Introduction
Sometimes you finish a game and you're just not ready for it to be over. That can mean just hanging out in the world, going for 100% completion, or jumping into New Game Plus to play through the story a second time, but just wreck everything in your path. A lot of games have the option for a second round. A rare few really go the distance in making playing through the game again a key feature, like an essential part of the game. Hi, folks, it's Zaid Ikram, and today on Gamix, we're going to talk about 10 games we didn't want to leave after we finish. As a real quick note before we get started, our main focus here is going to be New Game Plus options. They aren't all that, but a lot of them are, and that's good, because it's a feature that inherently ties into what we're talking about here.
Dark Souls II
Without any further ado, starting off at number 10, it's "Dark Souls II," maybe the black sheep of the Souls Family. I know that I get it, but there's one thing "Dark Souls II" does better than any other game in the franchise, and that's how they implemented New Game Plus.Â
So how it usually works is, after beating a game, you either automatically or are given the option to start the game over from scratch with all your equipment and levels intact. Enemies hit harder, take more damage, drop more souls, or whatever the souls equivalent is in the game, blood echoes or runes, or I mean, there's enough Souls-likes out there where I could probably say salad, not knowing that there's a game that drops salads. There probably is one. It wasn't made by From, and well, this is more about ones that were. Still, "Dark Souls II" does things a little differently. It makes starting a new game feel more like an actually new experience. Instead of just making existing enemies tougher, they actually insert new enemies into existing levels. Sometimes they throw in tough enemies from later in the game into earlier spots. Sometimes they throw in dark spirit versions of the enemies or just put in more in general. There are new item drops all over the place too. Some of the new items are New Game Plus exclusive as well. Some of the bosses changed, not a lot, but a few of them have some tricks, like making some extra enemies appear mid-fight.
I think it’s actually very smart to do some of them that way rather than all of them; it really keeps you guessing. Another quirk of the whole system is items called bonfire aesthetics, which basically turn the entire area into its New Game Plus form. It's useful because "Dark Souls II" is the only game in the series where if you kill enough enemies in a location, they stop spawning. So this item lets you continue farming enemies in certain spots, but using it also makes that location harder, even in New Game Plus. So if you use a bonfire aesthetic in an area to make it plus one harder, then on New Game Plus, every area becomes plus one and that specific area becomes plus two, so enemies hit even harder and drop more souls. It's weird stuff like this that makes the second game in the Souls series unique, and while there are plenty of things to not like about "Dark Souls II," the way it implements New Game Plus is a total success, and I wish more games in the series did something similar.
Batman: Arkham City
And number nine is "Batman: Arkham City," the perfect game to play through multiple times, to be frank. The length is just long enough to be satisfying but not so long that you're burnt out by the end. All Rocksteady had to do was let us go through the story again with a fully powered-up Batman and everybody would be happy, right? Yes, the answer is yes, everyone would be happy, but they went the extra mile and made a New Game Plus that is not just an entertaining power fantasy. No, no, it's an actual challenge for people who mastered the game. "Arkham City" lets you play through the game a second time with all your stuff, yes, but it completely rebalances the game for your loadout, so the tougher end-game enemies start appearing earlier on. Combat and stealth encounters get completely reworked and made a whole lot tougher right from the start. And to make things even trickier, the counter indicator is disabled, so you actually have to watch enemies and their attacks to know when to counter, which, by the way, makes combat way tougher, but it also makes you feel like much more of a badass when you're good at it. Seems like a small thing, removing a little icon that appears over Batman that tells you when to press the counter button, but wow, does it change how you play the game.
It's so easy to rely on that indicator, so when it's gone, you feel kind of weak and helpless, even though your Batman is fully powered up. It takes some real adjusting and getting used to playing without that indicator, and it makes New Game Plus feel like you're relearning the game with the training wheels off. It takes some getting used to, but man, it is a fun challenge.
Dead Space
Moving on to number eight, it's "Dead Space." Horror games are perfect for New Game Plus. They're short, generally pretty linear, and very story-focused, so you tend to wrap them up fairly quickly. Doing something to give these games a little more longevity is something that makes sense. A lot of these games have New Game Plus modes. Any of the "Resident Evil" games, for example, can be a ton of fun to go back through, especially "Resident Evil IV," but they often don't really offer a lot that’s new. Maybe a special or an overpowered weapon or two, but that's kind of about it.
