10 New Game Plus Modes THAT CHANGE THE GAME

(electronic jingle) - [Falcon] New Game Plus has been something that's been coming back in video games and as such, we're seeing new experiences with games we've already beat. Hi folks, it's Falcon and today on Gameranx, 10 New Game Plus modes that changed the game. Before we get going, I'm just gonna say real quick, we're pulling from the past year or so, New Game Plus honestly it's nice to see back, it's starting to maybe even be standard nowadays in games, which is super cool and it ends up d

elivering some experiences you wouldn't normally get. So let's get going. Starting off with number 10, it's Assassin's Creed Mirage. Added to the game in a free update back in December alongside a permadeath mode, the New Game Plus mode, it has options. They're basically the sort of thing we come to expect from these types of modes. You know how New Game Plus works? You beat a game, new option pops up. Main menu, let's play through story again, but with all the upgrades you had from beating the

game, sometimes they add new twists on the formula, new gimmicks, but for the most part, Mirage's New Game Plus sticks to the formula. The only major change is it lets you skip past the prologues. You can immediately jump into the open world, which is an appreciated change, don't get me wrong, but in comparison to every other New Game Plus mode, I'm gonna talk about, this one's pretty bare bones. Still, it's a lot of fun to go back and just clean house and early game missions with all the tools

and upgrades from the end game. Not challenging at all, but that's the joys of the New Game Plus, it's a victory lap. And with our baseline established, let's move on to number nine, Star Wars Jedi Survivor. After finishing the game, you unlock the option to play New Journey Plus, which has all the usual stuff you'd expect to see in one of these modes. You got your skill points, your light saber stance, cosmetics, pretty much everything it's unlocked at the start, but the thing that makes this o

ne a little bit more interesting is the addition of three extra perks that can be switched on or off at will. The one that's on by default is Warrior, which remixes the Standard Enemy Encounters. It makes them quite a bit tougher, even from the prologue you'll notice the changes here. You're basically dealing with endgame enemies right from the start. (characters fighting) There's also your purity perk, which makes it so all the weapon damage is stronger, be it from friends or enemies. So makes

all attacks more lethal. And the last one, Trendsetter. It's just for fun. All this perk does is randomize Cal's costume when he dies, which is, it's funny, sometimes. You can turn all this on and off at will. So if you just wanna slaughter easy enemies, then turn off Warrior. Personally, I love it when New Game Plus makes the game tougher or remixes enemy encounters, it's relatively minor but it makes going through the game a second time a lot more interesting. At number eight is the Dead Space

remake. Horror games tend to be pretty tightly designed. Generally they're linear, they usually aren't that long. So these games really do benefit from New Game Plus options. They add some nice replay. Dead Space remake, one of the best in this regard. On top of carrying over all your weapons and upgrades, you can all unlock a new level six suit and you fight new phantom variants of enemies, which are extra tough and pop up at the worst possible times. The remake does something else interesting

as well. It adds more story content in the form of new text logs you can find around the Ishimura. There's also these mysterious marker fragments you can find, which when placed in a specific spot, actually unlocks a darker ending for the game. - [Questioner] What is it? - It's a surprise, sweetie. - [Falcon] This sorted thing can be divisive among players. Some people don't like the idea of having to play through a game twice to unlock all the story content NieR: Automata, not for those people

, but Dead Space does not go that far. I think it's kind of sparse and it's definitely not really punishing players for missing out. All this New Game Plus story stuff feels like bonuses for dedicated players, nothing's particularly essential for a relatively short horror game, I think this kind of New Game Plus stuff is great. It doesn't just change up the game with new enemies, it expands on the story, but not fundamentally. It just kind of in a way that feels like a nice reward. Out of all th

e recent games with New Game Plus options, the Dead Space remake easily one of the best. At number seven is Starfield. What makes Starfield unique is how New Game Plus is baked right into the game. It's not just a bonus feature, it's like a defining part of the narrative. Spoilers for the ending of Starfield, of course, but when you beat the game, you don't just hit the credits and call it quits, instead you like literally create a new universe and enter it as a star born. That means you start o

ff with a new ship, new armor and knowledge about how the previous universe went. It's kind of a mind blowing way to restart a game. At the start, you're given the option either start the story all over again or just tell Constellation everything you know and skip the story entirely. Every once in a while you get a new Starborn dialogue option where you can use your knowledge of what's already happened to your advantage. It it's pretty ingenious honestly. There are downsides. You keep your level

s, powers and skills, but your items outposts and ships, they're all gone. The ship, you spent hours meticulously building, it's gone. All your bases are cleared off the map and you gotta start over from square one. This is what keeps Starfield's version of New Game Plus from topping the list. There's actually too many reasons here not to do New Game Plus. On the other hand, you can actually start in a universe where Constellation is just a bunch of different versions of your own character. So l

ike there's some crazy cool stuff to find this way. - And we're just calling him "Loner You". - I work alone. - Yes, we know. - [Falcon] At number six is the Resident Evil IV remake. The game's New Game Plus options aren't the most amazing. It doesn't add new story content, there's no new enemy encounters, but this game is so good those things don't really matter so much. When you've got a game that is as enjoyable as this game. You don't need a lot of bells and whistles to keep coming back for

