Boy, God of War’s New Game+ Update Adds Plenty Of Stuff

Sony Santa Monica has added a long-awaited New Game+ mode, and with it are a bevy of new features. Those of you who are still playing or have yet to play God of War now have a good reason to give the best-selling action game a second look.

As expected, unlocks will carry over into New Game+ and the option to skip cinematics has been added to all modes of play. There’s also an additional level of gear to craft, ‘Perfect,’ and certain enemies will behave differently in combat. Yeah, have fun with harder Valkyries and all that.

Here's a full breakdown of the 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 Sony announced the New Game+ mode in passing at their E3 presser this year, we figured this was just going to be a simple addition, but it's nice to see that plenty of effort and care went into the update.

God of War was released to critical acclaim on April 20 earlier this year. Our own Carlos Hernandez gave the game a 9/10 in his review, concluding: "Santa Monica Studio has successfully evolved the series without sacrificing the elements that have kept the God of War titles so beloved by so many, even after a long drought. They’ve crafted a God of War title that took risks while finally providing a solid story."

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