horizon zero dawn new game plus what carries over

Vertimes 2025

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29-12-2024

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Horizon Zero Dawn: New Game Plus – What Carries Over and Why It Matters

Horizon Zero Dawn's New Game Plus (NG+) mode offers a compelling reason to revisit the breathtaking world of Aloy. But what exactly carries over from your initial playthrough? Understanding what persists and what resets is crucial for planning your NG+ experience, optimizing your gameplay, and maximizing the challenge and rewards. This article will delve into the specifics of what carries over in Horizon Zero Dawn's NG+, drawing on gameplay experience and supplementing with insights that go beyond the basic game information.

What Carries Over: A Detailed Breakdown

Several key elements from your completed playthrough transfer into NG+, significantly altering the experience and offering a more challenging and rewarding second (or even third!) journey.

• Level & Skills: This is the most significant carry-over. Your final level and all acquired skill points remain intact. This means you start NG+ with all your unlocked skills, providing a considerable advantage against the tougher enemies. This is crucial, as enemies scale to your level in NG+, making even early-game encounters significantly more difficult. According to my experience playing the game and online community feedback, this element makes NG+ challenging even for experienced players who need to relearn enemy attack patterns and adapt their combat styles.

• Weapons & Outfits: All weapons, including their modifications and upgrades, transfer to NG+. The same goes for outfits and their associated bonuses. This allows you to tackle the increased difficulty with your preferred loadout right from the start. This is not just a convenience; it allows players to leverage specific strategies and playstyles they've developed in their first run. For example, a player who heavily favored stealth might use their upgraded hunter bow from their initial run to gain a similar advantage in NG+.

• Resources & Items: The majority of your resources, crafting components, and items are carried over. However, the specific number might vary slightly depending on your inventory size at the end of the first playthrough. This point is often underplayed, but it offers a strategic advantage: You'll have a larger stock of ammo, potions, and crafting materials to handle the increased enemy challenge. This eliminates the tedious early-game resource gathering allowing for a smoother transition into the higher-difficulty encounters.

• Collectibles: Most of your collected items, including collectibles (datapoints, metal flowers etc.), remain untouched, providing a sense of accomplishment carried over from the previous run. These collectibles might not actively influence gameplay in NG+, but they offer a sense of completion and contextualize your overall knowledge of the game world.

• Machine Strike Cards: Your deck of Machine Strike cards is carried over to NG+, maintaining the progress you made in this side activity. This means you start with a strong deck, enhancing your strategic choices in this challenging card game. A powerful Machine Strike deck translates to faster and more efficient card battles, which can be a significant time-saver in the later game.

What Doesn't Carry Over: The Reset Elements

While much of your progress remains, some aspects reset for a fresh experience:

• Main & Side Quests: All main and side quests are reset, allowing for a replay of the story and exploration of side content. This feature maintains the replay value of the game, inviting players to experience the narrative and quests from a different perspective, leveraging their improved skills and resources.

• Map Progress: While your map reveals what you’ve already explored, it does not carry over the completed quests. This prevents trivialization of exploration as players still need to revisit locations to activate and complete objectives. This makes for a fresh experience despite the familiarity.

• Merchant Inventories: Merchant inventories reset to their initial state. You'll have to reacquire certain materials or weapons that might have been unavailable during the first run. This adds a subtle layer of challenge and encourages player engagement with the gameplay mechanics. This also helps keep the early game engaging by requiring resourcefulness even with existing experience.

The Strategic Advantages of Understanding NG+ Carry-Overs

Knowing what carries over allows for strategic planning in NG+. For example, a player might prioritize skills that boost stealth or ranged combat before starting NG+ to maximize their effectiveness against the increased enemy difficulty. Similarly, focusing on acquiring specific weapons or upgrades during the first run can significantly ease the early stages of NG+. The knowledge of which resources are carried over can help players optimize their inventory management during the initial playthrough to maximize their advantage in NG+.

Beyond the Mechanics: The Enhanced Replay Value

Horizon Zero Dawn's NG+ isn't merely about a difficulty increase; it's about enhancing the overall replay value. By carrying over skills, weapons, and resources, it allows players to experience the story, exploration, and combat from a completely different perspective. This makes revisiting the beautiful world of Horizon Zero Dawn more rewarding and challenging than the first experience.

Conclusion:

Horizon Zero Dawn's NG+ mode is a well-designed feature that significantly enhances the overall replayability. By understanding which elements carry over and which are reset, players can optimize their second (or subsequent) playthroughs, making for a more challenging, rewarding, and ultimately more enjoyable experience. While certain aspects reset, creating a sense of novelty, the carry-over elements allow for significant advantages that increase the difficulty in a rewarding way. This makes it a compelling feature that expands on the already excellent core gameplay of Horizon Zero Dawn.