party will complain to stop goofing off, or explain that they don't need to go there. In any case, most of them get destroyed anyway, either by Sudou during his reign of terror, or Zodiac Shrines that sprout in their place.
  • Persona 4 Golden has the Hollow Forest, the bonus dungeon. When your party discovers it, you're warned that it's rapidly disappearing, which means that you don't have long if you want to save Marie. Once you get what you came for, the dungeon self-destructs and is no longer available.
  • Persona 5 features Palaces, dungeons that are based around the distorted desires of villainous individuals. Once the treasure representing the owner's desire is stolen, the Palace ceases to exist; it is up to the player when exactly to steal the treasure and trigger the collapse of the palace, meaning any chests that were not opened before or on the last day are lost forever. Any Personae found in the Palace, however, can either be fused or found in Mementos.
• Pokémon:
  • The S.S. Anne in Pokémon Red and Blue. After you heal the captain and he gives you the Cut HM, the ship sails away, never to return. This leads to a few items there, including TMs, being no longer obtainable if you didn't get them.
  • In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the Team Magma/Team Aqua Hideout becomes inaccessible after beating Tate & Liza, which unfortunately makes the Master Ball unobtainable if you don't get it before then. Thankfully, this doesn't happen in Emerald or the remakes.
  • The Distortion World in Pokémon Platinum. The initial, plot-relevant area is one-time, anyway; you can enter it again later, though it's a different section of it.
  • N's Castle in Pokémon Black and White is destroyed and cannot be revisited. It can be in the sequel, though, as it is a Bonus Dungeon there.
  • Pokémon X and Y has the Team Flare Secret HQ, which is destroyed after clearing it. Fortunately, there's nothing there that you can miss out on.
  • Ultra Space in Pokémon Sun and Moon.
  • The dungeons you explore in the future and The Nightmare in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers
  • Subverted to a degree in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity. While the Glacier Palace and the Magnagate dungeons used to reach it can't be visited again through normal methods, it's possible to temporarily be warped into them for a few floors while exploring specific dungeons in the post-game.
  • Showdown Mountain in Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon is only available once during a mandatory main quest, and isn't accessible afterwards.
• Sands of Destruction:
  • Sky Gaol is technically visited trice, but the first time you can access only a tiny portion, and the third visit is cutscene-only after which the entire place is turned into sand by Kyrie's Power Incontinence. It leaves the second visit the only time you can really explore it and complete all four of its sidequests.
  • Several other dungeons just end up closed or otherwise inaccessible after the game decides that your business here is done. This includes Botanical Gardens, Clockwork Manor, Whale Boneyard, and the interior of your ship.
• As Skies of Arcadia is a fantastical twist on the Age of Exploration, the few places that cannot be revisited tend to be smaller than usual for this trope. The dungeons that cannot be revisited are the ship manned by Alfonso that's raided in the opening, Valua's Grand Fortress (which is part of a prison break sequence, Dangral Island, the interior of the Hydra airship (lost after defeating Galcian, its captain), and the Great Silver Shrine. Dangral Island and the Great Silver Shrine can be visited repeatedly once assessed, but will both be destroyed after certain points in the story: Dangral will fall apart after the second story-mandated trip to it, while the Great Silver Shrine is eventually used to destroy Soltis' barrier during the final assault against Galcian's forces.
• Shin Megami Tensei:
  • In Digital Devil Saga, The Deserted Ship in the first game and the Power Plant in the second, which are both destroyed after completion.
  • Shin Megami Tensei IV:
    • The Monochrome Forest is only explored once, then becomes unavailable after you leave it. However, the demons that appear there can later be encountered in the Central Breakwater area, but getting there requires a Global Airship that requires some optional mini-dungeons and a quest.
    • The alignment-specific final dungeons, Purgatorium and Lucifer Palace, close up after you beat their respective Final Bosses. While it's logical that you can't access them anymore on Law or Chaos since there's nothing more of value you can do afterwards, this trope is in play on the Neutral route since after defeating those two dungeons' main bosses you can continue to explore Tokyo and Mikado, visit dungeons, and do sidequests until you decide to wrap up the game by deliberately visiting a specific location.
