Final Fantasy XVI New Game Plus Explained

The first weekend since the release of Final Fantasy XVI is over and it’s likely a good portion of the fanbase is now close to finishing the game’s main campaign and will soon consider the new game+ mode that is waiting for them once the credits roll. I’ve been playing new game plus and now have a good grasp of what new game plus has in store, especially the harder difficulty called Final Fantasy that unlocks once you finish the game.

What carries over to New Game Plus

For starters, players should know that Final Fantasy XVI’s new game plus is just like any new new game plus before it as your characters progression and items are all carried over, allowing you to play the game from the very beginning with everything you’ve unlocked intact. That means you have all the gear and accessories and Eikons before the final battle.

When you enter the game’s main menu, you’ll notice a New Game Plus option, allowing you to load your cleared save file to make the transfer, then choose the difficulty for your second playthrough.

Final Fantasy difficulty is tough

If you want a tougher challenge in your second playthrough, going for the newly unlocked Final Fantasy difficulty is a no-brainer. The difference here is that enemies hit hard to the point that two to three hits from large enemies could be enough to take down Clive, so there’s definitely less room for error.

Final Fantasy difficulty is a commitment. Unlike the first two difficulties available, where you can switch between the two difficulties at any time during the game, Final Fantasy will not allow you to change difficulty once you select it for your second playthrough.

The level cap is also increased from 50 to 100, so you’ll be leveling up still on your second playthrough. That’s not all as there are a few changes done in the new game plus and the Final Fantasy difficulty.

• You can craft the Ultima Sword, Clive’s best weapon in the game

• New enemy types in certain sections of the game, or even entirely new compositions in certain encounters.

• Checkpoints feel more unforgiving for some encounters

Accessories can be reinforced in new game plus

Another big change in the new game plus is the ability to reinforce your accessories to a higher version of itself. If you sold certain accessories in your first playthrough, you’re going to regret that as the requirement to make better versions of certain accessories is needing two copies of that particular gear. For example, if you have two High Cleric medallions, which is an item that increases the potency of your potions by 30%, you can reinforce and create one that has a potency increase of 50% instead.

It’s only natural to have a second copy of a particular gear as you go through the game a second time as almost all rewards are generally the same.

These are the biggest changes in new game plus as everything else will be the same. All enemy encounters will be at a higher level as reaching the max level of 100 will come naturally if you choose to do almost all of the game’s sidequests and bounties and fully complete the main story a second time.

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