new game+ worth?

[Rosebourne]

So i'm going to play this game once, but I heard that if you do new game plus you get a book or something that is kinda important to the plot is it worth finding a save to load up or is this book meant to be seen after playing the game once and I should find these books online after beating the game?

[BeastSlayer]

If you don't wanna play the game again just for the hidden story, you can look up the wiki and watch on youtube. The hidden information is essential in order to understand the history of Erebonia and the story of Cold Steel 3. Cold Steel 3 starts assuming you have read the books and Rean has went through the hidden story, so it's canon.

[Rosebourne]

Originally posted by BeastSlayer:

If you don't wanna play the game again just for the hidden story, you can look up the wiki and watch on youtube. The hidden information is essential in order to understand the history of Erebonia and the story of Cold Steel 3. Cold Steel 3 starts assuming you have read the books and Rean has went through the hidden story, so it's canon.

are you meant to play through the game once before seeing this extra content or should I find a NG+ save and start from that?

i'm just wondering if there's any reason why this important information is attached to NG+

[OnlyOffensive]

yea probably better just redi wiki or smth, or play NG+ later second time, somewhere around CS3. I duno, i dounbt book is that important to play solely for purpose doing it, although there is extra dungeon with one boss aswell.
I never liked NG+ mechanics and think it should always be optional. Im actually surprised falcom put important stuff into it, they usually avoid classic jrpg gimmicks in legends games.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Originally posted by Rosebourne:

Originally posted by BeastSlayer:

If you don't wanna play the game again just for the hidden story, you can look up the wiki and watch on youtube. The hidden information is essential in order to understand the history of Erebonia and the story of Cold Steel 3. Cold Steel 3 starts assuming you have read the books and Rean has went through the hidden story, so it's canon.

are you meant to play through the game once before seeing this extra content or should I find a NG+ save and start from that?

i'm just wondering if there's any reason why this important information is attached to NG+

The hidden quest was arbitrarily attached to the NG+. The information learned in the quest is very important in the second half the arc (CS3+4) and those games expect that the player knows about them. I'd advise you to start a game with an NG+ save.

Originally posted by Luke:

Here is my CS2 clear Data
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/394028016008691712/425753132539314186/CS2PC_clear_save.zip

Has DLC unlocked in it so any issues let me know and I can make you a save file at the start of the game.

In the NG+ playthrough, you just need to collect five items called the "Black Records" and then turn them in to a certain NPC before the final battle.

You get the records out of order. The list below contains the locations of the books in the order that you come across them.[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

1. Book 2: Purchase from the Celdic's General Store - Cornette (Grand Market, center) on December 1.
   
2. Book 3: At Bareahard's Underground Waterway, after defeating the Abyss Drome, explore the the same spot where the Abyss Drome used to be. On December 9.
   
3. Book 1: After defeating Ginosha-Zanak (The boss in the Ancient Quarry), then explore the boss area again. On December 15 - 31.
   
4. Book 4: After clearing the "Gone Air" quest, speak to Norton at Roer's Airport on December 23.
   
5. Book 5: Found in the southwest corner of Lohengrin Castle on December 27.

On December 31st, turn in the records to Thomas. This will unlock the sidequest. To access the quest, simply (after the final boss) talk to Thomas when you get back to the school on March 12. After the very definitely final dungeon opens up, outside, go on to the roof of main building and talk to him again.

[Stabbey]

Yeah, start your playthrough by loading someone else's clear save and you'll get to see all the content. I also recommend carrying over max bonding points so you can see all bonding events.

[OnlyOffensive]

you can see those events on youtube, there are couple final bonding events compilations.

[Stabbey]

You CAN see them on Youtube, but it's faster and easier (and you are less likely to run into spoilers) if you simply use one of the Clear Saves floating around to start a new game with all bonding points carried over.

That is what I did, one playthrough, all the content, no problem.

[OnlyOffensive]

Faster? You mean starting a new game, making it through the end of the game to watch events is faster than opening browser and clicking video? And how are you going to get spoiled for NG+?

[Stabbey]

Originally posted by OnlyOffensive:

Faster? You mean starting a new game, making it through the end of the game to watch events is faster than opening browser and clicking video? And how are you going to get spoiled for NG+?

Read and comprehend what the OP is saying.

The OP is saying "So i'm going to play this game once (snip) is it worth finding a save to load up" That sounds to me like "I have not played this game yet." If that is the case, then the answer is "YES, the best course of action is to to find a save to load up."

[BeastSlayer]

Originally posted by Stabbey:

Originally posted by OnlyOffensive:

Faster? You mean starting a new game, making it through the end of the game to watch events is faster than opening browser and clicking video? And how are you going to get spoiled for NG+?

Read and comprehend what the OP is saying.

The OP is saying "So i'm going to play this game once (snip) is it worth finding a save to load up" That sounds to me like "I have not played this game yet." If that is the case, then the answer is "YES, the best course of action is to to find a save to load up."

The downside is that newgame+ would destroy the game balance, so I don't think it's worth it to start from someone else's newgame+ save if the OP has not finished the game.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Originally posted by BeastSlayer:

Originally posted by Stabbey:

Read and comprehend what the OP is saying.

The OP is saying "So i'm going to play this game once (snip) is it worth finding a save to load up" That sounds to me like "I have not played this game yet." If that is the case, then the answer is "YES, the best course of action is to to find a save to load up."

The downside is that newgame+ would destroy the game balance, so I don't think it's worth it to start from someone else's newgame+ save if the OP has not finished the game.

That's only if you carry over equipment and levels.

[BeastSlayer]

Originally posted by Val the Moofia Boss:

Originally posted by BeastSlayer:

The downside is that newgame+ would destroy the game balance, so I don't think it's worth it to start from someone else's newgame+ save if the OP has not finished the game.

That's only if you carry over equipment and levels.

How difficult is the secret dungeon? It's doable without any carryovers?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Originally posted by BeastSlayer:

Originally posted by Val the Moofia Boss:

That's only if you carry over equipment and levels.

How difficult is the secret dungeon? It's doable without any carryovers?

You can do it without carry overs, though you need a solid setup.

[Stabbey]

Originally posted by Val the Moofia Boss:

That's only if you carry over equipment and levels.

Right. Just carry over Max Bonding points and you won't be overpowered and you have the opportunity to see all the content on one playthrough.

Originally posted by BeastSlayer:

How difficult is the secret dungeon? It's doable without any carryovers?

I did the NG+ Boss without carrying over anything. It is really hard, but it's doable, as long as you don't hold back at all. As in do not let the boss get a second (third) turn. That means you might need to do things like use a Zeram Capsule, but since that's the hardest boss in the game, there's no point in saving it for later.

[OnlyOffensive]

the better question is, do those records do anything for next game physically? I mean starting CS3 with save with them? Im pretty sure no, in that case its much easier to just read them in net to get info than play NG+ if you dont want/need to, frankly except these books and bonus boss, there is not much point in playing NG+.