If there's a platonic ideal of a horror game New Game Plus mode from a game that has one, it's got to be the one from the "Dead Space" remake. It just does it all. Higher level suit, additional story elements, and Easter eggs, even an entirely new ending. But the thing that really makes playing through the game worthwhile is how they mixed up the gameplay. See, the game doesn't completely rework enemy encounters, but it does change how the director works, making enemies pop up at different times and altering how certain fights go. Necromorphs become even more unpredictable, and on top of that, there's a new phantom enemy variant that's the toughest kind of enemy yet. These things take tons of punishment to take down. They're also very fast and do some serious damage. So New Game Plus is a land of contrast. Sometimes, you're happy mowing down hordes of monsters no problem, but then a phantom appears and things get serious, to say the least. They managed to make the mode feel both empowering while giving you something that you have to worry about. It's a great contrast. It keeps everything consistently engaging.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
And number seven, appropriately, is the "Final Fantasy VII" remake. These games have one of the more unusual New Game Plus modes I've seen. After beating remake and rebirth, normally you unlock hard mode, which lets you play the game again and face off against tougher enemies and bosses, but the thing that really changes is that on hard mode you can't use items at all. No items. It completely alters how you go about playing the game. It makes encounters more of a test of MP management and finding creative ways to keep the party’s health up than the usual wars of attrition these fights normally are. Another interesting wrinkle is that you can play through the chapters in any order. So if you're struggling through something in the early part of the game, just skip it. It lets you tackle hard mode in whatever order you want, which is a simple idea, but it makes the entire thing feel less daunting. You can save certain parts for later if you're not sure about them, or go for certain equipment or material in one chapter before attempting a tough boss that would normally appear earlier.
The whole no items thing just radically alters how you approach this game, and they properly balance it so it's not some kind of BS challenge. It almost feels like hard mode is the intended way to play the game at a certain point, even though it is, without a doubt, much harder than the base game. It's not exactly like the standard game is super easy either, as a way to purely express your skill in the game. New Game Plus mode in RPGs actually doesn't get a lot more satisfying than the ones in the "Final Fantasy VII" remakes. You could argue it makes them a lot more skill-based in general.
Armored Core VI
And number six is "Armored Core VI." New Game Plus on "Armored Core VI" is kind of a no-brainer. It's one of those games where you're gonna want to keep playing regardless. It's just a fun game to screw around in, so the fact they actually put a lot of work into the New Game Plus bit makes it better. It was something they were doing anyway, so they didn't have to, but they did.
Along with some new armor pieces and weapons, New Game Plus mode unlocks additional routes for certain missions. If you play through the entire game enough, you get actual alternate endings. It's a real cool and unexpected feature, and the first time something different happens, it's like what, seriously? And then they just keep going with it. The third playthrough up to the point where it feels like you're going through an almost new campaign. It's not on the level of something like "NieR: Automata," where the New Game Plus is the game continuing.Â
Things don't change that much, but there's enough things that do change to keep your attention without distracting from what really matters. This is essentially tinkering with your mech and making gimmick builds that are mostly worthless. That's what "Armored Core VI" is really about, building the stupidest robot possible that's still somehow halfway functional.
Devil May Cry Series
And number five is the "Devil May Cry" series. With complex action games like DMC, for a lot of real gamers, it doesn't even start until playthrough two. For most games in this series, you'll get some form of easy or normal your first playthrough, and it's not until you beat the game that you unlock hard mode, and hard mode is the real game. Tons of games do this sort of thing, by the way, "Ninja Gaiden," "Bayonetta," but in this instance, I gotta give the crown to the original, the game series that inspired all of them.
The "Devil May Cry" games are meant to be played through multiple times. So you can use late-game weapons right from the start with all the skills unlocked so that you can really style on enemies using every tool available. No more getting skills piecemeal. Now, you have everything. You're fully free to experience a combat system with no roadblocks. Depending on the game, the higher difficulties don't just make enemies tougher. They can do some interesting things, like make them more aggressive or maybe they have more attacks or even have a devil trigger of their own, turning the weakest chumps into actually dangerous threats.
Then there's stuff like legendary dark knight mode in DMC 4, where huge gangs of enemies spawn for every encounter, and fights that would normally be three or four enemies now have 20 or 40 of them attacking at the same time. It's like "Dynasty Warriors May Cry," and it's absolutely absurd, but man, it is a lot of fun.
Nioh 2
And number four is "Nioh 2." If there's one game where people say the real game starts after the credits roll, it's this one. The amount of stuff locked away until you finish a campaign is absolutely staggering. There's just a ton going on here. It's not even like these games are short; they're actually pretty long for Souls-likes, but you can easily spend double or triple your game time messing with the post-game stuff.
