God of War packs a lot into New Game+ mode

Worth the wait

God of War fans who aren’t ready to part ways with the boy have a reason to smile big today: Sony Santa Monica has added the long-awaited New Game+ mode. There’s a little something for everyone.

To quickly recap, your unlocks carry over, you can skip cinematics, and there’s new Perfect rarity-level gear to craft. Certain enemies will also act differently, so good luck on those Valkyries fights.

Here’s a full breakdown of today’s update courtesy of senior combat tech-designer Mihir Sheth:

• Relive the adventure of Kratos and Atreus, while keeping all of your earned equipment and abilities. Start a new game with all of your armors, talismans, enchantments, Runic Attacks, skills, and yes, even weapons. [NG+ ONLY]

• NG+ is for everyone! Upon starting a NG+ game, you will be able to select your desired difficulty – no matter which difficulty you picked for your previous playthrough. Enemies will be leveled up accordingly, so choose the amount of challenge which suits you best. [NG+ ONLY]

• Explore new customization options with more powerful versions of existing armors, talismans and enchantments. Collect Skap Slag, a new resource used by our blacksmithing duo to craft Perfect rarity-level gear. [NG+ ONLY]

• Forge a handful of new armor sets for both Kratos and Atreus, including some with exciting new gameplay abilities, such as a chest piece which creates massive explosions whenever Health or Rage stones are stomped on. [NG+ ONLY]

• Push the boundaries of combat by converting certain talismans and armor sets into enchantments, creating combinations which are not possible in a standard playthrough. [NG+ ONLY]

• Enemies can now turn elite even on “Give Me a Challenge+” difficulty. Add a new dimension to combat, even if you don’t want the ultimate challenge on “Give Me God of War+”. [NG+ ONLY]

• Some enemies have new behaviors and attack patterns. Maybe you should see how you hold up against the Valkyries this time around? [NG+ ONLY]

• Test your skills on timed Realm Tears. Running away won’t help you against Hel-Vikens and Revenants (once you open a rift) anymore. [NG+ ONLY]

• Receive a new shield skin when starting a game on NG+. Unlock an additional one by completing NG+ on “Give Me God of War+” difficulty. [NG+ ONLY]

• Repeat the New Game Plus experience as much as you’d like by starting another NG+ game from one you’ve just completed. [NG+ ONLY]

• Engage the story the way you want to. Skip cinematics as you please on both standard and NG+ playthroughs by completing the story at least once. Experience the scenes again to catch secrets you might have missed, or simply jump right back into the action.

• Switch out your armor pieces as much as you like without worrying. Easily transfer all enchantments from one piece of gear to another in the menu with the push of a button.

• Many bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements, such as ensuring that Parry Attacks keep Kratos safe at all times, improving the Wrath of the Frost Ancient Runic Attack, fixing inconsistencies with how enemy attacks can be parried, and much more.

When New Game+ was casually announced during a Sony E3 press conference intermission of all places, I figured it’d be a relatively simple update. I’m glad to see a lot of care went into it.

God of War New Game Plus Live Today, Top Reasons to Play [PlayStation Blog]