Actually, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are in Great Britain and not in Ukraine. But they still ended up in the restricted zone.
When exploring the world of Stalker 2, you should be prepared for anything: radiation, blood-sucking monsters, deadly anomalies and… magicians? You won’t be able to encounter Harry Potter himself in the zone, but you can find an Easter Egg that refers to a scene from the movies.
Magic tree or anomaly?
The allusion in question is hidden in the swamps, a particularly inhospitable region in Stalker 2 that you visit mainly as part of the main quest. On a large tree, a pasture, in the northeast of the swamps, you will discover a badly damaged car:
A car that mysteriously ends up in a meadow? Stalker 2 is clearly alluding to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, where Harry and Ron travel to Hogwarts in a flying car.
Not only are they almost run over by the Hogwarts Express, but unfortunately they also end up in a Whomping Willow. In the world of wizards, this is a kind of living tree that vigorously defends itself against intruders. In the movie, the two wizards and the car manage to escape the tree. But in Stalker 2, they apparently had less luck.
The tree itself is not dangerous for you in Stalker 2. Unlike in Harry Potter, it does not attack you with its branches. But the gravitational anomalies around the car can harm you. Perhaps they are also responsible for the vehicle ending up in the tree.
There are even more Easter eggs hidden in the 64-square-kilometer open world of Stalker 2, and surely not all of them have been discovered yet. For example, you can find mousepads with artwork from Cossacks 3, an earlier game by the Stalker developers.
The energy drinks, which are apparently very popular with stalkers, are also a nod to the real world. In fact, this is a real brand that is even produced in Ukraine.