After finishing the story, you unlock the first four extra difficulty levels with Dream of the Strong. Still a sort of linear progression here, but instead of having to play through every level to unlock each main region to progress, there's a meter that gets filled up when you complete main missions and side missions. Once you've done enough, the game allows you to progress to the next area without necessarily doing everything. Each difficulty level makes enemies tougher, but it makes the drops better and gives you higher level equipment. The "Nioh" games have randomly generated loot, and your overall power is much more tied to the stuff you got equipped than in something like "Elden Ring."
So in a way, the "Nioh" games are kind of hybrids between Souls-likes and "Diablo" games, but that's just the start. Unlocking additional difficulty levels like Dream of the Demon, Dream of the Wise, Dream of the Nioh adds even more stuff, including remixing the enemy placement, which includes enemies from the DLC in the base game area. I mean, it's really a lot. In the final difficulty mode, you unlock something called the Underworld, this 108-floor combat challenge meant for the most hardcore of Nioh players. I'm only scratching the surface here on the stuff you unlock in each difficulty mode. It's like a ton of complex gear improvements, ways to craft and forage overpowered stuff.
All you really need to know is there's a whole lot going on in this game that extends well past the point where normal players might even just put the game down. The motto here is become obsessed.
Dishonored Series
And number three is "Dishonored," the whole series. These games don't necessarily give you anything new for playing through a second time on the same save, but there are few games as satisfying to play through again. Playing through the game slowly and carefully the first time through is fun, but on a second go, there is nothing stopping you from using all the powers as much as you want, gaining access to certain areas you couldn't get to the first time, or just slicing and dicing all the guards, completely destroying everybody, or everyone that tries to oppose you.
Levels it took hours to go through the first time can just be cleared out in minutes. Completing a stage that quickly in the first playthrough can be kind of a drag; you'd miss a bunch of content, but going full psycho the second time is great. You'll finally just cut loose and use all those powers you barely got a chance to experiment with the first time around. The second game is even better because you got two completely different characters to play as. Doesn't change the story so much, but having access to a completely different set of powers alters how you approach each of the stages. These are games that are meant to be played through more than once, and they're all the better for it.
Chrono Trigger
And number two is "Chrono Trigger." The original New Game Plus game still holds up shockingly well if you're willing to jive with turn-based combat. I am; I love me some turn-based combat, and "Chrono Trigger" is, among turn-based JRPGs, an absolute masterpiece, one of the best-looking, easily most well-paced RPGs ever made. It is short for one of these types of games. You can wrap it up after 20 hours, but there's a lot of replay value in coming back to the game and beating it and seeing the many alternate endings that can be unlocked in a new game.
Plus, it's not the first game to let you play through it again with all your experience and equipment and tech, but it was the first to call it New Game Plus, and it's a real testament to the game's quality. This still holds up in comparison to a lot of other games. What makes this game different is that in the second playthrough, you can at any time refight the final boss. It's something that unlocks at a certain point in the regular game, but in New Game Plus, it's available pretty much right from the start. And depending on when you kill the final boss, it unlocks a new ending. There's a lot of these, actually, and they're mostly joke endings, but they're still well worth playing through to see some alternative future that could have been. They did actually put effort into these things too. It's not just white text on a black screen.
Every ending has its own little vignette that plays out. Sure, the rest of the game's essentially the same, so you're just steamrolling every enemy encounter, but that's, I mean, also kind of part of the fun, isn't it?
Diablo Series
And finally, at number one, it's the "Diablo" series, and what else was it gonna be? "Diablo" all but invented the modern idea of New Game Plus where you beat the game, unlock a new tier of difficulty where you keep leveling up and earning better and rarer loot so you can get stronger and unlock the next difficulty level and do the whole thing over again. Every action RPG worth mentioning does it. If you get a top-down looter game, there's gonna be a system like this somewhere in there, period. "Diablo II" had the most purest, straightforward form of New Game Plus with its normal to nightmare to hell difficulties, and while later games make the difficulty curve smoother and less repetitive, the basic idea, it's the same.
It's such a simple but addictive system that keeps people playing over and over again, trying to create the perfect build with all the right skills and weapons and armor and rings to make yourself as overpowered as possible. It helps that the actual gameplay games like this is relatively simple, yet satisfying. They're not too exhausting to play, and they're not so story-focused that it makes replaying the game with the same content over and over feel tedious. Of course, it helps that games like "Diablo II" and "Path of Exile" have randomly generated environments, and while in some of the other games, that sort of thing can get old, in these types of games, it works perfectly. Sure, eventually, burnout is gonna set in. You can't do the same thing over and over again forever, but it takes a hell of a lot longer to get sick of playing "Diablo" with the same character than almost everything else out there, right?
Conclusion
And that's all for today. Leave us a comment, let us know what you think. And as always, we thank you very much for reading this blog. I'm Zaid Ikram. We'll see you next time right here on Gamix.
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