  • In Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, Lucifer Palace from SMTIV makes a return, once again disappearing once you beat the main boss inside of it. It sticks out more in this game because it's even earlier relative to the main body of the game if you're pursuing either of the full-length routes.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga has the entire beginning of the game; specifically, Mario Bros. house, Peach's Castle (where you fight Bowser), Toadtown Square, the Koopa Cruiser, and the Mushroom Kingdom side of Stardust Fields before the Border Jump minigame. There's also Chucklehuck Woods Underground (after beating the Chuckolator), the Guffawha Ruins (which can only be visited by Luigi from the entrance), the S.S. Chuckola, the repaired Koopa Cruiser, and the Beanbean Castle Town's houses after the second destruction, which are all are visited at one point and all become inaccessible for repeated visits after completion.
  • In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the player can only explore the Koopa Cruiser (when playing as Baby Mario and Baby Luigi) and the Shroob Mothership once. After the player completes those areas after leaving them, you can't return to those areas again.
  • Mario & Luigi: Dream Team:
    • During Mario's first visit to the Dream World, Mario swims through the rift between the Real and Dream worlds. In subsequent visits to the Dream world, this area is skipped.
    • Mushrise Park has an area that is treated as part of it, but it is counted as a separate area on the mini map rather than part of the main area, separated by a yellow connector that marks paths to other parts of Pi'illo island rather than a white connector that marks paths to different sections of the same part of the island. Later, after the Zeekeeper shoots down Neo Bowser Castle, this area becomes the entrance to the castle and is treated as such, and the original version cannot be accessed again.
    • The last two sections in Bowser's Dream are inaccessible after defeating Giant Bowser, as the cannon that shoots Mario and Dreamy Luigi there no longer functions, marked by a green "X" over it.
  • Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam has an odd example. When Bowser Castle takes flight and becomes Neo Bowser Castle, the game treats it as a completely different dungeon, but the structure remains almost the same, with the sky replacing the earlier lava pits. So, while you can't revisit Bowser Castle, it could be said that Neo Bowser Castle makes up for it.
  • Paper Mario 64:
    • Played straight prior to Chapter 5 with the belly of a whale Mario and his team must go inside of in order to relieve him of a bellyache. After Fuzzipede has been defeated, the whale's body cannot be entered again. This particular whale then serves as transportation for Mario and his team back and forth between Toad Town and Lavalava Island, the home of Mt. Lavalava and the guardian of the fifth Star Spirit.
    • Also played straight with the tomb of Madam Merlar after Mario and his team obtain the Star Stone from her, which is needed to access the summit of Shiver Mountain and the Crystal Palace. Placing the stone in the pedestal causes a flight of staircases to rise, blocking the entrance of the tomb.
    • Subverted with several dungeons, which are still accessible, but certain rooms cannot be entered again. These rooms are the jail cell where Mario and his team found Bombette in Koopa Bros. Fortress^note Mario and friends were tricked by the Koopa Bros. into hitting a booby-trapped ? Item Box, which dropped them into the cell, and then use Bombette's exploding abilities to escape. After defeating the Koopa Bros., the hole gets patched up and the cell cannot be entered again., Lava Piranha's lair in Mt. Lavalava^note Due to the eruption after completing the dungeon, the bottom floor leading to the lair becomes unsuitable for Mario and his team to walk on, preventing it from being accessed again. and the secret passageway in Princess Peach's bedroom^note The game had segments between chapters where Peach, whose castle is sitting on top of Bowser's Castle after Bowser hoisted it into the stratosphere, used the passageway several times to sneak out of her bedroom to obtain information about the Star Spirits, as well as leave any items she finds while sneaking through the castle for Mario in a magic chest connecting to Merluvlee's residence, unless you decide to skip them and leave Mario and his team to take them when they reach the castle; the only two items, however, that are permanently missable are a Jammin' Jelly she wins in a quiz show between the Chapter 5-6 segment (obtained by answering most of the questions correctly, whereas the consolation prize is the Sneaky Parasol, which is mandated for the final sneak-out) and a Shooting Star from a Hammer Bro. in the Chapter 6-7 segment (obtained by talking to him while disguised using the Sneaky Parasol). The Chapter 6-7 intermission is her last chance of leaving Mario those items that she finds, because afterwards, she can't enter the passageway again due to her last segment after all the Spirits are freed being a cutscene prepping for the final fight. Likewise, Mario and his team also cannot access the passageway upon reaching the castle..
  • Super Mario RPG has the Booster Hill Track. While you can revisit it anytime later to just run the empty track for fun or with a Beetle Box to catch some bettles, you can only ever race Booster once. You only get one shot at getting as many flowers from Peach as possible, any you don't get are Permanently Missable Content^note Though there are more flowers in the game than you need to reach 99 Flower Points so this is something of a moot point, and even Save Scumming is impractical (though not impossible) as the race happens immediately after fighting Knife Guy and Grate Guy.
  • Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door:
    • This game has segments after every Chapter where you get to play as Peach and Bowser. While these mostly boil down to uncovering information and minigames, the Bowser segments that come after Chapters 2, 4 and 6 contain unique side-scrolling levels based on Super Mario Bros.. As these "Bowser" levels containing nothing of any real significance, once you complete one, there is no way of replaying it. This also applies to Bowser's Castle right after Hooktail has been defeated, as well as Rawk Hawk's private gym.
    • Subverted with certain locations that can be revisited, but certain rooms can't be reentered. They include the abandoned major and minor league locker rooms at the Glitz Pit^note Mario and friends are locked in the minor league locker room prior to the champion match with Rawk Hawk, who was responsible for locking them in there so they'd forfeit, and have to make their way through the other major league locker room to return to the locker room they were in before the match; afterwards, they cannot reenter those locker rooms, plus the bathrooms, the interior of Cortez's ship, the Black Skull^note The Boss Battle with Cortez takes place in the ship's cabin, and after getting the Sapphire Star, Lord Crump attacks the island and you have to return to the cabin of the Skull to enlist Cortez's help in a counterattack against the X-Nauts; after that battle, the cabin becomes inaccessible, but you can use the ship to traverse back and forth between Rogueport and Keelhaul Key, the baggage car and rooftops of the Excess Express^note Mario and his team visit the baggage car twice: the first time to get Ghost T.'s diary and the second time to fight the horde of Smorgs on the roof of the train; after Smorg is defeated, the rooftops and baggage car can't be entered again, and Gloomtail's chamber in the Palace of Shadow^note The corridor leading to this chamber eventually becomes a Secret Underground Passage leading to the Shadow Queen's throne room and crypt, and this chamber also has a Secret Room containing a Jammin' Jelly and an Ultra Shroom; after Mario and his team obtain the Star Key from Gloomtail, plus all eight pedestal keys, then use them all to open the secret path, the corridor leading to Gloomtail gives way, preventing those rooms from being accessed again.
    • Double subverted with the X-Naut Fortress located on the Moon, which explodes due to a power failure after the boss of that dungeon has been defeated, but is accessible again after defeating the Final Boss.
• The Tales of... series has a handful of these scattered throughout its various entries. Examples include:
  • Tales of Phantasia: The Catacombs and Thor, the latter of which serving as a MAJOR Point of No Return as well.
  • Tales of Symphonia: Every Human Ranch, except for Iselia's, as well as the dungeons within Welgaia and the Tower of Salvation.
  • Tales of the Abyss: Deo Pass and Akzeriuth Mine Shaft 14, which are destroyed in Akzeriuth disaster.
  • Tales of Xillia: The E.S.S. Zenethra.
  • Tales of Xillia 2: Every single Fractured Dimension.
  • Tales of Berseria: The Calix, a Pocket Dimension made to trap the party, can't be revisited.
  • Tales of Arise: Mobile Fortress Gradia is sunk by Vholran after you beat Almeidrea, so you can't return here. It's the only place in the game with Permanently Missable Content, as it contains an owl for the Collection Sidequest.
• Tokyo Xanadu: The Viridian Path, Amber Waterway, and Frost Demon Path labyrinths in the After Story. They're short and linear dungeons that you only visit once to reunite with the other X.R.C. members after they've been separated. But afterwards, you're unable to revisit them, even from the Eclipse selection menu.
• Wild ARMs 4:
  • Tutorial dungeons, Sunlit Path and Ravaged Forest, are destroyed along with Jude's Doomed Hometown.
  • All villainous vehicles, namely Aerial Fortress Eulalia, Silver Star Express, and Garra de Leon, end up destroyed. Notably, the party doesn't have a hand in any of these.
• Xenoblade Chronicles:
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 1: Twice in the first game. First, a good chunk of the Ether Mines in Colony 6 becomes unavailable after the boss has been defeated; and well after that, it ups the ante by locking away the entire freaking Mechonis, i.e. the other half of the game world, after it's been destroyed.
  • The Lifehold Core is the only place in Xenoblade Chronicles X that can only be played once; afterwards you can only hang around the outside parts. Thankfully, it has no missable items nor elements.
  • The very first dungeon of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the Ancient Ship, is one of these. Handful of consumables in chests and the usability of two Guest Star Party Members, but nothing else of value can be missed within.
• In Ys IV (both Mask & Dawn), the raising of the Ancient City causes certain dungeons to be destroyed or rendered inaccessable. After the city of Kefin reappears in Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand, the desert town is buried by a sandstorm, and the dungeon under Xandria collapses while you're escaping from it. In Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, the Romun Fleet is destroyed by Galba-Roa after you're finished there, and Zemeth Sanctum also is destroyed by the Ark's revival.

