All FromSoftware games have many common features. That's why they've been called Souls-like games for years. Even though the names of the games have changed over the years, their common characteristics have never changed: compelling gameplay. It was questionable whether this would also be the case in Elden Ring. Because Hidetaka Miyazaki said the game would be more forgiving for those unfamiliar with Souls-like games. To conclude the second week of Elden Ring, we can say that this is both right and wrong. Because for those who want to try harder, there's the Elden Ring – New Game Plus mode.
How hard this game is depends entirely on you. If you've never played a Souls game before, the first few hours will definitely be brutal. You'll have to forget all the mechanics you're used to in other games and get used to FromSoftware's ones. Until you do that, even weak-looking enemies will kill you in a few moves. You'll have to experience them to enjoy Elden Ring. If you're a veteran of the old Souls games and Elden Ring was too “easy” for you, you just have to finish the game quickly. Because after you finish the game, you can start the really hard mode, New Games Plus.
So what exactly is the NG+ mod in Elden Ring? Considering that the game takes about 50 hours to complete the main story, you can double this time with this game mode. You ask why? Because all the enemies in the game will be even more challenging. Here is all the information about the New Games Plus mode in Elden Ring.
Elden Ring New Game Plus
If you want to make your adventure in the Lands Between more challenging, you must complete the Elden Ring at least once, regardless of the ending. In doing so, you don't have to touch anything other than the main quests. But you do have to defeat all the major bosses.
When you finish Elden Ring, you can select the New Game Plus mode. With this mod, you can start the game all over again. It's both common and different features compared to the normal mode.
- Similar: All items in Lands Between stay in the same locations. This includes bosses, weapons, armor, collectibles and spells. Besides, all the markets are in the same place on the map.
- Different: You'll collect 550% more runes from enemies. This ratio applies to common enemies (for now). We'll update this when the Elden Ring wiki is updated.
Increasing the number of runes dropped by enemies also reveals the true feature of this mod. All enemies on the map will die much harder. They'll have more health and more stamina. This means less time between attacks and longer fights. If you think that the game has already been completed in under an hour, you can guess that there are players who will easily pass this mode. Still, let's take a quick look at the details.
Which items can be moved to NG+
Although you start the game from the beginning with this mod, you can take some items with you. We'll talk about what you can't take with you in a moment, but first let's take a look at what we've:
- You can take all the weapons, armor, magic wands, and seals to NG+. This includes weapon upgrades as well.
- Although the full list isn't clear yet (we'll update it here when we've it) – you can carry over cookbooks and other items you find. This includes all talismans.
- The places you explore on the Lands Between map will be open. But you'll have to rediscover the all Sites of Grace on the map.
- You'll have all the Boss Remembrances you earned in the first run.
As you can see, you can bring anything that will strengthen your character. This isn't such good news, because it gives an indication of how tough the opponents can be. Here are some things that are missing from this list and that you can't bring into New Game Plus:
- You can't take the medallions into the new playthrough. You've to find them all again.
- You need to find the important items that are necessary to progress through the main story. Since this makes technical sense, we don't need to complain.
- The relationship status with NPCs and all side quests are reset. This is a good opportunity to explore new missions or make other decisions.
- All Sites of Grace locations will appear on the map, but you've to activate them one by one to use them.
- Great Runes dropped at the end of boss fights are also reset. To recover them, you'll have to defeat the even more difficult bosses.