FInal impressions of NG+ and NG++

[Mike]

Overall I like this game a lot and I feel its has many good qualities that stands right nest to some of my favorite action RPGs. However the more time I have put into NG+ and just starting NG++ I feel these modes were a little undercooked interms of replay ability. Let me explain.

NG+ Positives:
- New weapon tiers that really change how builds work (easily the most significant change over the base game).
- Builds can be put the the test.
- Thats about it....

NG+ Negatives:
- In NG++ the "Legendary" weapon tier really was no where near as impactful of an upgrade as Epic was in NG+. Its mostly because the fixed stat that gets added to each gear piece does not give more build diversity it just makes that set or gear piece more powerful at the thing it was already doing.

- End game gear NEEDS much more game changing stats, and by this I mean more stats that effect how skills or certain moves work. There is so much potential with this like changing the element of a skill, giving it new properties (like some already have),...etc. Yet all we have is the same gear with added "stamina" or "x amount of damage for this skill".

- Difficulty gets easier and easier due to player power level and enemies mostly staying the same. Literally every boss but one in NG+ too me ONE attempt.

- No change up of enemy spawns or mechanics, so the same enemies you fought in NG will play and act the same in NG+ and NG++. I was expecting new enemies attacks (bosses all played the same), enemy buffs to make them more challenging, new enemy placements to make replaying the same missions somewhat more exciting,....etc. Yet NG+/++ had none of that from my knowledge.

Overall the NG+ experience was fun where I could take my super OP great sword build and destroy everything in my path, but I see no reason to grind out NG++ because after looking through the new gear stats at the smith nothing is really exciting and at least the first 2 missions felt the SAME difficulty wise as NG+ so the challenge of pushing your build for harder difficulty levels was not really there.

I really like this game but I have some issues with how NG+ and NG++ was handled as well as how Loot was handled because RNG loot drops are just not exciting when you can craft any piece you want with the exact stats you want. Heck this is not even like Wo Long where you grind for a good base item to enhance because most of the stats you want are fixed anyway so there is not point.

I look forward to new updates/content but outside of trying the other 2 weapon types I don't see myself going through NG+ cycles like in did in say Team Ninjas games (Nioh, SoP, Wo Long,...etc).

[tizeY]

Messaggio originale di Mike:

Messaggio originale di tizeY:

For example just the 3 piece Bishop set for the great sword makes a crazy powerful build as the skill attached to the great sword allows any charged skill to activate instantly and use only one pip of fury. Below is an example how ONE 3 piece set can make you very powerful, look at how quickly this elite enemy is taken down through stunlocking him lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI8VQGSajDs


I'm also not sure what you meant by the following comment....

"They have a solid foundation in my opinion but listening to the vocal minority that demands instant gratification with 0 effort might turn this game into a joke. Which would be a shame."

Because I said multiple times that the base game is excellent and I'm looking forward to more content but the current NG++ in terms of difficulty leaves a lot to be desired imo.

It was also my point that these 1-3piece boni are incredibly strong, hence why the Jar which is like Nioh's Yasakani Magatama just opens up the cookie box.
Dipping into 2piece bonus with 1 piece of equipment makes for ridiculous combinations with minimal investment. I never questioned the potency of them, i even advocated for them in favor over the 7-8 Piece Set bonusses.

What i meant with the latter part is that i really enjoyed the last 2 Bosses, nothing like Lucillius or Bahamut Versa in Granblue Relink but a decent enough mechanical fight albeit on the easy side. People are crying for nerfs left and right and not even bothering learning the fights. Which is what sprouted that earlier comment of mine.

[Mike]

Messaggio originale di tizeY:

What i meant with the latter part is that i really enjoyed the last 2 Bosses, nothing like Lucillius or Bahamut Versa in Granblue Relink but a decent enough mechanical fight albeit on the easy side. People are crying for nerfs left and right and not even bothering learning the fights. Which is what sprouted that earlier comment of mine.

Oh I 100% agree the last 2 bosses were PEAK.

Just so you know I never complained about the bosses in this game in fact like you I enjoyed 90% of them and I would don't want any nerfs I want MORE enemies, boss attacks,...etc.

[tizeY]

Messaggio originale di Mike:

Messaggio originale di tizeY:

What i meant with the latter part is that i really enjoyed the last 2 Bosses, nothing like Lucillius or Bahamut Versa in Granblue Relink but a decent enough mechanical fight albeit on the easy side. People are crying for nerfs left and right and not even bothering learning the fights. Which is what sprouted that earlier comment of mine.

Oh I 100% agree the last 2 bosses were PEAK.