First-Person Shooter

• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!: Helios Station cannot be revisited after you escape from it in the prologue of the game, making the boss of this location impossible to farm.
• In My House, the Daycare Center and Bathhouse are only accessible once, and the Brutalist House can only be visited twice at most, making the artifacts required for the true ending in these areas permanently missable.

Interactive Fiction

• Eamon: the Beginner's Cave (on the game's Main Hall disk) is accessible only once. The game checks when the player tries to access it; only a true beginning character is allowed to enter, and a player who finishes the cave is no longer a beginner.
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984): Completing one of the sublocations can close it off to further play, usually by an insta-kill that sends you back to the Heart of Gold.

Metroidvania

• 2: The dream areas that are found in each zone (including the intro) by sleeping in a bed. Once you grab the Heart Container and leave, the beds inside each dream will explode.
• Hollow Knight:
  • The Path of Pain within the White Palace can't be replayed after completion (but then again, would you want to?). The Palace itself originally became inaccessible once you obtained its Kingsoul fragment, but that was changed when the Path of Pain was added.
  • The side area of the Abyss where the Lifeblood Core is found becomes permanently inacessible on the Charm is obtained.
• Iconoclasts: There are several sections in the areas that get locked off through plot progression, such as the Omega Controller tunnels in Darland Ascent and nearly all of One Concern East.
• Metroid usually averts this, as nearly every game allows players to explore the whole part of the overworld map available. But there are exceptions:
  • Super Metroid has the Ceres Space Colony. The only fight you deal with there is Ridley and escape.
  • Metroid Fusion: The top secret laboratory becomes inaccessible after being explored as its emergency protocol is activated which detaches it from the BSL Space Station and sends it hurtling into SR388 to prevent the Metroids onboard from escaping into the space station. It fails.
  • Metroid Prime: The Frigate Orpheon in the prologue. In its wrecked-but-still-operating state, it can only be explored during the prologue of the game; after the first boss is defeated and Samus escapes in her gunship to land onto Tallon IV, the vessel crashes not too far from the heroine's landing site, and eventually it can be revisited in its flooded, badly altered form. Even then, all of its content and gameplay have changed and are now considered to be part of the Tallon Overworld area; this also means that, if you didn't scan the place's missable log entries or unique enemies, you never will for the remainder of that save file unless you're playing the Wii version and wait until the New Game Plus.
  • Metroid Prime 3: Corruption: The GFS Olympus is only available during that game's prologue and (thankfully for its living passengers) does not get destroyed despite suffering a Space Pirate attack; the closest thing you'll get to reliving your moments there comes when you visit and explore the GFS Valhalla, which has a nearly-identical layout and theme to Olympus but was internally destroyed by the Pirates shortly before the events of the game and all that remains now is a Ghost Ship.
• In the vanilla edition of Ori and the Blind Forest all of the major dungeons, as well as the maze portion of the Misty Woods, are either destroyed or sealed off upon completion, but the Definitive Edition allows you to revisit them, and also removes the much-maligned Point of No Return at the Final Dungeon entrance.
• Tails Adventure: Coco Island is intended to be one of these (Completion of the level causes it to transform into The Battle Fortress), with two items within. However, an oversight on the part of the devs^*When the player completes the Lake Rocky tunnel leading to Coco Island, the game deposits the player onto Coco Island on the map... even if it's already become the Battle Fortress causes the trope's technical aversion.

