New Game+ is when a video game offers the player the option of starting a new game by accessing a previously finished game, allowing them to start with improved stats, new costumes, items won beforehand, or milestones that make things more convenient. There are several benefits for doing this:
- So the player has a shot at things like multiple pathways and Multiple Endings. Indeed, playing through the game twice or thrice may be the best way to power up so you can face the Bonus Dungeon. A more basic reason is getting over the initial "hump" of the First Town playthrough, where things are generally slower to get through because the player doesn't have all their moves yet the first time around.
- Similarly, some games lock their most exotic or experimental equipment behind New Game+, especially if they break the game or, inversely, don't work as well as the rest.
- It gives the player a chance to use the Bragging Rights Reward on something more significant than leftover Mooks, allowing them to see just how powerful it really is (or isn't). Such rewards are typically awarded at the very end of the game, and thus would otherwise see little actual use.
- Making the hopeless boss fight at the beginning of the game anything but, and getting a nice bonus reward for beating the Final Boss Preview. Plus, it is always nice when you don't have to grind yourself numb to make the character the badass hero that they are supposed to already be.
- Future playthroughs of the game can be made much more convenient, fun and memorable by starting with everything unlocked, rather than having to unlock certain skills first to get to the good stuff you forgot you didn't start the game with. This is especially true if they're Anti-Frustration Features like increased Stamina or a more diverse set of moves for combat and traversal.
- Catharsis. It's very satisfying to meet up with that boss who had you tearing out your hair last time and crush them like a bug on a windshield.
- New Game+ is also generally a good excuse to replay the game in a more convenient fashion, such as making different decisions in choice-based games, or turning on fun cheats like filters and invincibility that don't unlock until after the game has been beaten once.
- If a game lets the player carry over their previously unlocked cosmetics or equipment, they can replay the early hours with the look they prefer for their version of the characters.
- The simple pleasure of replaying a game you've fallen in love with, only now you know where everything is and can do everything efficiently.
Of course, no matter how many special skills and items you can bring over to a new game, the characters almost never are able to remember the game's plot and fix any mistakes they may have made, or they are told that "You Shouldn't Know This Already." You can also just pretend that New Game+ mode is playing a new game while averting the With This Herring trope since you start off this time with much better gear. On the flipside, the early game becomes a cakewalk unless the enemies are beefed up accordingly.
In some special instances, going through a New Game+ run is the key to fighting the True Final Boss, either by taking advantage of options that were not available the first time around or simply because NG+ makes certain changes to the narrative to allow for a fork unique to this run. Some instances will also start the game after the story's opening prologue and/or tutorials, so that the player can jump right back into the action straight away rather than go through stuff they already know or doesn't take advantage of their NG+ skills/equipment. Sometimes New Game+ will also allow the player to unlock new endings that aren't available on the first playthrough, or in normal gameplay in general; while this can be the "True Ending" (which sometimes, though not always, is also the Golden Ending) there is also a chance that it might be a Joke Ending.
This is named after the mode that is unlocked in Chrono Trigger, where the majority of the game's multiple endings can be attained in this mode. The original name translates roughly to "New Game with Strength". However, the concept itself dates back at least as far as the The Legend of Zelda series.
Action Game
- Devil May Cry: After completing a game once, players can continue on to the higher difficulty modes while keeping their weapons, upgrades and items. One exception is the first game's Easy Automatic mode, where only another Easy Automatic game could be played afterward. Devil May Cry 2, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Devil May Cry 4, DmC: Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 5 still have New Game+ but do not suffer from the restrictive condition of the first game's Easy Automatic mode.
- Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown: Beating the game lets you play through it again as the Final Boss.
- Ghostbusters (1984) on the Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC. When you reach Zuul with more than starting money, you will get a "bank account number", which was a Password Save for the accumulated money. You receive the account number regardless of whether or not you succeed. Playing again with the money you earned was the only way to get the fourth car (which wasn't really worth it) or the third car and better equipment.
- Ghostrunner: After completing the game, you can start over with all of the upgrades and power-ups you have in the endgame. You can also activate the new difficulty setting that populates earlier levels with late-game enemies.
- God of War:
- The first game has unlockable costumes bringing different benefits (for example, dressing like a cow gave Kratos infinite magic, while dressing like a businessman gave him double experience).
