Does New Game+ Make God of War Harder? A Deep Dive

Yes, New Game+ (NG+) in both God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarok generally makes the game harder. While you retain all your gear, skills, and upgrades from your previous playthrough, the enemies receive significant buffs. This increased difficulty manifests in several ways, creating a fresh and challenging experience even for seasoned players. This article dives into the specifics of how New Game+ impacts the difficulty in the God of War series and answers frequently asked questions to prepare you for the ultimate challenge.

How Does New Game+ Increase the Difficulty?

The difficulty increase in New Game+ isn’t just a simple stat boost for enemies. It’s a multifaceted approach that forces players to adapt their strategies and utilize their hard-earned upgrades to their fullest potential.

• Enhanced Enemy Stats: Enemies have higher health, deal more damage, and are generally more aggressive. This means encounters that were trivial in your initial playthrough now require careful planning and execution.

• New Enemy Behaviors and Attacks: Some enemies gain new attack patterns and abilities. This forces you to relearn enemy tells and adapt your dodging and parrying skills. In God of War Ragnarok, even optional endgame bosses receive brand new abilities and movesets that drastically change the dynamic of the fight.

• Runic Armor: In God of War Ragnarok, higher difficulty settings in New Game+ grant bosses and mini-bosses Runic armor. This adds another layer of defense, requiring you to break through their armor before dealing significant damage.

• Resource Changes: The availability and distribution of resources may also be altered in New Game+, forcing you to be more conservative with your spending and crafting decisions.

• Perfected Gear: While you keep your gear, New Game+ also introduces more powerful versions of armor, talismans, and enchantments to strive for, which are often necessary to combat the increased difficulty. You can use a new resource called skap slag to forge some ‘perfect rarity’ gear.

The combination of these factors creates a significantly more challenging experience. The difficulty is tuned in a way that encourages experimentation with builds and mastery of the combat system.

Is New Game+ Meant to be Easy Because I Kept My Gear?

This is a common misconception. While having all your gear from the start gives you a power advantage, the enemy scaling far outpaces this advantage. The point isn’t to breeze through the game; it’s to offer a new, harder challenge that allows you to truly test the limits of your build and skills. New Game+ is less about overpowering the game and more about truly mastering it. The Games Learning Society explores how game mechanics like these affect player engagement and learning curves.

God of War Ragnarok New Game Plus – More Than Just a Repeat

God of War Ragnarok expands on the New Game+ formula by adding a considerable list of new items to obtain and mechanics to learn. Some of these changes include:

• Armor of the Black Bear: Available from the start.
• New enchantments and gear.
• Upgrades for the Draupnir Spear and Blades of Chaos
• New Berserker Souls to obtain.
• New arenas to test your skills.

Is It Worth Playing on New Game+?

Absolutely! New Game+ offers a compelling reason to revisit the world and story with a new perspective. It allows you to:

• Experiment with builds: With all your gear available from the start, you can try out different armor sets, enchantments, and skill combinations to find the perfect build for your playstyle.
• Master the combat: The increased difficulty forces you to become a more skilled and strategic player.
• Discover new secrets: New Game+ often includes new items, challenges, and secrets that weren’t available in your initial playthrough.
• Extend the experience: It provides a fresh and challenging way to experience the story and world you love.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Does difficulty affect loot in New Game+?

No, the difficulty setting in New Game+ primarily affects the combat challenge. It does not directly impact the type or quality of loot you receive. However, playing on higher difficulties might indirectly influence loot acquisition by forcing you to engage in more challenging encounters that have a higher chance of dropping rare items. Focus on boosting your luck stat for better drops.

2. Can you change the difficulty in New Game+?

Yes, in both God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarok, you can adjust the difficulty setting at any time during your New Game+ playthrough via the options menu. This allows you to fine-tune the challenge to your liking.

3. What carries over to New Game+?

In general, the following items and progress carry over to New Game+:

• All armor, weapons, and upgrades
• All skills and abilities
• All resources
• All completed quests
• Most collectibles

4. Does starting a New Game+ overwrite my previous save?

No, starting a New Game+ creates a separate save file, preserving your original save. This allows you to return to your original playthrough if you wish. However, starting a completely new game (not New Game+) will overwrite your old progress if you don’t create manual saves.

5. Are there new enemies in New Game+?

While the types of enemies remain the same, their behavior, stats, and abilities are often altered. Some enemies may gain new attacks or defenses, making them more challenging to fight. In God of War Ragnarok, some enemies will gain a Runic Armor.

6. Is the story different in New Game+?

The core story remains the same, but New Game+ might offer new dialogue options or cutscenes that provide additional context or insights into the characters and events.

7. Can I get the Zeus armor in New Game+?

Yes, you can still obtain the Zeus armor in New Game+, which is acquired by defeating specific Valkyries: Sigrun, Gondul, and Hildr.

8. Is it worth 100% completing God of War Ragnarok on New Game+?

Absolutely. Achieving 100% completion unlocks the best resources, weapon upgrades, and armor sets, which are crucial for tackling the toughest challenges. The game also offers an excellent experience in exploring the world and its secrets.

9. How old is Kratos in God of War Ragnarok?

Based on estimations, Kratos is likely over 1000 years old by the time of God of War Ragnarok.

10. Can I wear Kratos’ cloak throughout the game in New Game+?

Yes, the Armor of the Black Bear (Kratos’ cloak) is available from the start in New Game+, allowing you to wear it throughout the game if you choose.

11. Are there multiple endings in God of War Ragnarok?

Yes, while there is a primary ending after the credits, there is also a secret ending that can be unlocked by returning to Kratos and Atreus’ house and interacting with their beds.

12. Is Kratos weaker in the new God of War games?

No, Kratos is not weaker. The changes in gameplay and graphics create the perception of diminished power, but in reality, his abilities and lore suggest otherwise.

13. Which God of War game is the hardest?

God of War Ragnarok is often regarded as the hardest game in the series due to its diverse boss fights and challenging enemy encounters.

14. What are some tips for making God of War easier?

Beginner tips include:

• Exploring optional areas thoroughly.
• Using quick turn effectively.
• Customizing runic abilities wisely.
• Making Atreus a main part of your combat repertoire.

15. Is God of War hardest difficulty harder than Dark Souls?

The consensus is that the “Give Me God of War” difficulty is significantly harder than a Dark Souls game due to the sheer number of enemies, their high health, and aggressive behavior.

Conclusion

New Game+ in both God of War and God of War Ragnarok is designed to be a challenging and rewarding experience. While you start with all your gear, the increased enemy difficulty and new mechanics ensure that you’ll need to master the combat system and experiment with builds to succeed. It’s a perfect way to revisit these incredible games and push your skills to the limit. Whether the challenge is just the right thing for you, or you want to see the theory behind its design and affect, visit GamesLearningSociety.org.