MMORPG

• City of Heroes is generally very good when it comes to backtracking, as you can replay most story arcs and badge missions at will via the Flashback System. However, Praetorian Characters get hit by this trope hard. The first three Praetorian zones can be revisited at any time, but the story arcs can never be replayed once you outlevel them. The Praetorian Alignment Badges and Temporary powers are lost if you don't have them when you leave. This is due to an issue with the game's Karma Meter.^note Resistance and Loyalist characters are their own alignments, and certain contacts are only accessible if you have the corresponding alignment. As you can change your alignment multiple times throughout the storyline, being able to replay the arcs as a Hero or Villain would screw things up. Praetoria used to be a much more extreme example of a One-Time Dungeon. When the zones were first released, leaving Praetoria at level 20 meant leaving it permanently. There was no way back! Things have gotten much more relaxed now.
• Pre-Searing Ascalon in Guild Wars invokes this via Doomed Hometown. It's intended as a tutorial area to leave at around level 4 or so, but the area is so pretty and nostalgic that some players choose to stay there forever.
• In MapleStory once you leave Maple Island, you can't go back. That ship inexplicably only goes in one direction. The game blends this with Guide Dang It! and Permanently Missable Content, because there is a special quest reward that will boost your HP recovery while resting that you can only get by sticking around.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic has this with the various storyline missions for each class. Each storyline mission, of which there are dozens for each class storyline, can only be played once per character. While side quests and flashpoints and operations (raids) can be repeated indefinitely, there are several hundred missions across the 8 class storylines that can only be played once.
• World of Warcraft: Cataclysm introduces several in the form of Doomed Hometowns for the Worgen and Goblin races. It is possible to return to Gilneas, although there is no longer anything there (and that means absolutely nothing, no NPCs and no enemies, which arguably makes an already Bleak Level even creepier). However, Kazan and the Lost Isles are completely sealed off once you leave. Notably, this started with the Death Knight starting experience in Wrath of the Lich King. Mists of Pandaria continued this tradition with the Pandaran starting area, The Wandering Isle. The last time a starting zone was introduced that was contiguous with the main world was Burning Crusade.