Just so you know I never complained about the bosses in this game in fact like you I enjoyed 90% of them and I would don't want any nerfs I want MORE enemies, boss attacks,...etc.

We share our opinion on that good sir, NG+ should have some extra spice.

Wish the devs would just go all out, do whatever they want with basegame and just stay true to their vision... and maybe go beyond... 3rd phase for Reese when?!

[vXViper]

All in all nice feedback, But seriously I could not hope for more of what the game already has to offer. I'm on 86hours or so atm and it's been fantastic all the way. I'm still playing NG+ because reasons and having a blast. Even tho I know enemy spawns etc, me personaly just want to end the game when I got all the perfect stats and my character is as best it can be.
Atm I have not got to the legendary gear yet so still on epic, But I will see how It feels when I get there.

Sidenote, Greatsword unite!

[Arkasia Winters]

Messaggio originale di Mike:

Messaggio originale di iiisixstringiii:

This is exactly what I look for when I purchase most games in this genre. An in-depth look at a games NG+ and more cycles. I'll usually wait a week or two before buying a game, bc I want to see what people are saying about the endgame/NG+.

I definitely would love to see enemies you run into at mid-game or even end-game right at the beginning of a NG+ cycle. DMC does that very well. It's great bc you're challenge to a higher degree than you expected. Not sure if that would work for this game, but something like that would be amazing.

And as for stats and armors, I dunno enough about that, as I have JUST started the game (Just beat the end of demo boss). But I really like what you said: "End game gear NEEDS much more game changing stats, and by this I mean more stats that effect how skills or certain moves work."

That would also be a complete dream come true!

Overall, I think the devs could do some really amazing things with this game from here on out. I'm excited to see what they do, like giving us a hard mode, bc we know they actually listen to their community and if it's highly requested, they'll at least listen, which is more than a lot of other devs do.

Just to make it more clear, NG+ unlocks epic gear drops and those do actually change the way you build your character quite a bit (I liked them a good bit), so going through NG+ and tinkering your build is pretty fun even if enemies/bosses feel the same.

Now the upgrade from NG+ to NG++ is much less of a change both in terms of difficulty and build diversity. For example the new "legendary" gear is kind of underwhelming because instead of adding more skill based stats to gear (like the epics) to allow more mix and matching of sets, they just give a single stat that will just make the set your already using more powerful (like damage up stats).

I do agree that I see a lot of potential with this game in terms of added content (weapon types, DLCs, free updates,...etc) and i will there looking forward to it ;)

NG+ Unlocks legendary gear not epic. I had full epics by the end of the first playthrough so unless your drops were bugged you should have had epic as well.

[Mike]

Messaggio originale di Arkasia Winters:

NG+ Unlocks legendary gear not epic. I had full epics by the end of the first playthrough so unless your drops were bugged you should have had epic as well.

This is not really true. NG rewards the player with Epics at the END of the game and if you do not choose NG+ you can craft Epics. However if you want Epics to drop you need to play NG+.

The same with Legendary in that they are rewarded at endgame missions, but to get them to drop while playing you have to progress to NG++.

[tizeY]

Messaggio originale di Arkasia Winters:

Messaggio originale di Mike:

I do agree that I see a lot of potential with this game in terms of added content (weapon types, DLCs, free updates,...etc) and i will there looking forward to it ;)

NG+ Unlocks legendary gear not epic. I had full epics by the end of the first playthrough so unless your drops were bugged you should have had epic as well.

Purples are Uniques not Epics, Basegame allows uniques and last mission has a bypass to drop Epics from the next difficulty along with some sidequests which adhere to the same rules.

So with that in mind you can get Legendarys in NG+ from the last mission and sidequests and much more likely in NG++ altogether as featured in the droptable.

[Mike]

Messaggio originale di tizeY:

Messaggio originale di Arkasia Winters:

NG+ Unlocks legendary gear not epic. I had full epics by the end of the first playthrough so unless your drops were bugged you should have had epic as well.

Purples are Uniques not Epics, Basegame allows uniques and last mission has a bypass to drop Epics from the next difficulty along with some sidequests which adhere to the same rules.

So with that in mind you can get Legendarys in NG+ from the last mission and sidequests and much more likely in NG++ altogether as featured in the droptable.

Spot on

[Lexomatico]

The first time a legendary dropped i didn't even realize it was a higher tier, the color scheme could be a bit better but maybe that is just me. I do agree that NG++ lost a bit of steam compared to NG+ but i have so much fun just playing the game at this point i just wanna see how how i can go with a bard set and make one final big dps set for another quick runthrough.

