Is It Worth Replaying A 100-Hour RPG On New Game Plus?

The New Game Plus remains the "not-sequel sequel" enhancement that RPG fans never thought their games would need. After all, why settle for a fresh playthrough when one can start a new run with better rewards? Sadly, the one big turn-off of New Game Pluses would be going through the whole playthrough a second time just to get all the perks — and if said RPG is at least 100 hours long, that's yet another 100-hour journey. New games like Crimson Desert are so long that they don't even include New Game Plus, at least not at launch.

Playing a New Game Plus in that kind of monolithic experience can become quite the overwhelming endeavor, and it's risky to play through the whole 100-hour journey before knowing if it's been worth the while. Thankfully, there are a handful of RPGs that make it worth sitting through yet another 100 hours, and they come with features beyond carried-over stats and tougher challenges.

Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive Edition

New Game Plus Is Essentially Act 3

• Playable after the credits scene, but it continues the story
• Gives players access to a definitive "true" ending
• Accessible within the main playthrough, instead of being an "option."

When it comes to New Game Pluses, the storytelling of Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive Edition treads quite a fine line. Set around the story of an orphan who becomes the Luminary destined to save the world, the original Dragon Quest XI story has all the trappings of a Dragon Quest game - complete with shocking origin stories, heroic sacrifice, and an epic last stand. The Luminary and his friends inevitably save the world, and the official credits roll.

By all means, it's an official ending to the game - Dragon Quest XI even asks the player to save after everything's done. However, this was a red herring as the credits head straight to a cutscene that unlocks the post-game. Players will soon realize this is enough to comprise an entirely massive Act 3 altogether, complete with the option to fight stronger foes, finally grind until Level 99, fight super bosses, and get character-focused content. While certainly not demanding a full replay, the fact that it's a quasi-optional "continuation" of a finished story makes it tread the line between next chapter, expansion, and New Game Plus.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Stays In Line With A Theme Of Cycles

• Carry over Vocation, XP, and Skills, Inventory and Gold, NPC Affinity
• Carry over Main Pawn's XP, Skills, and Personality when re-acquired
• Carry over inventory from Shops
• New creature elimination quests
• New farmable side-boss (Ur-Dragon)
• Portcrystals for fast travel are easily acquired
• Ideally done in Hard Mode

Despite the added depth to Dragon's Dogma 2, it's in its rather "plain" New Game Plus mode where fans felt it missed the mark - especially when Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen provided more concrete additional content in its NG+ offering. When the player is still alive after an encounter with a fearsome dragon named Grigori, he's declared the Arisen - the prophesied warrior who will defeat him and save the world. After they do just that and start New Game Plus, their progress and inventory carry over in addition to new elimination quests and a farmable Ur-Dragon.

What makes Dragon's Dogma worthwhile as a New Game Plus experience is the nature of the game itself: with a story about cycles, repeating Dragon's Dogma makes sense. The experience can be made much fresher if players only turn on Hard Mode for this new playthrough, so their higher-level Arisen and Main Pawn can feel a bit of extra challenge against their foes. As they reach the final quest again, players may also want to consider turning on offline mode (or online mode, depending on which one was done before) for a unique boss fight.

Persona 5 Royal

Repeat A Year-Long Journey To Max Out The Social Scene

• Memento stamps, skill cards, and stat increases are retained
• Social stats and important items like Presents get carried over
• Registered Personas can be summoned with enough credits
• Get a Secret Boss Fight
• Unlock Satanael, the Ultimate Persona of the Fool Arcana

The vibrant, spunky menu visuals of Persona 5 Royal easily make it one of the most recognizable JRPGs of the late 2010s, and Atlus pulled all stops for this Persona installment: the player is the silent Joker who leads the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, a vigilante group who "changes hearts" of evildoers in the subconscious realm of the Metaverse. The game retains Persona classics such as turn-based combat and dungeon-crawling, and even the collection of Personas in combat. However, where Persona 5 Royal stands out is through Confidants - its social mechanic, where improving relationships with allies now also grants access to new equipment, abilities, and boosts in combat.

New Game Plus in Persona 5 Royal also emphasizes this social element. Having a story that takes place across a year means there's not enough time to socialize with all possible Confidants, so NG+ retaining existing social stats will give players ample time to complete the stories of other companions. On top of this are a secret boss fight and unlocking the formula to fuse the game's best Persona (Satanael). While these seem minuscule at first, the unique depth of its main cast and the freshness of its randomly-generated dungeons make Persona 5 Royal a worthwhile New Game Plus - at least, until all Confidants are maxed out.

Bravely Default

Compelling Freedom Of Choice For A NG+

• Post-credits mystery reveal makes it compelling to initiate NG+
• Freedom of choice in carry-over and reset elements
• Fight superbosses tougher than the final boss
• See different outcomes of events within D's Journal

Developed originally as a sequel to Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, the whole premise of Bravely Default screams Final Fantasy: players travel the world (first on foot, then by airship) to save corrupted elemental crystals. It even comes with Final Fantasy staples such as random encounters and the Job System, giving players ample flexibility as their quartet tries to save the world. Where the game sets itself apart from the Square Enix series is its massive foreshadowing and rather impressive take on New Game Plus.

Unlike other games, Bravely Default lets players choose what they want to keep and reset in the new playthrough - allowing them to pursue higher stats or start from scratch. The former is recommended, as NG+ has optional super bosses stronger than the final boss. Not only that, it takes multiple playthroughs to see different scenarios of many side quests and complete D's Journal.

Elden Ring

Gets More Absurdly Challenging With Each Playthrough

• Play up to NG+7
• Carry over Level, Inventory, Spells, and Stats, Spirit Ash, Shadow Realm Blessings, Maps
• Scaling still happens for enemies and bosses based on level and location.

Considered by many as the epitome of Souls-like games, Elden Ring takes the absurd difficulty of Dark Souls and the worldbuilding of George R. R. Martin and turns it into one enjoyable package. Whether one is out to discover the lore, create the perfect builds against bosses, or mess with other players in PVP, there's always something to come out of Elden Ring's open-world The Lands Between. Not only that, should the player's Tarnished One successfully recreate the Elden Ring and restore order, they can play New Game Plus to repeat this all over again.

Players who already felt the challenge of Elden Ring's initial endgame might consider it torture to replay the whole thing in New Game Plus. While they have a point, Elden Ring's NG+ is also the most thematically appropriate: level, inventory, and skills take over because enemies not only get tougher but also retain their scaling. Not only that, but players can repeat this over-the-top scaling across seven New Game Plus iterations. Albeit more straightforward than other NG+ offerings, Elden Ring lets players one-up themselves with each subsequent playthroughs make Elden Ring quite the worthwhile purchase.