Platform Game

• Banjo-Tooie:
  • You cannot reenter the Digger Tunnels or the Gatehouse after clearing their respective Klungo fights; you instead bypass them and simply continue to the next area. Fortunately, there is nothing of interest in any of these areas once you've completed them.
  • Bottles' House cannot be reentered after clearing the Tower of Tragedy quiz, cutting off access to Bottles and his family. If you neglected to receive the Amaze O' Gaze Glasses from Goggles before beating the quiz, you'll never be able to get them.
• In Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time, you can't re-enter the Tutorial Level, Nowhere. After you clear it, its place in the Time Era Selection is taken by the ending of the game, and won't open until you get at least 120 Clock Symbols.
• Conker's Bad Fur Day: All areas that pertain to the War Arc (Chapter 7) close off after Conker completes the chapter and returns to the Windy area. Though it's justified due to the scale-wide explosion of the Tediz island, it turns out you can't return to the starter area where you had to remove the remnants of a downed airship either (despite it being part of the Panther King's now-safe land), as the metallic door that takes you there never opens again. Unlike in all other chapters, there's no money Conker can gather here, so there's nothing missable.
• Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back: If you sit through the intro with Crash and Coco without skipping it, you can play an "intro stage" where Crash runs into the jungle to take something Coco needs; you'll find some breakable crates and Wumpa Fruits, but no important collectables, so this is entirely optional.
• In Donkey Kong Country Returns, the postgame level "Golden Temple" has a beginning area taking place outside the temple where you have to use the orbs you've collected so far to open a door, followed by a FMV cutscene where Donkey and/or Diddy find a special banana that takes them to the main level. In the original Wii release, you have to go through this area and cutscene every time you replay the Golden Temple, but in the Nintendo 3DS port, because it's been expanded into a full world with eight additional levels, you only get to experience this once and never again, meaning you only get one chance to see a variant of the transitional cutscene depending on whether or not Donkey Kong has Diddy with him.
• Jak and Daxter:
  • In Jak II: Renegade, the final level can't be returned to after finishing the game. This causes 7 Precursor Orbs (the game's hidden collectables) to become unobtainable.
  • Various locations in Jak 3: Wastelander, including (but not limited to) the Great Volcano, Catacombs, KG War Factory, and Metal Head Tower.
• In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, the first stage of Magolor Epilogue: The Interdimensional Traveler cannot be revisited after completing it.
• Mega Man:
  • Mega Man Zero 4: You'll be unable to re-access the intro stage (takes place on moving trucks and then moves onto an enemy airship) and the "forced stage after defeating 4 main bosses" (takes place around Area Zero, in which you fight Craft for the first time). The latter also has an enemy (Moloid) exclusive to that stage; the machine parts that they drop will contribute towards 100% completion, not to mention being the ingredient for some good enhancement upgrades, so you better make sure you get 2-3 parts of them before you finish the stage.
  • Mega Man ZX Advent:
    • The intro stages for both characters, Grey^note takes place in a part of an abandoned lab; late game stage will have you visit another part, as the bridge that connects the two parts are broken in the intro's boss fight and Ashe^note takes place on an airship that crashes down in the end, which can be found in the Oil Fields. Interestingly, in the world map for both characters, you can see where their intro stages were placed, but you get no option to go there.
    • The penultimate level Undersea Volcano, which can't be returned to since it was destroyed by all the Model Ws forming into Ouroboros before smashing up through the ocean floor and waters into the sky.
• Psychonauts 2: The casino in the physical world is only visited once for a mission in the early-game, and cannot be returned to after said mission concludes.
• The tutorial levels in Ratchet & Clank games generally can't be revisited after completion. However, in some cases (Veldin from Ratchet & Clank (2002) and Aranos from Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando) an altered version of the level appears later on, from which point it can be revisited. There's also the decommissioned Blarg ship in Nebula G34 from Ratchet & Clank (2002) and the Leviathan in Zeldrin Starport from Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, both of which explode upon completion.
• In Rayman 2: Revolution, the first two sections of the Woods of Light (Rayman's prison cell in the Buccaneer and the opening woods section) cannot be revisited once completed.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • Super Mario World: The Switch Palaces cannot be re-entered after beating them, even after the game is completed. The end-of-world castles, as well as the fortresses, also act this way since they're destroyed in-story, but simply holding down the R button gets around that.
  • Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins: The starting stage can't be replayed after beating it. Also, the boss stages can't be replayed unless you get a Game Over and lose all the Golden Coins you've collected.
  • Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 has Course 10 of Mt. Teapot. You can only access this course until you beat Course 12 and hit the switch, which makes the lid of the mountain slam down onto the top of the mountain. It lands right on Course 10, which transforms it into the much more rough and claustrophobic Course 13.
  • Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: "Welcome to Yoshi's Island", the introductory level to the game, cannot be replayed after clearing it. The level is short and contains nothing of any real significance. The Game Boy Advance remake of the game does incorporate the layout of "Welcome to Yoshi's Island" into the final part of its last bonus level, "Endless World of Yoshis", for what it's worth.
  • Super Mario 3D World: Every Sprixie House can only be entered once to collect a stamp. After taking the stamp, the house vanishes and cannot be entered again.
• Every boss level in Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure cannot be revisited once completed. Justified in that upon playing through them, Buster rescues one of his Brainwashed and Crazy friends from Dr. Gene Splicer's mind control helmets, or in the case of the haunted pirate shipwreck level, has already found and collected the titular "hidden treasure". These elements are important in keeping the game's story intact.

Puzzle Game

• The Akbadain Ruins in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, explored in Chapter 6, cannot be revisited upon completion. It's justified in-game because Hershel wants nothing to do with the place after the apparent death of his best friend Randall. While missing any optional puzzles from it won't be a big problem (Granny Riddleton will retrieve them for you once Chapter 7 starts), any missed Hint Coins and Treasure will stay lost, so gathering them all is important if 100% Completion is a priority.

Survival Horror

• Resident Evil:
  • In addition to the obligatory Collapsing Lair at the end of each game, the series has a number of destroyable locations that occur mid-game, such as the Hospital in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the part of Rockfort Island in Resident Evil – Code: Veronica where Claire starts out (destroyed shortly before her escape), and the train in Resident Evil 0. The only exception thus far is the very first game and its remake, where the entire mansion and its outlying grounds are fully available to explore right up until you confront the final boss.^note If we want to be picky, there is one room that is permanently closed off to Jill if you don't disarm the ceiling trap first.
  • In Resident Evil Village, each of the first three Lord areas become inaccessible once their respective boss is beaten and Ethan leaves the area. Any possible treasures, weapons, or unsolved labyrinths that the player misses will be completely inaccessble from that point onwards.

