10 Open World Locations You Should Never Enter

When you're making an open-world game, one of the must-have elements of your title is making some parts of the world more dangerous than others

While it may seem counterproductive to lock certain areas off from the player for much of the game

doing so builds intrigue in the player's mind and makes them want to get stronger so they can see what all the hubbub is about

But saying that, some of them are a challenge above just being a challenge

So let's have a chat about them today. I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 open-world locations you shouldn't enter

10. Sawtooth Cauldron Borderlands 2 At the bottom of this list, because the tight world building of Borderlands 2 ensures that you will be coming here one way or another

Sawtooth Cauldron from Borderlands 2 almost never provides you with a fun time when you do arrive

You see, it's one of the most difficult areas in the vanilla Borderlands 2, not solely due to the levels of the enemy within, though that certainly doesn't help, but because of the terrain

The cauldron is notorious for having incredibly poor cover for players, and a lot of enemies who have really good cover

Even going in there with adequately leveled gear, don't be shocked if you end up in the fight for your life mode a few dozen times

especially considering the amount of explosive barrels all over the bloody place. With enough grinding and finding the right gear though, the determined player will be able to brute force their way through it

but it's no wonder this place has stuck in fans' craws for all the wrong reasons

9. Corrupted Zone 11 – Horizon Zero Dawn In a world filled with insane homicidal machine animals

it only makes sense that some areas of the map would be considered off-limits due to the abundance of said creatures

Enter the Corrupted Zones. There are 11 of these things out there in the world, each one set at a certain level, so you can't just do them all in one go

The level difference between each Corrupted Zone can be quite a leap, though, and the hardest one of them all is Corrupted Zone 11

Across the fandom, one type of machine is spoken of with fear, the Rock Breaker

The mechanical mix between a weasel and a shark, fighting just one of these things is a bad time

recommended only to those with high-level gear, a high vantage point, and at least a few explosive arrows

So, of course, this zone throws two of the damn things at you. Entering this zone with anything less than all three of the above-mentioned points is an almost guaranteed game over

Rock Breakers are some of the toughest fights in the entire game when you're just taking on one

so having to fight two, well, it's an exercise in bloody torture. 8. Leontine's Ring – Dragon Age Inquisition

The final ultimate challenge of vanilla Dragon Age Inquisition is the easternmost area of

Imprise de Lyon in which you will find the three hardest dragons in the game This whole area should be considered off until the very end of the game even post But the third and final area of these should especially be saved for at least until you are about as strong as you bloody well can be Because at the bottom of Hlyontain

Ring, you'll find a sleeping Highland Ravager, the strongest dragon in the game. This dragon will not

attack you until you attack first, so there's literally no one to blame for yourself if you

get into a fight with this thing. These three dragons will demand everything you have if you

take them on. And the only reason they're so far down on this list is because you have to clear a

dungeon and then build an entire bridge just to reach it. These two roadblocks are essentially a

test to ensure that you are prepared for the fights ahead. It's also worth noting that the

quest Breeding Grounds will disappear following the defeat of a Highland Ravager, so players must

pick this up before engaging in the fight, so all the more reason to consider not picking this bloody

thing. 7. Caelid – Elden Ring Now nowhere in Elden Ring is safe for the Tarnished, so singling

out just one area was pretty difficult, but blow for blow and death for death, nowhere will grind

your gears harder than the Crimson Plains of Kaled. Kaled is considered one of the hardest areas in

the entire game, and the competition for that title is fierce. In the wake of the devastating

battle between Melania and Radan, Kaled has become a hellish centerpiece for the Scarlet Rock Plague

which you will become infected with if you enter this area. Step one of braving this area is

preparing in advance for that, but it's far from the worst thing here. Even if you are prepared for

the rot, the monsters that fill this nightmare land will make mincemeat out of any rookie player

who has gotten lost. From spitting plants to birds that swoop in out of nowhere, to archers that will

snipe you from frustratingly ingenious ambush points, this place makes some areas of the lands

between look like a cakewalk by comparison. Naturally, Elden Ring will not stop you from

entering this place long before you're ready. After all, there's no more effective deterrent

than letting you make your own mistakes. 6. Hantu Island Just Cause 2

Panao is a dangerous country. I mean, most places Rico Rodriguez visits are

but there's one place where even Panae's goons fear to go, and that's Hantu Island

What makes Hantu Island so dangerous is the fact that entering is a hell of a lot easier than leaving

You see, there's a giant EMP generator on the island that will knock any plane you're flying out of the sky if you get too close

And while it is out of the way, there's still a chance that you'll fly a bit too close to the secret island

and having to fight your way back out. Who will you be fighting? Oh, no one that special

just the goddamn Imperial Japanese Navy. Yes, it turns out Hantu Island was part of Imperial

