New Game Plus

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New Game Plus, also New Game+ (NG+), is an unlockable video game mode available in some video game titles that allows the player to restart the game's story with all or some of the items or experience gained in the first playthrough. New Game Plus modes are typically unlocked after completing the game's story at least once and sometimes contain certain features not normally available in the initial playthrough, such as increased difficulty, altered combat/encounters, and more.

Contents

Origin

The term was coined in the 1995 role-playing video game Chrono Trigger , [1] but examples can be found in earlier games, such as Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei , The Legend of Zelda , Ghosts 'n Goblins , and Super Mario Bros. . This play mode is most often found in role-playing video games, where starting a New Game Plus will usually have the player characters start the new game with the statistics and/or equipment with which they ended the last game. Key items that are related to the story are normally removed so they cannot ruin the game's progression, and are given back to the player at the time they are needed; likewise, characters that the player acquires throughout the story will also not appear until their scheduled place and time, but will get the enhanced stats from the previous playthrough.

Examples

Games with multiple endings, such as Chrono Trigger, may feature a New Game Plus mode which allows the player to explore alternate endings. [2] Many games increase the difficulty in a New Game Plus mode, such as those in the Mega Man Battle Network series and Borderlands series. Others use the feature to advance the plot. In Astro Boy: Omega Factor , the player uses the game's Stage Select mechanism, explained in-story as a form of time travel, to avert disaster, while in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem , the player defeats three different final bosses, one in each playthrough, to access the true ending.

Some New Game Plus variations alter established gameplay. This includes unlocking new characters, such as in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; new areas, such as in Parasite Eve ; new items, such as in the Metal Gear series; new challenges, such as in the .hack series, or new weapon and armor upgrades, like in God of War II 's Bonus Mode and God of War (2018) 's New Game+ mode.

Games that connect to online marketplaces may require the player to complete a New Game Plus game to obtain certain achievements, such as the "Calamity Kid" achievement in the game Bastion . [3] Others may require or be required by additional purchases in the form of downloadable content, such as in Yakuza: Like a Dragon . [4]

Final Fantasy XIV is a MMORPG with an extensive story line called the "main scenario quest" or colloquially the "MSQ". A New Game Plus option was introduced during the Shadowbringers expansion patch cycle, which allows players to replay the main scenario and selected other scenarios, either in their entirety or specific expansion's stories. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Chrono Trigger</i> 1995 video game

Chrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the first entry in the Chrono series. The game's development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, creator of Enix's Dragon Quest series; and Akira Toriyama, character designer of Dragon Quest and author of the Dragon Ball manga series. In addition, Takashi Tokita co-directed the game and co-wrote the scenario, Kazuhiko Aoki produced the game, while Masato Kato wrote most of the story. The game's plot follows a group of adventurers who travel through time to prevent a global catastrophe.

<i>Chrono Cross</i> 1999 video game

Chrono Cross is a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is set in the same world as Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Chrono Cross was designed primarily by scenarist and director Masato Kato, who had help from other designers who also worked on Chrono Trigger, including art director Yasuyuki Honne and composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Nobuteru Yūki designed the characters of the game.

<i>Radical Dreamers</i> 1996 video game

Radical Dreamers is a 1996 text-based visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Square for the Satellaview, a satellite peripheral for the Super Famicom. It forms part of the Chrono series, acting as a side story to the 1995 game Chrono Trigger. A version of the game is included with Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, which was released worldwide on April 7, 2022 for Windows, the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

<i>Final Fantasy Chronicles</i> Video game compilation released in 2001

Final Fantasy Chronicles is a compilation of Square's role-playing video games Final Fantasy IV (1991) and Chrono Trigger (1995), released for the North American Sony PlayStation on July 2, 2001. TOSE ported both titles from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System; each had been previously released as individual Japanese PlayStation ports in 1997 and 1999. Several bonus features were added to each game, such as art galleries, bestiaries, and cutscenes—including computer-generated imagery full motion video used at the beginning of Final Fantasy IV and anime scenes used throughout Chrono Trigger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boss (video games)</span> Significant and especially strong opponent in video games

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavos</span> Fictional character

Lavos is a fictional extraterrestrial monster and the main antagonist of the 1995 role-playing video game Chrono Trigger, also appearing as an antagonist in its sequel, Chrono Cross. A parasitic alien that falls from the skies in 65,000,000 B.C., its impact results in an ice age. In the intervening time, it drains the planet's energy, until in 1999 A.D., it resurfaces, causing an apocalypse that destroys most life on the planet.

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Masato Kato is a Japanese video game artist, scenario writer and director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal". He then joined Square, and was most famous for penning the script of Chrono Trigger, as well as Radical Dreamers, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy XI and parts of Final Fantasy VII.

A video game with nonlinear gameplay presents players with challenges that can be completed in a number of different sequences. Each player may take on only some of the challenges possible, and the same challenges may be played in a different order. Conversely, a video game with linear gameplay will confront a player with a fixed sequence of challenges: every player faces every challenge and has to overcome them in the same order.

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<i>Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors</i> 2002 video game

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References

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  3. "Bastion Trophies". PlayStation 3 Trophies. Retrieved 2012-01-30.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. "Sega to Charge for Yakuza Like a Dragon New Game Plus Mode". 25 March 2020.
  5. "Patch 5.1 Notes". FINAL FANTASY XIV, The Lodestone. Square Enix . Retrieved 16 June 2021.