- God of War II offers Bonus Play, in which players who have already beaten the game once can start over (on the same difficulty level as before, or on any lesser level) with all the spells, weapons, upgrades and bonus items they had previously collected, in addition to selectable costumes and special abilities which can be unlocked in additional game modes or by finding hidden items in the game proper. Also, doing this allows access to (and upgrading of) the already unbelievably overpowered Sword of Plot Advancement, the Blade of Olympus (yes, upgrading a weapon that just killed a goddess) to fire lasers with every swing, and suck out the souls of your enemies).
- God of War III has Godly Possessions, collectibles that hold cheat options which can only be activated on subsequent playthroughs. A standard New Game Plus would have been problematic for this one what with the staggering amount of Sequence Breaking that starting with all weapons would have led to. (And does.)
- The soft reboot has a more standard version added via a patch. As well as retaining all upgrades and loot from your initial playthrough, the game adds brand new gear to unlock.
- MADNESS: Project Nexus 2: Beating Arena Mode unlocks an Imprint, which grants you a bonus to all of your stats that increases every time you beat the mode. It also unlocks newer Origins, most of which are Purposely Overpowered.
- Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae features the ability to replay the game with all of the skills unlocked carried over in the next playthrough.
- The Quiet Man adds the ability to restore voice and sound to the game on the second playthrough as "The Quiet Man: Answered" (the game was, to represent the deafness of the protagonist, muted aside from low bassy noises to indicate punches)
- Rengoku:
- Enforced in the first game. After the 8th floor, it's just once again the 1st floor, with new boss dialogues. Clearing the new 8th floor shows the true ending.
- Clearing the last floor in the second game unlocks the second tower, but lets you challenge the Tower again many times, while keeping everything you have. But all enemies get their health and attack upscaled, with better weapon tiers.
- Splatterhouse (2010) features the ability to replay the entire Story Mode again with all of your skills unlocked or not after beating it as well as the Brutal difficulty.
- Versus Umbra: Clearing the game allows you to play Paradox mode, in which you gain additional Inventium as well as a higher level cap and keep all levels, perks, and items from the previous playthrough, but start over from the beginning with stronger enemies. After beating Paradox mode, you can begin it again.
- The mode is present within the Viewtiful Joe games, right down to the easy 'Kids' setting being unable to move on to more difficult settings after beating the game.
- The Wonderful 101 unlocks Hard Mode once you beat the game on Normal, and beating it on Very Easy or Easy doesn't get you anything. You get to keep everything you collected as you move onto the harder difficulties.
Adventure Game
- Done in both Another Code games. The first game has it alter some of the messages Richard leaves to reveal more about the Edwards mansion as well as a post-credits Sequel Hook. The second game provides additional messages expounding on the history of Lake Juliet.
- Finishing Cherry Tree High Comedy Club by recruiting at least three members allows you to start a new game while retaining your repertoire levels and knowledge of the candidates' likes and dislikes, making it easier to shoot for the Golden Ending by recruiting all six of them.
- A New Game Plus in Hotel Dusk: Room 215 allows the text to be sped up, as well as an optional new puzzle that expands upon the ending if you figure it out. The dialogue between Hyde and Rachel also becomes noticeably flirtier, in contrast with their more sarcastic banter in the first playthrough.
- I Became a Dog: After beating the game, you can play it again from the start, but you retain your language level and collect more bugs after farting.
- Lux-Pain allows you to do this, giving you a higher starting rank and retaining part of your Relationship Values, which you need to max out in order to unlock all the archive scenes.
- New Game Plus was added to the PS4 release of Oxenfree, with the original PC, Mac, and Xbox One releases getting it as a free update. It features new plotlines and endings, most notably Michael, if saved, will become a prominent character. The game's ghosts, due to already existing in a "Groundhog Day" Loop, are also much kinder to the characters and explain that their actions in a first playthrough are due to a need to "stick to the script".
- After you acquire all of the normal endings in Shadow of Destiny, you unlock the ability to start with the "EX" Branch (which has two more endings). This branch is defined by the protagonist actually remembering the previous playthroughs, and being able to completely change the course of the plot (mostly by resolving it almost instantly).
- Completing Wandersong allows you to replay the game with developer commentary, as well as providing the player with a level select, so they can easily access previous acts.
- YU-NO allows you to start with all your items after achieving 100% completion, which is a mercy to players who want to see the extended heroine endings.
- In Zniw Adventure, after completing the game, the player has the option of starting a new playthrough while retaining all pebbles and encyclopedia entries found in the previous one.
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