Japan naval operations back in World War II but communications broke down after the war so when Riko either crashes on the island or goes there for a mission he have to contend with an entire island of insane elderly Japanese soldiers who are still very convinced that the war is still on Better just not to bother if you ask me

5. The Ocean. The Witcher 3. Just the entire ocean. Just do not mess with it. Not because of

anything specific that lives down there. Honestly, the biggest problem with The Witcher 3's world is

the lack of any Kraken Type-C monsters to harass you while on the waves. It's actually more to do

with how frustrating the mechanics of sailing are, particularly in combat. You see, the trick

of fighting on a boat in this game is that your boat can be destroyed while in combat. Well

okay, you might say that sounds potentially frustrating, but not too bad. However, the key

thing is that the boat isn't immune to friendly fire. Miss fire a spell, miss time a sword swing

do either or both of these things too many times? Well, you better hope you're a good swimmer

because you're about to do a lot of it now you've inadvertently destroyed your own boat

And no, you cannot fast travel back to shore. Fast travel while on the ocean only works if

you're on a bloody boat. So if you can help it, just give the sea a nice wide berth

4. New Austin – Red Dead Redemption 2 Now, being a wanted man means that a lot of places are off-limits, even in the communication

challenged Wild West. And in Red Dead Redemption 2, one of the big ones is New Austin. You can't

enter New Austin safely until the epilogue. Don't even try before that, you won't last long

You see, after the Blackwater massacre, the Pinkertons put the entire state on lockdown

The furthest you can go in is Blackwater, and even then, just walking into the place will get you an instant wanted level and a horde of cops to outrun

If you spend too long in New Austin, you can expect Arthur Morgan's story to end quite abruptly indeed

Going too far into New Austin and an invisible sniper will gun you down right quick

He can't see or find them, but their bullets can sure as hell find you. It's much better to consider that entire portion of the map off-limits until the epilogue of the game

Unless you know some very specific glitches, there ain't nothing for you here except pain and suffering

3. Quarry Junction – Fallout New Vegas If you actually stick around Good Springs and talk to the locals

you'll very quickly learn that the direct road to New Vegas is a bad idea

Apparently, there are creatures that are, to quote one of the townsfolk, just absolutely mad when you shoot them

Every faction in the Wasteland avoids that entire stretch of road, and if you fail to heed these warnings and try to hoof it straight to Vegas anyway

you'll swiftly learn why. In short, deathclaws. Lots and lots and lots of deathclaws

And we ain't talking about the agile but perfectly manageable deathclaws you find in Boston

No these are old school Fallout if you see one run style deathclaws And this place is packed to the gills with these things For some reason Quarry Junction has been invaded by an entire pack of the creatures who have chosen the labyrinth mine tunnels as their new home

and they've mostly been allowed to do so because an entire pack of Deathclaws can do whatever the hell it wants

Unless you're at least halfway to the level cap and decked out in the highest level gear and packing a lot of ammo

it is recommended you leave this place be. 2. Colosseum Ruins – Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild

What makes Breath of the Wild stand out from the Zelda games before it is its wholehearted embrace of the open-world format

It would give you a general direction, but in no way stop you from doing your own thing

Why, it won't even stop you from entering the Coliseum Ruins. It'll just sit back and laugh as the horrors within pummel you into a vaguely Hylian-shaped huddle

The Coliseum Ruins are adaptive to your progress in the game, both in terms of enemies and the loot you get for defeating them

By default, the ruins are filled with black bokoblens and moblens. with one silver Lionel, which is one of the toughest enemies in the game, in the center

Needless to say, it's not a fun time if you go in there unprepared. So why go in at all? Well

because the loot drops from defeating enemies in here increase in power depending on how many

Divine Beasts you've actually freed. However, the Lionel in the center also gets stronger

God help you if you go in after finishing all four, because while the weapon drops are definitely

worth it, waiting for you will be the rare and punishingly difficult Golden Lionel. Do not step

into this ring unless you are prepared to bring the pain. 1. The Glacial Cave Skyrim

Because of the scaling difficulty of Bethesda games, the parts of the game where the difficulty

is fixed can hit you all the harder, but at least games like Skyrim give you ample warning

beforehand. The Glacial Cave in the Dragonborn DLC is likely one of the very last things a Skyrim

player going for 100% will do, due to what lies within being easily the hardest boss in the entire

game. But even before going there, you have to brave an ice storm that will ragdoll you and deal

damage over time. When you do make it through all of that, you'll have the opportunity to slay

Karstag, the hardest boss in the game. This level 99 ghost will flatten all but the strongest

with powerful swings, the ability to slow down the player's movement, and multiple high-level

rates backing him up. You should not go anywhere near this part of the game until you are 100

prepared for what's ahead of you. Trust me, you never really will be

And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 open world locations you shouldn't enter

I hope you enjoyed that and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments section below

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Hope to see you over there and hope you treat yourself well, my friend. Remember, you are a big ledge and I'll speak to you soon. Bye