[Mike]

Messaggio originale di Lexomatico:

The first time a legendary dropped i didn't even realize it was a higher tier, the color scheme could be a bit better but maybe that is just me. I do agree that NG++ lost a bit of steam compared to NG+ but i have so much fun just playing the game at this point i just wanna see how how i can go with a bard set and make one final big dps set for another quick runthrough.

Yeah they should have made the last loot tier red or something, as its too much like the epic tier.

Like you I also intend to de more playthroughs as all of my time has been with the great sword and I have yet to touch the over weapons to see how their playstyles are.

[Pigsnortcore DSP style]

nobody cares, nerd

[Naecabon]

Just finished NG++, one shot 3-phase Ozma at the end with greatsword. Felt so powerful that it no longer felt like enemies really stood any kind of chance.

The real kicker in player power came from the ever-increasing attribute %s on gear. I had around level 310 gear at the end and I was rolling things like Reduced DMG 10%+, DMG Increase 12%+, Stamina DMG Increase 10%+, Stamina Recovery 13%+... these things stacked so high that I was just doing MASSIVE damage while taking very minimal in return. I could almost avoid half the mechanics because the outgoing damage was staggering them so quickly that I could afford to heal back the incoming damage from brutal slapping them when it was said and done.

Phantom form also becomes an absolute juggernaut, and I know some people choose not to use those mechanics but for me, I just play with what I'm given - I don't set arbitrary goal posts. Heck I even switched to the ghost spirit that increased my Fury gen by 30% and gave me 5% bar back per Fury used; when paired with Volcanic Fury, I was resetting my Phantom bar in seconds. Him slapping for 100K+ per strike was just wrecking, and I could get 6 of them off per bar. Just crazy.

All in all fun, but I agree with wishing the NG cycles had.... more. Just anything changed up to make it a little more interesting. I respect that they added new skills and gear tiers and I liked the idea of bosses not becoming HP Sponges but rather just doing more damage to kind of race you, but I agree that Nioh still sets the standard for NG cycle gameplay.

C'est la vie, still a 10/10 game and an instant GOAT for me in the history books. Will keep an eye on DLCs and updates in the future to come back for it. (There is no NG+++, they don't even give you an option to start again when you finish NG++)

[Brother Belachinius]

Messaggio originale di Naecabon:

Just finished NG++, one shot 3-phase Ozma at the end with greatsword. Felt so powerful that it no longer felt like enemies really stood any kind of chance.

The real kicker in player power came from the ever-increasing attribute %s on gear. I had around level 310 gear at the end and I was rolling things like Reduced DMG 10%+, DMG Increase 12%+, Stamina DMG Increase 10%+, Stamina Recovery 13%+... these things stacked so high that I was just doing MASSIVE damage while taking very minimal in return. I could almost avoid half the mechanics because the outgoing damage was staggering them so quickly that I could afford to heal back the incoming damage from brutal slapping them when it was said and done.

Phantom form also becomes an absolute juggernaut, and I know some people choose not to use those mechanics but for me, I just play with what I'm given - I don't set arbitrary goal posts. Heck I even switched to the ghost spirit that increased my Fury gen by 30% and gave me 5% bar back per Fury used; when paired with Volcanic Fury, I was resetting my Phantom bar in seconds. Him slapping for 100K+ per strike was just wrecking, and I could get 6 of them off per bar. Just crazy.

All in all fun, but I agree with wishing the NG cycles had.... more. Just anything changed up to make it a little more interesting. I respect that they added new skills and gear tiers and I liked the idea of bosses not becoming HP Sponges but rather just doing more damage to kind of race you, but I agree that Nioh still sets the standard for NG cycle gameplay.

C'est la vie, still a 10/10 game and an instant GOAT for me in the history books. Will keep an eye on DLCs and updates in the future to come back for it. (There is no NG+++, they don't even give you an option to start again when you finish NG++)

you mean that once you finish you're ng++ journey it's the end ? Or can we continue to play with our character ? I like replaying missions with an op character

I have a little trauma on that matter since the first Lords of the Fallen (2014) game lol terrible game design imho

[Giganx]

The game needs a harder difficulty level for NG+. I want the upgrades to feel necessary, not like they're ghoulish overkill.

[Doctor Gitgud]

I am at the very end of NG and have a few questions about NG+

1. Can you go back to other levels after beating the final boss but before NG+ starts, or does it automatically kick you to NG+ after the last boss fight?

2. Do all items/collectibles/chests/ect respawn?

3. What is available from the start of NG+? Do you still have the blacksmith and stat change lady right from the start or do you have to unlock them just like NG?