Why stop at the end credits?
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00:00Now there are plenty of things that completionists need to cross off to really ensure they've
00:04gotten their fill from a video game, but sometimes you can do everything right
00:08and you still just need to go boot the whole game up again to see everything there is to see.
00:12While there are new game plus modes that just involve you going through the motions all over
00:17again, perhaps with a nice little buff or a level bump, we're here to talk about the new
00:21game plus offerings that make things a little more exciting. Maybe there's a new enemy to
00:25encounter, a great new piece of gear to pick up, or a mechanic that changes the game.
00:30Whatever the case, here are a bunch of secrets to be found only by those dedicated enough to
00:35let the credits roll on a game and then jump right back in. I'm Jess from WhatCulture and
00:40here are 9 video game secrets hidden in New Game Plus.
00:44Number 9. The truth behind The Lost Civilization. Heaven's Vault.
00:48Inkle's 2019 adventure game Heaven's Vault might have passed you by as it was kind of a sleeper
00:54hit, but it's got this really cool sci-fi, archaeological vibe and it's really unique
00:59format carries through into its new game plus. Even if you're a diligent completionist,
01:03there's only so much you'll have been able to put together while seeking the truth behind
01:07a lost ancient civilization in your first run. You can still get a great ending,
01:12but many of the game's discoveries will remain unsolved for you. While other games use their
01:17new game plus modes to give you a boost in combat or retain your gold, Heaven's Vault
01:22lets you carry over your library of translated words in the ancient script. Now puzzling out
01:27these translations and their implications for the game's lore and how they inform the culture
01:31you're investigating is a game-long journey that you won't be able to finish up your first time
01:36around. The mechanic of interpreting these phrases by using your best guess and nailing
01:41down the translation is one of the game's best features. So finding out you can dive back in
01:47right where you left off and learn the rest of the backstory and the culture's true history in
01:51a second or third run is really satisfying. There's also a ton of branching paths here,
01:57and the game will adapt to your choices, so there's lots of reasons to dive back in.
02:01Number eight, Magic Sunglasses, Fez. Indie platformer Fez and its creator Phil Fish made
02:07quite the splash on the gaming scene when it arrived in 2012. You're thrown into a 2D world
02:13which you can rotate to line up platforms and solve puzzles. The game was beloved for its art
02:18style, nostalgia-eliciting design, emphasis on discovery, and engaging gameplay mechanics. But
02:24all that doesn't end when the credits roll, because there's a treat for players who are
02:28willing to go through it all again. The new Game Plus mode gives players a pair of sunglasses which
02:34lets you see the world in first person. Basically this means instead of seeing everything in 2D,
02:39you can see in 3D, allowing you to check out the floors and ceilings, find hidden areas,
02:44and solve new puzzles. If that secret isn't exciting enough for you to dive back in,
02:49you also get the ability to fly in New Game Plus. That's pretty cool.
02:53Number seven, The Sweetest Revenge, Chrono Trigger. Not many games do New Game Plus quite
02:59like the Chrono series, perhaps excepting our number one entry, but we'll get to that later.
03:03That's because Chrono Trigger was the first game to coin the term New Game Plus. The classic JRPG
03:09lets you keep your levels, stats, learn techs, and top tier gear. The game also has a whole lot
03:14of different endings you can unlock, but even with that, it's still not the coolest secret
03:19hidden in New Game Plus. The game has you face off against the final boss at the beginning,
03:23when you're too weak to face off against him. Not so in New Game Plus though, where there's
03:28a chance you will be capable of taking him out, which is about as cool as it sounds like it would
03:33be. It also opens up new secret endings if you can take him out at one of the earlier opportunities,
03:38so if you're only going through the game once and losing at that initial hurdle,
03:42you'd miss a bunch of extra content. Being able to body bosses who absolutely destroyed you in
03:47your first run is also pretty bloody awesome. Number six, Runepoint Do-Over, Dishonored 2.
03:53Dishonored 2 switched things up from the original game by offering you two different playable
03:58protagonists to choose from, Emily Kaldwin or Corvo Attano. The game illustrated the same
04:03phenomenal stealth gameplay design as the original, incorporating exciting side missions
04:08and multiple approaches. It stands to reason then that the New Game Plus mode of a game that has
04:13built a lot of its reputation on letting you play however you want to and giving you all these
04:18different playstyle opportunities would be kind of a slam dunk. As you'd expect, you will be able to
04:23retain all of your bone charm traits, assigned runes, and any blueprints you found in your
04:28previous run, but it gets better. You'll be able to re-spend all of your rune points, so no matter
04:34whether you choose to play as the same character or switch it up, you can build your playstyle from
04:38scratch with the points you've already earned. Not only that, you can mix and match Corvo and
04:43Emily's powers to create the playstyle of your dreams. This is a great way to refine your previous
04:48attempted build or try something completely different. Number five, New Game Plus Currency,
04:53Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor Overclocked. If there's something we can generalize about,
04:58at least when it comes to the JRPGs on this list, it's that they love providing alternate endings
05:04and they really know what they're doing when it comes to a New Game Plus mode.
