God of War Ragnarok

NOTE: There are spoilers ahead for God of War Ragnarok.

Sony and SIE Santa Monica Studio announced in December that God of War Ragnarok would be getting a New Game Plus mode sometime in Spring this year, and the mode has now dropped. In a PlayStation Blog post, the developer has revealed details on what the mode will bring- and there’s quite a bit for players to look forward to.

For starters, players will, of course, be able to carry over their progress from a completed save into New Game Plus, including all of your skills, equipment, and weapons. The Draupnir Spear will also be in your arsenal right from the beginning, though areas that are locked until you get the spear in the base game will remain inaccessible until you reach that point in the story.

In addition to that, the mode also features an increased level cap, allowing players to convert their level 9 gear into “plus” variants, which, in turn, will also reward you with Gilded Coins that can be used to purchase new enchantments at the shop. The shop, meanwhile, also comes with new quality-of-life improvements to allow players to sell and buy resources incrementally.

Speaking of enchantments, there are several new ones to make use of in New Game Plus. On top of the ones that can be purchased at the shop using the aforementioned Gilded Coins, you can also get enchantments from defeating Berserkers. Another new option that is available is Burdens, which will allow players to voluntarily equip specific debuffs for unique and tailor-made challenges- like the Burden of Evasion, which will inflict Frost on Kratos when he rolls.

Plenty of new gear will also be available, with one in particular being one that fans have been hoping to see pretty much since the day the game launched- Armour of the Black Bear, which is the black fur cloak that Kratos has equipped in the beginning of the game. New Game Plus will see you starting out with this new cloak, and it will remain with you even after the sled chase. It will be focused on defense and strength and will come with a perk that grants last-second evades that shoot out Bifrost shards.

For those who’re looking for more of a challenge, there’s the Spartan Armour, which is just Kratos in his old God of War glory with no armour whatsoever. It has no perks, no stats, and is locked at level 1. Meanwhile, the Ares and Zeus Armour sets from God of War (2018) also make a return with new perks and visual flourishes, while players can also equip a new shield with the Spartan Aspis, which comes with a much tighter parry window, but deals more damage upon successful parries. On top of that, 13 armour sets from the base game also have new cosmetic options that can be purchased from the shop.

Several new progression paths have also been added, including further enhancements for Skill Mods, a new Platinum Tier for Labours, and Nornir Chests now yielding Yggdrasil Dew to further buff up your stats. Meanwhile, Niflheim’s battle arena has also been expanded in a number of ways- not only does it have addition enemy types to fight against, you can now also choose to play as either Kratos or Atreus, while you can also choose one of several new companions to fight alongside you, including Freya, Brok, Sindri, Angrboda, Ingrid, Thor, and Thrúd.

Endgame bosses like Gna and the Berserker Souls have also been buffed up with new moves and stats, while various enemies and minibosses have also seen similar upgrades across several difficulty modes. There’s also a new Black and White Render mode that will let you play the entire game with a new, well, black and white filter.

God of War Ragnarok is available on PS5 and PS4. It has sold over 11 million copies as of February 1. Read our review of the game through here.