New Game +

[Skyblade]

<Note: This thread is now about all jeux vidéo. >

Why don't more FF games use this feature? It was brilliant in Chrono Trigger, and great in FFX-2 as well (no matter what you think of the rest of that game), but why is it so underused in the main series? I have always liked the replayability it brings, being able to go through the game again without losing everything you worked so hard to get the first time through. So, do you guys love it or hate it, and would you want to see it in future FF games?

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

I honestly don't know what Square's problem is that this hasn't become a standard feature since 1995. I'd replay the longer entries in the series much more often if I didn't have to worry about building up my levels, abilities, and inventory every time.

Not even FFX-2 got it right, since you still begin at Level 1. The whole point of New Game + is to let you cruise at your leisure through a game you've already proven you can beat.

[Saber]

I think 10-2 did it right by making you start at level 1. It adds some difficulty to it still but its easier since you got more stuff. I've played it many times and Berserker with ribbon and terra elemental equip owns the whole game.

I say that when they re make the Final Fantasy games, they better put in new game + on all of them

[Wolf Kanno]

My only problem with New Game + is that I need a strong incentive to utilize it. I'm actually one of those guys who enjoys grinding and doing all the asinine quests to acquire uber items and equipment. So unless I'm playing solely for plot, I don't get much fun out of standard New Game +. I feel the Persona series did it best as the first three games have branching story arcs that force you to make a choice about the direction of the game. Persona 3 and 4 have the social links which are impossible to complete without a guide that you have to follow perfectly... Persona 4 even has choices that cannot be made in a first playthrough due to your social stats being underdeveloped so a second playthrough does feel quite different.

I would need the future FFs to give me something on par to this and what the Chrono series has done in order to feel its a must need feature.

[Elly]

well i always thaught the point of NG+ was to allow you to go through the storyline unhindered and at a faster rate than you did before thus getting more story in less time with fewer distractions, hence i think X-2 did it wrong by resetting you back to lvl.1, but i'm sure they thaught the equips you got before would make up for that handicap... i also like NG+ cause if there are multiple endings involved after you get the canon ending you can go for the what-if endings...

[blackmage_nuke]

I think New Game + is good for games with multiple endings. That being said I hated the multiple ending structure of X-2 and the only games Ive Played thats done multiple endings well is Chrono Trigger and Metal Gear Solid 1.

[Vermachtnis]

I love new game plus. I don't know why it hasn't been a standard feature in every game since '95. I don't feel like I've really done anything when I beat the game and "FIN" comes up and music plays, but nothing happens and I have to turn it off. But anyway, NG+ is fun. But they really should let you start off with what you beat the final boss with. Or at least what you had had the last save before the final boss (that way you can keep your elixers :P). I mean it's a New Game +, they will be no new challenge probably. It would be nice if they added some kind of super boss that can only be fought during a 2nd Cycle. Or like in Trigger where you can square off against the final boss 15 minutes into the 2nd Cycle. That kind of stuff.

[Raistlin]

I honestly don't know what Square's problem is that this hasn't become a standard feature since 1995. I'd replay the longer entries in the series much more often if I didn't have to worry about building up my levels, abilities, and inventory every time.

I agree completely. Hell, I might even replay the newer FF games still now if I didn't have to bother with all that.

My only problem with New Game + is that I need a strong incentive to utilize it. I'm actually one of those guys who enjoys grinding and doing all the asinine quests to acquire uber items and equipment. So unless I'm playing solely for plot, I don't get much fun out of standard New Game +.

It's not a mandatory thing you have to use once you've beaten a game. So you can keep your normal "New Game" while some of us can have our "New Game +". At least, once Square wakes up.

[Slothy]

Maybe because most of the games are so easy there's not much point anyway. The only exception in recent history would be FFXII, but I liked the battle system so much I went out of my way to fight more. But really, if you're just playing through again for story, most of the series is easy enough if you fight every battle you come across (and those random battles don't take that long, even at lower levels).

Would it be cool to have? Sure, but I can still fly through most games in the series without it.

[Sword]

Ever played a FF game with cheats giving you lots of stuff? I started one in FFX about 2 years ago and have been on and off it and just reached the calm lands a few weeks ago. I don't know if I'll finish it cos its boring as hell. The reason new game + works for X-2 is because it takes smurfing ages to master all the dresspheres and get different parts of the story.

I think New Game + is good for games with multiple endings. That being said I hated the multiple ending structure of X-2 and the only games Ive Played thats done multiple endings well is Chrono Trigger and Metal Gear Solid 1.

I wouldn't even say FFX-2 had multiple endings. You just unlock extra bits, but you still always get the same standard ending before you view the secret ones. I also dislike the way MGS1 did it because only one ending is canon. It makes the rest seem like a waste.

[Necronopticous]

Not even FFX-2 got it right, since you still begin at Level 1. The whole point of New Game + is to let you cruise at your leisure through a game you've already proven you can beat.

Few games that implement New Game + get it right. The Chrono series is a perfect specification for how this feature should work. Why, after over a decade, its purpose and functionality still consistently elude developers is completely beyond me.

[Depression Moon]

I wouldn't mind a New Game+ in XIII. X-2 eased some of the frustration with it like he mentioned it does take forever to max out some of those dresspheres. XII definitely needed it though, because it's hell trying to get Zodiac and all those other rare weapons, armor and items again for a second or third time.

[Skyblade]

What I find really weird is that after using it and having it be successful, no gaming company has stuck with it. I recently found out that BioWare is removing New Game+ from Mass Effect 2, after using it for Mass Effect and Neverwinter Nights.

I've seen New Game+ in all sorts of games (most of which rate high in my top games of all time), but every company seems to use it once and then dump it. Why has a feature that has been out for twenty years not only not picked up force with the whole gaming community, but has been abandoned by the companies who have used it?

[Markus. D]

I like New Game+ if you gain the non-key items you collected... it allows for free minded customization/experimenting making the next playthrough alot more enriching gameplay wise.

But I don't like it if you gain your experience points (thus statistics), unless it's Nippon... where it's required and unavoidable xD!

[Vermachtnis]

I like what Tales does with the grade shop. That way you can pick and choose what you want to carry over. And the good stuff like 10x EXP is expensive and requires a couple of playthroughs. Or grinding, but that's boring.