more. But there are some pretty decent additions. Of course, you get to keep all your weapons and health upgrades and even the merchant shows up earlier so you can collect all your guns before the first major fight. It's so much fun to just go back and decimate early enemies with your powered up weapons from the end of the game. Also, there are a few new tricks you can pull off. It's something I've talked about before, but I just love that you can actually ring the church bell by shooting it wit

h a rifle during the big village survival section. It's not that easy and the bell's pretty far away. It's partially obscured by trees, but it's awesome that they just thought to let you do that. There's really nothing else here that's new exactly. It's maybe a little disappointing, but it's also Resident Evil IV, you don't need a lot else. And the stuff it does bring, I do like. And number five is Immortals of Aveum. Remember this one, well, it actually got a New Game Plus mode back in November

of 2023. And it's not just some afterthought that they threw in either, you carry over most of the magic spells you learned in the regular game, but now you can upgrade your equipment past their normal endpoints and it makes enemies tougher, which gives them new abilities. So this is actually pretty fun, especially when you got to the end and you had all your powers unlocked and going back through the easier game with tougher enemies, with the new attacks, it's genuinely actually worth explorin

g. Some of the problems of this game have also been fixed in the months following it and it's a little bit better of an experience to go back to. But the New Game Plus isn't actually all they added in terms of content. They actually added a bunch of endgame stuff and a new difficulty level. So there's actually a lot of stuff to mess around with here, maybe worth revisiting. (gunfire exploding) (character shouting) (monster growling) At number four is Armored Core VI, Fires of Rubicon. Pretty muc

h every From game has some kind of New Game Plus mode. Sometimes they make the game a lot harder, sometimes they get easier, but none of them do what Armored Core VI does. This is a game with multiple endings, so going back through the story with New Game Plus is a no brainer. But what makes this mode especially interesting is you can actually play through new mission variations where you work with a different faction on the same mission or do different things. - [Narrator] Raven, I represent th

e Rubicon Liberation Front. Our request is simple. We want you to take out the two red guns. Our A compensation will be double Bill's offer awaiting your response. Interesting, your call 621. - [Falcon] What's especially interesting about this, is it doesn't just happen once on your first New Game Plus cycle. There's even more missions on lockdown cycle two at almost like a near game, you get a lot of new content, maybe not quite on that level, but I mean there's a lot more going on. It really m

ixes up your options. It makes each play through a lot more exciting. And you get to see these missions play out with majorly different perspectives. It's just a fun game to play anyway, so this new stuff makes New Game Plus not just a fun edition, it actually feels almost essential. At number three is Remnant 2. Doesn't really have your traditional New Game Plus mode, but it does some interesting things with a similar idea. Basically, Remnant 2 is split up into different campaigns that are all

partly randomized with some different level layouts, different loot, enemy encounters, et cetera. Sometimes entire regions are changed up entirely and you'll fight new bosses or run into new NPCs. After finishing a campaign for the first time, you're given the option to either run an adventure where you re-roll the zone, but it's smaller and more condensed than the campaign or reset the campaign and see how things are different. Now, what stands out about this system is just how much things can

change from one run to the next. Certain areas can be radically different. Sometimes the entire story of an area is entirely changed. It's really impressive and it adds a ton of replayability here. The story split up into multiple campaigns, so you're not really starting the entire game over again when you roll a new one. But the idea is mostly the same. You're talking your beefed up character back to a completed part of the game. It's just that the New Game Plus stuff is an integral part of the

experience rather than just a bonus mode. (gun firing) (character grunting) At number two is Grime. This game's a little older than everything else on this list, but the New Game Plus wasn't added until June of 2023 with the Tinge of Terror update. Grime, one of the strangest, most visually unsettling Metroidvania's I've ever played. And the devs have been hard at work updating and improving the game ever since it came out back in 2021. The new mode is one of the most significant updates to the

game. It adds just an absolute ton of stuff. All the bosses are modified, made much harder. There's new phases, new moves. Enemies are remixed and they're updated. They put up more of a fight. There's new enemies and progression systems, there's new lore and music. It's practically a new game. They've changed or tweaked pretty much everything for New Game Plus, it's kind of absurd the amount of work they put into this mode. So many players probably won't even bother with it too. Believe me, it'

s really worth checking out. There's even an entire New Game Plus exclusive boss, so there's a lot to dig into here. The game, along with the original Blast Smiths have some of the most impressive New Game Plus content in the genre. These guys really put in the work. And finally at number one, Alan Wake 2, probably one of the most ambitious New Game Plus modes added to a game ever. The final draft isn't just a victory lap, it's a key part in unraveling the story of Alan Wake 2. What makes it so

interesting is how it expands the ending of the game by adding new voice narration from Alan Wake. New collectibles, new live action segments, featuring a returning character from Control, really worth it. And a new ending that's a little more definitive than the standard one. Pretty much all of this stuff is spoilers, and if you're interested in this game, you should check it out for yourself because there's some crazy stuff here. It's not new stuff every second, but there's enough stuff to kee

p it consistently interesting. The actual gameplay elements not particularly changed up. It's your usual New Game Plus stuff. You get all your weapons already, blah. But the new content, the new story stuff, it's what makes Final Draft so interesting. And Allen Wake 2 is perhaps one of the most compelling games ever made in terms of narrative. It's just really well done. And to add more to it, that's equally well done, it's a no brainer. And that's all for today. Leave us a comment, let us know

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