History Main / OneTimeDungeon

*** 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. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation You can't even return after you gain the ability to tame and ride dragons]] from the ''Dragonborn'' DLC.

*** The GhostShip will permanently disappear the moment Link collects the treasure that's inside.[[note]]A Triforce Chart in the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] version, replaced with a Triforce Shard in the [[UsefulNotes/WiiU Wii U]] version.[[/note]] 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.

* In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', the postgame level "[[BrutalBonusLevel 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 UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} release, you have to go through this area and cutscene every time you replay the Golden Temple, but in the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS 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.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'': "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 UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance 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.

* [=DarkIce=] Mines and [=CloudRunner=] Fortress are the only [[DungeonTown satellital areas]] in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' 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.
* In ''VideoGame/PathwaysIntoDarkness'', the PlotTunnel 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}}.

* All areas that pertain to the WarArc (Chapter 7) in ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' 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.

** The starting stage of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'' can't be replayed after beating it. Also, the boss stages can't be replayed unless you get a GameOver and lose all the [[PlotCoupon Golden Coins]] you've collected.

** Every Sprixie House in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' can only be entered once to collect a stamp. After taking the stamp, the house vanishes and cannot be entered again.

*** ''Skyrim'' also has [[spoiler:[[WarriorHeaven Sovngarde]]]], which is only accessible through Skuldafn, and, by extension, cannot be returned to.

* The dream areas in ''VideoGame/{{Two}}'' that are found in each zone (including the intro) by sleeping in a bed. Once you grab the HeartContainer and leave, the beds inside each dream will explode.
* In ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', the Path of Pain within the White Palace can't be replayed after completion [[PlatformHell (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 ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series usually averts this, as nearly every game allows players to explore the whole part of the overworld map available. But there are exceptions:

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': Deo Pass and Akzeriuth Mine Shaft 14.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'': ''Every single'' [[spoiler: Fractured Dimension]].
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'': [[spoiler: The Calix]]

* In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', the postgame level "[[BrutalBonusLevel 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 UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} release, you have to go through this area and cutscene every time you replay the Golden Temple, but in the VideoGame/Nintendo3DS port, because it's been expanded into a full world with eight additional levels, you only get to experience this once and never again.

*** Subverted with the Forsaken Fortress, which sits completely abandoned after Link [[ItsPersonal rescues Aryll]] and [[BestBossEver defeats the]] [[FeatheredFiend Helmaroc King]], save for a few [[GoddamnedBats Keese, Rats and the lone Floormaster]] that will put Link into the [[PrisonLevel prison cell]] [[CardboardPrison on the second floor]] from when [[NoGearLevel he lost his sword]] [[StealthBasedMission during the first visit]]. Link can still revisit the fortress, especially through the portal activated in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon 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 ([[spoiler: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 exact same place where his sword was dropped after being launched in.

*** Subverted with the Forsaken Fortress, which sits completely abandoned after Link [[ItsPersonal rescues Aryll]] and [[BestBossEver defeats the]] [[FeatheredFiend Helmaroc King]], save for a few [[GoddamnedBats Keese, Rats]] and the lone Floormaster that will put Link into the [[PrisonLevel prison cell]] [[CardboardPrison on the second floor]] from when [[NoGearLevel he lost his sword]] [[StealthBasedMission during the first visit]]. Link can still revisit the fortress, especially through the portal activated in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon 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 ([[spoiler: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 exact same place where his sword was dropped after being launched in.

*** 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 ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1''. 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 [[CheatersNeverProsper 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[[/note]], the interior of Cortez's ship, the Black Skull[[note]]The BossBattle 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[[/note]], the baggage car and rooftops of the [[CoolTrain Excess]] [[LocomotiveLevel 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 [[TraintopBattle 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[[/note]], and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Gloomtail's]] chamber in the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Palace of Shadow]][[note]]The corridor leading to this chamber eventually becomes a SecretUndergroundPassage leading to the Shadow Queen's throne room and crypt, and this chamber also has a SecretRoom containing [[PermanentlyMissableContent 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[[/note]].

*** 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.[[/note]], 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.[[/note]] and the [[SecretPath secret passageway]] in [[GildedCage Princess Peach's bedroom]][[note]]The game had [[FinalDungeonPreview segments between chapters]] where Peach, whose castle is [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs sitting on top of]] [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon 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|content}} 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 [[SecondPlaceIsForWinners Sneaky]] [[IdiotBall 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 [[PointOfNoReturn 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 [[FinalBoss final fight]]. Likewise, Mario and his team also cannot access the passageway upon reaching the castle.[[/note]].

** Double subverted with the [[SpaceZone 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 FinalBoss.