Players can spendhundreds of hours onFinal Fantasy 14’s Free Trialalone, but Square Enix’s game has much to offer beyond that. With optional content such as raids, dungeons, and trials, or even less combat-focused activities such as housing, it’s no wonder players can spend over a thousand hours in-game and not run out of things to do.
The Main Scenario Quests are an important part of the time spent in the game, but one that is slowlyupdated through new expansionsand patches. Moreover, the MSQ isn’t repeatable like most ofFinal Fantasy 14’s cool duties, so once it is completed, you cannot ordinarily go back - except through the New Game+ feature, which will be explained in this guide!
How Does FF14’s New Game Plus Work?
TheNew Game+ feature in many other gamesallows players to restart the story with some (or all) of the items and progress from their first run. While it canoffer more challenging fights, that is not the case inFinal Fantasy 14’s version, which works purely as a way to relive the story, including cutscenes and dialogue.
This mode is focused entirely on the MSQ. Players can select a chapter to revisit on the screen shown below (reached through the Duty menu by clicking the New Game+ option):
This will take the player to an alternate mode, where the world state will reflect the period of time they choose to visit. While in this mode, it’s possible to replay all the story from that point on. For example, if the player chooses to go back toHeavensward, they will not replayA Realm Rebornquests, but they can continue on up to the latest chapter available.
Make sure tocomplete all your levequestsbefore trying to enter the New Game+ mode, as the game won’t allow you to enter it until there are no levequests in the journal.
The New Game+ has some limitations. While in this mode, players can’t use the Market Board or repair items. It’s also not possible to redo various chapters at once: if a player chooses to replayShadowbringers, for example, they cannot replayHeavenswardat the same time, as there is only one save slot for New Game+. As a result, starting a new chapter will also delete any previous progress in New Game+.
Whenever the player wishes to return to the regular mode, they can do so through the same menu used to enter NG+ or through the button on the chapter guide, usually located on the top left side of the screen. Progress will be automatically saved, and the player will be once more in the world state equivalent to their progress.
It’s worth noting that the player will enter the New Game+ mode in the location they are when the option is chosen, andnotclose to the MSQ objective, nor where they were the last time NG+ was saved. This means thatif a player was in Old Sharlayanwhen they entered the mode, they will be there even if they are replayingA Realm Reborn.
Similarly, when leaving this mode, they will be in the current version of the location they were in when they chose to go back to regular mode. For example, a player currently questing inShadowbringers’Lakeland before night was restored in New Game+ will be in that same area when they leave the mode, but the state of the area will be changed to the present version with the night sky.
What Are The Rewards For New Game+ in FF14?
The New Game+ mode does not sync the player’s level to the content, except for duties. It also doesn’t scale up to the player’s level while in the open world, making everything less challenging than it originally was.
There are no rewards for this mode other than the chance to replay the story, however.Final Fantasy 14’s New Game+ will not reward the player with experience, nor will it give them items.
NG+ is not an option to level alternate jobs inFinal Fantasy 14. Players should focus on doing Duty Roulettes, Job/Role Quests, oreven grinding FATEs instead.
To put it simply, if the player wants to revisit the story, the New Game+ is an easy and convenient way to do it, as their current level will be kept, as well as their ability to fly. It also won’t keep the player locked in that mode, as it is possible to leave it at any time, and will present a more complete version of the story than the Unending Journey book, which only replays cutscenes. If players expect something else, though, such as gearing upor leveling alt jobs, this mode won’t give them what they are seeking.
Should I Play New Game+ or Create a New Character?
The New Game+ allows players to go through the story again, but as it won’t give other rewards, players might wonder if it wouldn’t be best to simply create another character. That ultimately depends on their goal and play style, as there are different benefits and negative sides to both options.
Through the creation of a new character, the player can explore anentirely different adventurer visually, choosing a different race and appearance. There is also the opportunity tostart with a different class, which would make their starting city different andintroduce the Scions differently, considering the characters that will appear first will vary from one city to another. For those who enjoy the immersion of a basic degree of roleplaying, it’s also an opportunity to give the character a distinct personality and experience the Main Scenario from another perspective. It would also be an opportunity to interact with other characters more freely, as well as to do sidequests and other optional content according to the level, area, and part of the story the player is currently at.
The negative points start with how much more time-consuming it will be to go through the story again with a new character. While those who want to explore at their leisure might be okay with it, a new character won’t have the same tools for moving around maps fast, such as flying. In fact, every feature of thegame will have to be unlockedagain, from basic things likeriding to special mountsor even theability to use glamour.
New Game+, on the other hand, allows players to revisit the whole story, focusing on the MSQ. There are also added benefits, such as retaining the ability to fly or keeping the current level and gear, as those things will make progress a lot faster in the open world, reducing significantly the time necessary to go through the whole story. Here, players won’t have to unlock any features they have already unlocked, nor will they have to complete other parts of the available content to get special dialogue (something that happens, for example, if the player completes The Binding Coil of Bahamutbefore Alisaie is reintroducedin the MSQ). This mode also allows the player to choose the exact points of the Main Scenario they wish to revisit instead of having to go through the entire story again.
The downside of New Game+ is that the lack of rewards might make some players feel as if there is no progress being made. It’s also not possible to access every sidequest (class, job, and role questsare available, as well as some side stories). Instead of experiencing the story again, this mode could be described as simply revisiting it, as everything will be the same as when originally played.
This means there is no right answer as to which would be the best thing to do. It all depends on the player and what their main goal is, as well as which negative elements would trouble them less.
