What is your opinion on New Game Plus(NG+)?

[rusty_shackleford]

Is this a feature you enjoy in games?


The most popular example is probably Diablo 2 and its clones, but I don't think many people consider it to be such

[madbringer]

Diablo 2 had no new game +, it had difficulty levels.

[rusty_shackleford]

Diablo 2 had no new game +, it had difficulty levels.

It's NG+

[madbringer]

Diablo 2 had no new game +, it had difficulty levels.

It's NG+

No.

[rusty_shackleford]

Diablo 2 had no new game +, it had difficulty levels.

It's NG+

No.

ok, explain how it isn't

[madbringer]

It's NG+

No.

ok, explain how it isn't

It has no new content, it minuses ur resists and makes a few late-game drops available.

[rusty_shackleford]

No.

ok, explain how it isn't

It has no new content, it minuses ur resists and makes a few late-game drops available.

What do you think NG+ is?

[madbringer]

ok, explain how it isn't

It has no new content, it minuses ur resists and makes a few late-game drops available.

What do you think NG+ is?

Apparently not what you do.

[Maledict]

I like NG+. I think it should purge your inventory, but you should be able to keep stats, currency, etc., so it isn't just a pure victory lap.

[Norfleet]

I like NG+. I think it should purge your inventory, but you should be able to keep stats, currency, etc., so it isn't just a pure victory lap.

Honestly, what would need to be "purged" or "kept" to not be a victory lap would be game-dependent. Going into a new game with endgame stats and ****-you money would very much just be a victory lap in a stat-growth-driven game while keeping your equipment wouldn't necessarily be, and vice versa in an equipment-driven game. And in any system with a fair amount in both boxes, it would very much be a victory lap anyway. You can't exactly drop a level 20 wizard into a level 1 game and not expect him to simply nuke everything even without items, especially if can just immediately reprint them with his crafting feats.

[Norfleet]

The most popular example is probably Diablo 2 and its clones, but I don't think many people consider it to be such

In Diablo, it's not really a "New Game Plus", it's more a "the tutorial is over, now we can finally play the game". Because Diablo is not about the story, Diablo is about farming monsters (or maybe that one specific monster) to get loot, and since the items you actually want probably aren't even accessible in the lower difficulties, these areas are seen as the pre-game and the actual game begins when you unlock the real deal.

[rusty_shackleford]

The most popular example is probably Diablo 2 and its clones, but I don't think many people consider it to be such

In Diablo, it's not really a "New Game Plus", it's more a "the tutorial is over, now we can finally play the game". Because Diablo is not about the story, Diablo is about farming monsters (or maybe that one specific monster) to get loot, and since the items you actually want probably aren't even accessible in the lower difficulties, these areas are seen as the pre-game and the actual game begins when you unlock the real deal.

What do you guys think NG+ is?

[Norfleet]

What do you guys think NG+ is?

I view it more as the option to engage in post-game fooling around with all the toys you acquired finishing the game.

In Diablo's case, it's less this, and more "the obligatory tutorial you must suffer or find a way to powerlevel past before you're allowed to play the real game". In a typical "NG+, you derive little value from it if you had or found the option to simply skip the entire original game. It would just more or less be the basic game if you skipped the original run.

In Diablo, this is not the case, and a traditional technique is just to get an existing high-level character to carry you through the waste of time that is the pre-real-game and immediately begin attacking the real game having effectively skipped through most of that. If players are finding themselves regularly doing this or thinking in these terms, it's not an NG+, it's The Actual Game, prefixed with a tutorial gatekeeping you from playing it.

[rusty_shackleford]

What do you guys think NG+ is?

I view it more as the option to engage in post-game fooling around with all the toys you acquired finishing the game.

In Diablo's case, it's less this, and more "the obligatory tutorial you must suffer or find a way to powerlevel past before you're allowed to play the real game". In a typical "NG+, you derive little value from it if you had or found the option to simply skip the entire original game. It would just more or less be the basic game if you skipped the original run.

In Diablo, this is not the case, and a traditional technique is just to get an existing high-level character to carry you through the waste of time that is the pre-real-game and immediately begin attacking the real game having effectively skipped through most of that. If players are finding themselves regularly doing this or thinking in these terms, it's not an NG+, it's The Actual Game, prefixed with a tutorial gatekeeping you from playing it.

NG+ is not "post-game"

[Bertram_Tung]

when i beat a game, it's done

[Norfleet]

NG+ is not "post-game"

I'm not really sure what else you'd call it. The game is over, the ability to dump your endgame party back into the beginning of the game and curbstomp everyone, including the things you were normally intended to lose to just to see what they hid behind that, is not really "the game".

NG+ is the option to play, but you can walk away from it at this point satisfied that you have beaten the game. If you're obliged to play it to get the complete experience, and this mode is being gated by being forced to play what amounts to a tutorial version of it, then it is that, not really "NG+".

[rusty_shackleford]

NG+ is not "post-game"

I'm not really sure what else you'd call it. The game is over, the ability to dump your endgame party back into the beginning of the game and curbstomp everyone, including the things you were normally intended to lose to just to see what they hid behind that, is not really "the game".

NG+ typically means all the enemies are much more difficult/higher level

[Norfleet]

NG+ typically means all the enemies are much more difficult/higher level

Sometimes, but the important thing is that you're not going to find anything that wasn't really there before. In Diablo, pretty much none of the game's actual stuff is accessible in the tutorial modes.

[TND]

I like replaying games in NG+ with all skills unlocked like Deus Ex Mankind Divided, it unlocks a lot of early traversal and dialogue choices for you without having to rely on skill investment since you already have them.

[Vlajdimir Ermenović]

Very overrated feature. Dark souls 2 had the right idea by having some added surprises for ng+, some added invasions and new enemies. Otherwise, why not just start a new playthrough?

[Eyestabber]

Literally never played a single ng+ except maybe high difficulty diablo 2. Ng+ is fundamentally ****, making a new character is more interesting 10/10 times. Dark souls 2 had the perfect solution in the form of bonfire ascetics which allowed people to get ng items without starting a boring redo of the game. Path of exile had ng+ back in the day and changed it for new acts, which is a step up. Essentially there's zero reason to keep playing the same character and redoing the same campaign and most games realize that by now.

[Vaako]

If enough carries over and there are new rewards/fights hidden while you can easiely swipe the floor with normal bosses, its great. But most games just gimp you way too much that I dont even bother. Especially nice if you can do speech checks in situations you couldnt even have a high speech skill like that without cheats in the first playthrough. Where you meet characters which later die in the story but thanks to some ability you have you can challenge them to fight before that and get more unique op loot or you can talk them into joining your party. But I dont really know games which have that much thought put into ng+. Also in ng+ you need ways to faster progress through tutorials or boring story sections you already played, which often lock you into an area. I think FF XV and HZD1 had that and why I didnt bother there.

[methoxetamine]

I like the idea of NG+ but i almost never do it. Only when I want to see other endings or where there's a reason to like Stellar Blade offering new outfit variants in both NG+ and NG++ (plus other endings) . They are usually way too easy though

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Yes, I enjoy carrying over my gladiator belts/headbands and quartz on subsequent playthroughs of Trails games.