Western RPG

• In Baldur's Gate:
  • Two of the quests introduced by the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion: the Isle of Balduran and the Isle of Ice. Justified, as both are very remote islands that you can reach only through very exceptional circumstances, even in one case being magically teleported by a wizard who only wants you to retrieve an item.
  • The crypts beneath Candlekeep, which you can access only during chapter 6.
  • Candlekeep itself is zigzagged. Virtually it is not a "one time" dungeon since you can roam it twice, in the prologue and in the aforementioned chapter 6. However, in both cases the scenario corresponds to a different area file, with different characters, mini-quests, and things to do. Anything that was left during hte prologue doesn't carry over into chapter 6 (you can't give anymore Hull his sword or Lydia her book, for example). So, technically you reach each once. You can even use cheats to teleport in both areas and find the same people saying different things. Lastly, some huts in Candlekeep are accessible only during the prologue, namely the the storage cellars, and partially the barracks too (you can't enter inside in chapter 6 but you will be temporarily teleported there during a brief cutscene). The giant library instead is only accessible during chapter 6.
• In Baldur's Gate II:
  • The starting dungeon in chapter 1.
  • Zigzagged with the de'Arnise keep and the forest near Umar Hills: both scenarios change into different areas after you solve the related quests, and the keep also features Permanently Missable Content in the shape of the Flail of Ages which you can assemble only before completing the quest. Just like Candlekeep above, you can even use cheats to teleport your party into the older areas after you progressed through the story and find it just like you left.
  • During chapter 4, which is a Plot Tunnel: the whole island composed by the town of Brynnlaw, the Spellhold asylum, and the maze underneath it. While all are accessible before you leave the island, once you proceed forwards they won't be available anymore.
  • The Sahuagin city, which is one of the two possible choices to leave Brynnlaw.
  • In the Throne of Bhaal expansion, the initial sacred grove and the city of Saradush can't be reached once you leave them. Justified in the second case because of the developments in the story.
  • One of the possible resolutions of the Watcher's Keep is to seal the last level forever. You can still access the previous ones, though.
• In Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, you get a Dimension Whistle from Juwanna Mann, which gives you a one-time ride to the B-Ball Dimension. Points of interest include a tournament arena featuring an enemy gauntlet, a Dating Sim minigame for Cyberdwarf, and what appears to be a breeding mini-game where you can raise your own pet b-ball. Of course, this being a One-Time Dungeon means the breeding mechanic is entirely a farce, like many fake secrets in this game.
• Bug Fables: The majority of the Wasp Kingdom Hive cannot be re-entered after Chapter 5, as it becomes sealed off for the rest of the game. In the postgame, it is possible to enter the main hall, but not the residential area that served as a stealth section. The only thing that can be missed is a single Dark Cherry buried in the prison area, which is an unlimited resource.
• Deltarune: In each chapter, once the Dark Fountain is sealed entirely, all areas connected to it will disappear forever. Any recruited monsters will reside at Castle Town.
• Diablo II: The Cow Level can only be played once per difficulty level.
• The Elder Scrolls:
  • Oblivion has the Painted World area and a dream sequence that can't be returned to. Closing an Oblivion gate destroys that instance, although it's possible (and indeed likely) to find an identical map behind another gate, but completing the main quest line permanently closes all the gates, cutting off access to Oblivion entirely.
  • Skyrim:
    • Skuldafn, which the Dragonborn cannot reach after the first run through it because one needs to be able to fly to reach it, and the friendly dragon who let you ride him there won't do it again. You can't even return after you gain the ability to tame and ride dragons from the Dragonborn DLC. Worse still, the area’s boss is one of the eight Dragon Priests who have a special mask. If you don’t take it from him when you kill him, you’ll never get another chance.
    • Sovngarde is only accessible through Skuldafn, and, by extension, cannot be returned to.
• Fallout:
  • In Fallout 3, completists would be advised to grab the collectible Energy Weapons bobblehead during the brief Raven Rock sequence, since once the door shuts behind you, you're never getting back in there.
    • Same for Vault 101 and the Medicine bobblehead, although you get to revisit one final time in the "Trouble on the Homefront" sidequest.
    • The Anchorage Reclamation simulation in the Operation: Anchorage DLC, and the Mobile Base Crawler in Broken Steel are also only accessible once.
    • In Point Lookout, the Calvert Mansion self-destructs at the end of the "Thought Control" quest.
    • You can go back to Mothership Zeta after completion, but only parts of it; most of the lower half of the ship, including the two optional areas, is locked after the "Among the Stars" quest, and once you teleport to the Death Ray hub, the teleporter breaks, locking you out of the Weapons and Experimentation Labs.
