Summary
The problem withopen-world gamesis that, once the player has done everything, there’s not much else to do in the world. Beat up more thugs, run across more rooftops, maybe play a minigame or two to get those last few achievements or trophies. But that’s it. Players would have to start a new game to do everything all over again from square one.
That is, if the title doesn’t offera New Game+ mode, which allows them to replay the game with all their upgrades and XP. Then they can run through those previously tricky parts with ease, or in the best New Game+ modes, have new, more interesting challenges to deal with. Here are some of the best NG+ modes in open-world games.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s NG+ mode does something similar, as each of Geralt’s foes are scaled up with his levels. If he’s at Level 53, the basic mooks will be around Level 50. Upon restarting, players will also lose their books, crafting diagrams, some of their alchemy formulas, and their Gwent cards bar the basic Northern deck. Map exploration will also be reset.
Still, they’ll retain their old XP, skills, gold, etc., so it won’t take players long to recollect everything with some bonuses on top. The harder enemies drop more gold and better loot, like legendary armor that can outdo their old gear and make the increased difficulty a little easier. It’s perhapsthe ideal NG+ mode, as it takes away enough to provide a fresh experience while offering enough goodies to make it stand out.
The title saysYakuza 0, but nearly all theYakuza/Like a Dragongames offer a New Game+ mode. Some do it better than others though, withLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthbeing arguably the worst for lacking enemy/item scaling, and being locked off as DLC. The older games, includingYakuza 0,made it available as soon as the player beat the game, and let players scale up the difficulty if they wanted a fresh challenge.
They also offer Premium Adventure mode, which requires beating the game to unlock, but can be played fresh or with the player’s old data. It’s basically a free-roam mode where players can tackle substories, minigames, etc., without needing to replay the story. Players can change outfits, the time of day, and finish off anything they need to100% complete the game. So, if players want to roam Sotenbori with Majima in his popstar outfit, they can do that in Premium Adventure.
Horizon Zero Dawndoes things a little differently from other New Game+ modes, as it instead lets players create a NG+ Loadout instead. This way, if the player has multiple completed games, they can pick a different save to get their inventory and level skills from. It will default to one save or another, but players can change it if they want a different loadout.
It will also skip past all the early tutorial missions with Aloy as a kid, starting right at ‘The Point of the Spear.’ From there, players can use their new skills to recollect machine overrides, Bluegleam, collectibles, and more., as well as new Adept weapons and costumes. They’ll also get new Face Paint and Focus skin cosmetics, with different difficulties offering different ones to unlock.
The only downside toAssassin’s Creed: Odyssey’s New Game+ mode is that players have to beat the base game first to gain access to it. Not that the regular game is bad; t’s just that replaying the game on NG+ mode is less of a grind compared to a player’s first playthrough. On top of the usual skill and XP retention, it scales up the rewards for completing quests and defeating scaled-up foes.
This makes upgrading the player’s ship, the Adrestia, much easier, as they’ll earn more cash and items than they would in the regular game. Getting any rare items required for it is made a little easier too as, since the playerretains their levels, they can sail to any island they like, instead of hanging around Kephalonia until they’re strong enough to go to Megaris, etc. The harder challenges are a fair price to pay for less of a grind.
Ghost of Tsushimaoffers a similar boost, as all of Jin’s gear gains an extra upgrade level to make them stronger. He also gets a new, NG+ exclusive horse to race on, and a new vendor. Baku the Voiceless is exclusive to NG+, appearing on the island in Izuhara Lake. He only takes Ghost Flowers as currency, which players will be gathering a lot in the mode anyway.
The vendor offers a wide range of armor, armor dyes, hats and masks, alongside new charms and curses. Want tocharm the Mongol’s dogsand use them against the enemy? Only Baku’s Charm of Canine Recruitment can do that. Their Charm of Distraction can help attack enemies with hornets and wind if they need to do Iron Will to recover some health. They’re neat little things that can spice up a second playthrough.
Many New Game+ modes leave the difficulty the same, even when the player is super strong with all their new upgrades, weapons, etc. Others rack up the difficulty, while adding more rewards like a carrot to go with the stick, like inElden Ring. Based on its less-open predecessors, theDark Soulsgames, players keep everything from their first run, and their enemies are made stronger.
But if they’re beaten, they offer the player more runes to surpass their level. Then, if they beat the game again, they can replay once more on NG++ and continue up to NG+9 and beyond. This can come in handy for tricky sidequests as, while the game resets their progress, players can tackle them at a higher level with more skills, talismans and other gear that can make it a smoother run.
After theBorderlandsmovie’s poor reception, fans might like to head back to the classic games to see what they were like at their peak. ParticularlyBorderlands 2, the most popular entry in the series, and its True Vault Hunter Mode. It’s basically an NG+ mode, where the player takes on a higher difficulty level with all their old gear, levels, etc. retained.
They’ll take on harder enemies, including more Bad Ass variants, and new foes like the Psycho and Armored Maniac. They’ll scale with the player’s level too, so even basic grunts will have more health and strength. However, they’ll hold up worse against their elemental weaknesses (and stronger against ones they’re resistant to), and offer more loot and XP once beaten. For players who take the high risk, there’s a high reward.
Every Arkham game fromBatman: Arkham Cityonward offers an NG+ mode, where Batman can practically breeze through Gotham, since he’ll have all his moves and gadgets by this point. Players can also use the extra Bat-costumes without inputting a cheat code. So, to make up for that, NG+ mode plays out in Hard mode. Enemies are faster, more aggressive, and don’t have Counter icons above their heads when they’re about to attack.
Enemy layouts are changed too, like more armored enemies turning up in Predator sections. Then Mr. Freeze needs practicallyevery unique takedown to beat, testing players' knowledge of every gadget and environmental advantage they can get. It’s a sweet challenge for players who want to know the game inside and out.
