Here’s how New Game+/postgame works in Nioh

It’s pretty badass

Nioh is a return to form for Team Ninja. Not only does it preserve the hardcore nature of their roots, hearkening back to their golden age era that peaked with Ninja Gaiden Black, but it also has some modern conveniences built into it.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect from the New Game+ mode. Note that there are a few minor non-specific, non-story spoilers involved.

After completing the final level of the game (it’s an obvious, multi-boss bonanza), you’ll receive a litany of gifts — one of each “Divine” weapon. It’s a new tier of (green colored) gear, and can extend to pieces of armor as well. This is your main source of buffing up in the post-game, beyond leveling up. A post-game, mind, that still requires one more mission to access. One more obvious main campaign level will pop up, and outside of one tricky room the entire affair isn’t too hard to clear, including the boss. After dusting up that stage you’ll unlock New Game+, known as “Way of the Strong.”

From there you can revisit the entire “original” game (Way of the Samurai) at will. Just pop up the region select menu and bam, there’s an option for both modes, which essentially double as a normal and hard setting. Every stage from the first three regions is unlocked, include side missions, you just need to clear them again to get to the rest of the game. They obviously offer higher XP rewards and loot.

Other bonuses include the ability to level up your Guardians (the final Shrine menu option is revealed) to 30, which in my experience only takes around 10 missions or so to max out, and the expanded hunt for Divine gear. Not only is there a higher chance for random Divine drops, but you can also spend ochoko cups to enhance the drop rate.

If you head to the Teahouse you can spend some currency to unlock new costumes (which aren’t impacted by armor choices) — I’m spicing up my second playthrough with the visage of a spoilery famous Japanese warlord. So yeah, it’s a pretty open-ended way to approach NG+, and much better than the “locked-in” method of the Souls games that overwrite your previous progress. For reference, I was level 94 when I finished the game, so if you’re approaching 100 you should be fine for NG+.

Feel free to also check out our tips guide and mimic guide.