New Game+

The notification shown when selecting New Game+ mode

New Game+ is a game mode that becomes available after finishing Horizon Zero Dawn or Horizon Forbidden West on any difficulty. New Game+ carries all the experience, gear, modifications and skills that players obtained from their original playthrough, except for Shadow Stalwart outfits in the inventory and any modifications equipped to the Shadow Stalwart outfit(s), plus some game story-obtained abilities. New Game+ also introduced two new trophies for Zero Dawn and three for Forbidden West.

Mechanism and rewards in Horizon Zero Dawn

New Game+ can be started after first beating the game. This automatically creates a "loadout," which is a determined state of Aloy (Skills, Equipment, Pouch Upgrades, Inventory content) that would be adopted should a New Game+ be started. Players can always refresh the loadout from any save file where the final Story mission has already been completed, but only one loadout is possible per-user. Creating loadouts from a completed New Game+ save file is possible. Alternatively, a player can manually create a New Game+ loadout from the options menu during a game in which the main quest has been completed.

Starting a New Game+ will have players begin from the main quest The Point of the Spear, skipping the early narrative and tutorials of when Aloy was a child. New Game+ does not carry over Hunting Ground trial results, machine overriding capacity, some special items like quest-related objects and Bluegleam, and certain Reward Boxes, thus requiring players to re-do their progress in order to achieve them. Some skills related to overriding and mounting machines are locked when starting New Game+, becoming accessible once more when players reach to the point where they are unlocked story-wise.

New Game+ introduces "ghost levels": the game has a level cap of 60 and in a normal game mode Aloy ceases to gain experience after this level, but in New Game+ Aloy gains experience and can gain up to 50 ghost levels, which have no impact on gameplay.

Completing New Game+ unlocks cosmetic options for players to apply on Aloy in any save file, this includes Face paints and Focus skins. Specific cosmetic rewards are unlocked based on the difficulty setting of the New Game+ completion, with Ultra Hard yielding all possible rewards.

As of PS4 patch 1.50 any chosen difficulty for New Game+ is locked for the entirety of the story progress. Previously this only applied to the Ultra Hard difficulty.

Adept equipment

A feature of New Game+ is Adept weapons and outfits which have more potential than their regular versions in the normal game mode. Adept items replace their regular version in New Game+, and thus must be acquired in the same fashion: either purchased from merchants or acquired as rewards. Only weapons and outfits of the "Very Rare" category have Adept versions. Adept equipment can be carried over to another New Game+.

Adept weapons

All Adept weapons have one additional modification slot than their regular versions, with otherwise identical stats. The following is the list of weapons and variants that have Adept versions in tandem with the ones they replace. The Tearblaster and Sylens' Lance don't have Adept versions.

• Ropecaster (Shadow, Lodge)
• Hunter Bow (Shadow, Banuk Striker)
• Sling (Shadow)
• Tripcaster (Shadow)
• War Bow (Shadow, Lodge, Banuk Champion)
• Sharpshot Bow (Shadow, Banuk Powershot)
• Rattler (Shadow)
• Blast Sling (Shadow, Lodge)
• Stormslinger (Improved)
• Icerail (Improved)
• Forgefire (Improved)

Adept outfits

Adept outfits replaces the Very Rare outfits with the sole exception of the Shield-Weaver which has no Adept version. All Adept outfits have one more modification slot than the ones they replace.

• Banuk Sickness Eater (Heavy)
• Carja Silks (Heavy (renamed Carja Trader))
• Carja Blazon (Heavy, Master)
• Oseram Sparkworker (Heavy)
• Nora Silent Hunter (Heavy, Master)
• Shadow Stalwart (Heavy)
• Banuk Ice Hunter (Heavy, Master)
• Nora Survivor (Heavy)
• Nora Protector (Heavy)
• Oseram Arrow Breaker (Heavy)
• Banuk Werak (Chieftain)

Mechanism and rewards in Horizon Forbidden West

New Game+ is unlocked immediately following the completion of the final main quest, but is not started from the main menu. Instead, there will be a new Far Zenith device in the main area of the Base that can be used to create a new loadout and start New Game+. As in the first game, loadouts will contain a snapshot of Aloy's current inventory, skills, and pouch upgrades that will be loaded upon starting a New Game+.