05:08Genre heavyweight Shin Megami Tensei is no exception to either of these rules, as the 2011
05:13remaster, Devil Survivor Overclocked, has a really interesting system to offer those who are up for
05:19a second run at it. Essentially, the tactical role-playing game not only plays out different
05:24events depending on your choices each run and offers up multiple endings to those who satisfy
05:29the requirements, it essentially gives you a New Game Plus currency. You'll gain it through
05:34completing various objectives in the previous run and it can be spent in the New Game Plus shop
05:39where you trade it in for the ability to carry over things like items, demons or funds. You can
05:45even use the points to unlock new bosses for the next run, so that's pretty cool.
05:49Number four, Senkichi from the Jump, Persona 5 Strikers. While Persona 5 Strikers kind of hurts
05:55my little Persona 5 Royal obsessed heart since the game pretends the events of Royal didn't happen,
06:01there's still more than enough to love in Strikers. From some excellent new characters to plenty of
06:06brand new systems, it might still be more of a companion to the main experience but it's still
06:11well worth playing. That extends through to the New Game Plus mode where you'll not only get all
06:16the goodies you expect like retaining your items, money, equipment, Persona compendium, bond levels
06:22and so on, but there's another special thing you'll get early access to which really makes
06:26it worth playing through again. This is the bit I kind of have to give you a bit of a spoiler
06:31warning so if you don't want to hear about one of the coolest reveals in Strikers, I'll meet you
06:35over at number three. In the original run of the game, you'll spend a lot of time with police
06:39detective Zenkichi Hasegawa. He's an entertaining dude with a lovely backstory but it's not until
06:45almost the end of the game after the fifth jail, which is essentially a dungeon, that he actually
06:50becomes playable. It's here that the New Game Plus mode absolutely delivers as it lets you play as
06:56Zenkichi from the beginning, which is a big deal since his persona is pretty damn powerful and
07:01also we love him. Number three, forget everything you know, Nioh 2. Nioh 2 is a really interesting
07:08one when it comes to its New Game Plus offering because not only do you get to retain your items,
07:13gear, kodamas and soul cores in preparation for taking on tougher enemies, you're really going to
07:19need them. That's because Nioh 2 doesn't stop at just giving its enemies more damage dealing
07:24potential and health in its New Game Plus modes, it goes a lot deeper. To address the elephant in
07:29the room first, yes I did say New Game Plus modes as in plural. Nioh 2 has four of them, each making
07:37a variety of changes to the game world to make things significantly more different and difficult
07:42for you. These range from bosses gaining new attacks to modified enemy move sets, new mechanics
07:48and switching out regular enemies for DLC enemies in main story missions, which is about as tension
07:53inducing as it sounds. There are also new grace set bonuses enabling you to try out entirely new
07:59play styles. If you can somehow make it all the way through that, you'll also get access to the
08:04Underground, which is basically a dungeon that consists of a hundred floors for you to fight
08:08your way through. Number two, Ancient Cave, Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals. Lufia 2 is a 1995
08:16role-playing game developed by Neverland for the Super NES. If you're doing the maths on this one
08:21and realize the game came out a little before Chrono Trigger so it can't technically have a
08:26specifically titled New Game Plus mode, look, you're right. But the game does have a retry mode
08:31where you'll run through the game again with four times experience and currency. If that sounds like
08:36a pretty boring thing for me to have put on this list, that's because that is not what we're here
08:40to talk about. Drop back in for the second round of New Game Plus and the game that was Lufia 2
08:46is replaced with an area that you encounter in the main game called Ancient Cave. This whole third
08:51run through of the game just drops you into this dungeon that consists of 99 randomly generated
08:56floors. All you can do is descend, gear up, loot powerful weapons and try to survive. By all
09:02accounts, the enemy variety and complexity of this area actually make it even better than the main
09:07game, so it's definitely not a New Game Plus mode to turn your nose up at. Number one, The Endings,
09:14Nier Automata. There was just no way we were going to get out of this list and not include the reigning
09:20king of all New Game Plus modes, Nier Automata. There's an argument to be made that the New Game
09:25Plus modes of Automata are so integral to the story that you can't separate them, and not to
09:30experience them is to not experience the full game at all. But given that they are really that
09:35important and crucial to the story, you can see how it ended up in our number one spot here. Each
09:40new level of New Game Plus unfolds more of the game's fascinating story, satisfyingly weaving
09:46everything you've learned together into a seriously moving tale you'd be remiss to avoid. The second
09:51playthrough puts you in the shoes of a brand new character, experiencing many of the same events,
09:56while the third delivers entirely new content that you'll experience as a new android, A2.
10:03There are so many branching routes that this game keeps a hold of you through multiple runs,
10:07even when the content does repeat, and with 26 endings to experience,
10:12to call the New Game Plus modes thorough would be an understatement. Almost every secret you're
10:17going to want to know from Nier Automata can be found in its subsequent New Game Plus mode endings,
10:22so do yourself a favor and don't skip them. That's the end of our list, but do let me know
10:26down in the comment section if you can think of any other secrets that can be found in the
10:30video game New Game Plus modes. As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture, thank you so much for
10:36hanging out with me. If you like you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account where I'm
10:40at JessMcDonald, but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more gaming goodness.