  • Fallout: New Vegas:
    • The Securitron Vault under Fortification Hill was intended to be such, with the player being unable to re-enter once it is completed, and the guard's dialogue not permitting you to leave until you complete the task. However, the actual implementation permits you to leave (using dialog or killing the guards) as long as you don't complete the section.
    • The Dead Money DLC cannot be visited after it is completed, unlike the Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road DLCs. It's explained as the path being "hard to find"; the Super Mutant who brought you there (while you were unconscious) even says that he occasionally has to sniff to find the trail again. So while you'll be able to go back to the Mojave, getting back to the Sierra Madre seems next to impossible.
    • The Honest Hearts DLC zigzags this trope. You can go back to Zion Canyon once the main quest is over, but all of the named NPCs are gone. So the area itself is still accessible, but the experience is gone.
  • In Fallout 4, if siding with any faction other than the Institute, their underground base (as well as the CIT Ruins above it) will be destroyed in the final story mission, and if siding with either the Institute or the Railroad, the Brotherhood of Steel's airship will be destroyed in the penultimate quest.
• In Mass Effect, while most side worlds can be freely revisited, Therum, Peak 15, ExoGeni building and Virmire all become inaccessible once you complete your mission in these locations. That's nothing compared to the sequel where even sidequest areas can be visited only once.
• Might and Magic:
  • In VII:
    • The starter location, The Emerald Isle, cannot be accessed once you complete the first main quest and leave it. There is nothing you can't get elsewhere though.
    • Red Dwarf Mines is dungeon which has two floors connected by an elevator and a sidequest to disable it. Should you do so, the lower floor becomes inaccessible for the rest of the game. Think twice before pulling it off, because one of monsters here has an unique amulet.
  • In VIII, The Great Crystal serves as the gateway to the Plane between the Planes where Escaton's palace is. At the game's end it is destroyed, so the location and of course the Crystal's interior are not accessible post-game.
  • In X, each of DLC's dungeons can be accessed once.
• In Ravensword: Shadowlands, you cannot return to the titular Shadowlands after you are done with them.
• South Park: The Stick of Truth has actually many examples.
  • The alien spaceship becomes inaccessible once it crashes at the end of the first night.
  • The school can't be explored a third time after the human assault on the second night.
  • The interiors of your house's walls becomes blocked with a wooden plank at the end of the second night.
  • The abortion clinic doesn't allows the character to advance beyond the reception after the battle with the giant Nazi zombie fetus.
  • Clyde's Fortress, The Very Definitely Final Dungeon, also disappears after the credits. Same for Mr. Slave's Ass.
• In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, once you leave Davik's Estate upon acquiring Ebon Hawk, you cannot return to it (or the rest of Taris of that matter) due to the Sith razing the planet. You also cannot return to the Leviathan after breaking out from it.
• In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords:
  • Goto's Yacht cannot be revisited, as it is destroyed after you complete it. You also can't go back to Peragus (the beginning planet) for the same reason.
  • The only time you get to explore the Telos Restoration sites is when you're searching for your stolen ship. You also cannot revisit Ludo Kresh's tomb once you're done.
  • You only travel to Onderon twice (you instead get to revisit one of its moons, Dxun, at your leisure), but due to its political predicament it's in a vastly different state on the return trip.
• Undertale:
  • The Ruins are the only major area in the game that cannot be revisited after clearing it. The doorway leading to it will lock, and stay that way for the rest of a regular playthrough. Taking advantage of this, one midboss late into the game can be skipped by buying an item only available either at the Ruins, or right before said boss at a ridiculously high price. The doors to the Ruins are re-opened after the final boss of the best ending, and the location can be explored again during the ending's epilogue.
  • There's an area in Waterfall that becomes inaccessible after you've been through it, because when you first go there, you are with a monster who helps you climb up onto a ledge you can't reach, and then you get chased on a bridge by Undyne, who breaks part of it and sends you falling into the dump. The only thing that you miss out on is a save point and a little bit of information about the war though.
  • The True Lab is the only area you can't go back to in the Golden Ending.
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines: Most of the game world can be freely accessed after each area becomes available, but the Sabbat warehouse, the Elizabeth Dane ship, Grout's mansion, the Museum, Andrei's home, the Giovanni mansion, and the Society of Leopold stronghold can only be visited once each during their related quest in the main story. The player character is specially dispatched there and only leaves by completing the quest.

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