When starting a New Game+, players will have the option of starting from the tutorial level Reach For The Stars or skipping directly to Aloy's arrival in the Daunt at the beginning of the main quest To The Brink. Should a player choose to repeat the tutorial, Aloy will only be equipped with a basic un-upgraded Hunting Bow and the Nora Anointed armor, and the New Game+ loadout will only be restored upon reaching the Daunt. Aloy will also retain face paint and outfit dyes that were being worn at the end of the previous game.

Similarly to the first game, overrides (except for Chargers, Sunwings and Waterwings - but see below), results for Hunting Grounds, Gauntlet Runs, and the Arena, and quest items will not be carried over. However, special tools (Shieldwing, Igniter, Pullcaster, Vine Cutter, and the Diving Mask) do not need to be crafted again and can be used immediately, allowing access to locations found early in the game that previously had to wait (despite this, the tools still need to be crafted during the quests in which they were originally unlocked in order to advance those quests, in which case those abilities are briefly disabled during the applicable parts of the mission. An exception to this is the diving mask, which can still be used during the task to craft it, but the task still has to be completed before the mission progresses).

While the Flying Mount Call can be seen in the tools menu, no Sunwings are available to override until Aloy reboots GAIA and unlocks the Base during the main quest The Eye of the Earth (opening up a Sunwing site right above the west entrance to the Base). The ability to override is also briefly disabled during the early stages of The Wings of the Ten until Aloy can craft one again (in addition, players cannot override the Shining Wastes Tallneck before the applicable mission, nor are Horus energy cells accessible until the appropriate quest). Likewise, Waterwings only become available once Aloy reaches the Burning Shores and shuts down the Defense Drone during the quest To the Burning Shores (although no Waterwing sites appear at first, it is possible to find a lone Waterwing around Sunwing sites). The ability to upgrade certain already-possessed weapons, outfits and other tools, as well as some of the New Game+ outfits and weapons, may also be disabled until needed locations where upgrade items are found are rediscovered or unlocked again during the course of the game (it may therefore be advantageous to complete desired upgrades before beginning New Game+ or stockpile late-game components if the player wants to have the benefits from the start, especially the new outfits and weapons). Items collected during the previous playthrough, including greenshine and brimshine carry over. It may also be possible to instantly complete some tasks and upgrades that otherwise would require gathering parts/items because Aloy already has the needed components in her inventory from the previous game.

Like before, "ghost levels" which have no impact on gameplay allow Aloy to continue gaining experience even after reaching the level cap.

Unlike the previous game, scanned datapoints and machines from the previous playthrough are still accessible and readable through the menu, but remain grayed out until the datapoint or machine has been scanned again in the New Game+ playthrough. Tallnecks must again be overridden to reveal map areas.

New Game+ also introduces several new unique Legendary weapons that can be purchased from merchants with Champion's Tokens, which are earned through completing quests and activities in a New Game+ playthrough:

• All-Mother's Blessing (Tripcaster)
• Brawlbreaker (Boltblaster)
• Defiance (Spike Thrower)
• Iriv's Downfall (Sharpshot Bow)
• Legacy's Reach (Blast Sling)
• Rain of Sparks (Warrior Bow)
• Tears of the Land-God (Hunter Bow)
• The Final Chapter (Shredder Gauntlet)

Additionally, more face paints and dyes become available, which also cost Champion's Tokens.

Ultra Hard

New Game+ also added a new difficulty mode to the game: Ultra Hard. There are several gameplay changes in this game mode that create a more challenging experience for the player, but there are also new trophies and cosmetic rewards to be gained by beating the main quest on Ultra Hard.

General combat in Horizon Zero Dawn

• Damage dealt by Aloy is reduced to 70% and damage dealt by enemies is increased to 200%/by 100%.
• Knockdowns from heavy attacks with the spear are only 60% as effective.
• Effectiveness of elemental severity damage and tear is reduced by 50%.
• Human enemies attack more frequently.
• Enemy health bar no longer appears on the HUD.
• The aim assist feature is disabled.
• Enemies have increased detection ranges and can spot Aloy instantly if she uses Lure Call twice.

Machine behavior in Horizon Zero Dawn

• Machines are generally more aggressive.
• Multiple machines may attack simultaneously, including ranged attacks.
• The more docile machines (Strider, Lancehorn, Grazer, Broadhead, and Charger) become more inclined to fight than to flee when approached.

In addition to the changes related to combat, merchant prices are greatly increased and Free Sample Boxes are no longer available. Crafting costs are also increased, making certain resources far more valuable.

References

Gameplay
Damage - Difficulty - Dye - Face paint - Flashpoint - Health Meter - New Game+ - Outfit - Trophies