Guerrilla Games surprised fans at Sony's State of Play on June 2 with the announcement of Horizon Forbidden West's New Game+ mode, offering numerous new features that released that day. With a new set of trophies for Aloy to work toward, Horizon Forbidden West follows in the footsteps of its predecessor by releasing NG+ a few months after the initial launch. Both games offer players a fluid and challenging combat system that requires mastery of Aloy's hunting prowess to successfully traverse the Earth a thousand years in the future where animalistic Machines dominate the landscape.
While players will be able to carry over all their gear, skills, and stats accumulated through their first playthrough, NG+ offers hunters Ultra Hard Mode to increase the danger they will face in the wilds. With this comes the addition of new legendary gear, dyes, and face paints, offering a challenging and immersive experience for those who dare to accept the call. Released in patch 1.14, the update includes graphical enhancements in Performance mode, transmog options for outfits, the ability to reset Aloy's skills, several trophies tied mostly to NG+ playthroughs, and a host of other improvements to quests, datapoints, and activities.
Champion Tokens
Included in Horizon Forbidden West's NG+ mode is a currency called Champion Tokens that is rewarded to players as they complete Main Quests, Side Quests, Errands, Tallnecks, Rebel Camps, and other activities. While the number of Tokens varies across different tasks, the amount matches total skill points allotted to that activity on a regular playthrough. Players can still accumulate skill points in NG+, but once the cap is reached, they instead earn "Ghost Levels" that build through XP and allow hunters to track their progress further. The Champion Tokens are used to purchase new legendary weapons, dyes, and face paints.
Champion Tokens are relegated to NG+ only, and there are over 100 Tokens to collect, with eight legendary weapons costing 10 a piece, as well as five face paints and four dyes that cost five each. While the Tokens are rewarded for Main Quest missions, they are not rewarded for the tutorial missions "Reach for the Stars" and "Interlude: The Point of the Lance." When players start their NG+ run, they are presented with the option to skip tutorial missions altogether, beginning with Aloy leaving Meridian and heading to Chainscrape.
Face Paint
The cosmetic option of face paint was introduced in Horizon Zero Dawn; however, these paints were only obtainable by completing different difficulties in NG+ mode, with Ultra Hard unlocking all of them in one go. In Horizon Forbidden West, as Aloy makes her way into Tenakth territory, the option to apply facial paint becomes accessible through painters at three Tenakth settlements: Scalding Spear, The Bulwark, and Thornmarsh. This mirrors the Tenakth culture of using ink to record stories on their bodies, and coincides with the new option to dye Aloy's outfits.
Throughout Horizon Forbidden West, every tribe has face paints awarded by completing quests, unlocking Valor Surges, or discovering War Totems. The only exception was the Quen, a more advanced tribe from across the water with access to outdated Focuses who settled at Landfall, located in the ruins of modern-day San Francisco. With NG+, the Quen tribe gets its own set of face paints for Aloy to wear, although there still aren't any Quen outfits. The new face paints cost five Champion Tokens and are called:
- Quen Officer
- Quen Imperial
- Quen Relic Hunter
- Quen Navigator
- Quen Light-Weaver
Dyes
The option to collect plants for different dyes was introduced in Forbidden West, presenting players with a variety of sharp colors to apply to Aloy's outfits. Unlocked and purchased through trading Bloom plants and Metal Shards, Aloy must present herself to a dyer within different settlements to change her outfit's colors.
Dyes in Horizon Forbidden West are organized by tribe, and can only be applied to outfits from that specific tribe. In NG+, new dye sets no longer require Metal Shards or Blooms; instead, Champion Tokens are used, and each dye costs five Champion Tokens a piece, with the Oseram and Quen tribes not included.
- Burnished Sun - Carja
- Hunter's Dusk - Nora
- Scorched Ochre - Tenakth
- Harvest Haze - Utaru
Legendary Weapons
Legendary weapons were a new tier in Horizon Forbidden West, ranking above purple's "very rare." Armed with three different ammo types, legendary weapons are either bought with Arena Medals or awarded as payment for completing several quests and activities. Each legendary weapon can be upgraded five times, requiring scarce and specific items from more advanced Machines and their Apex variants. However, Aloy becomes a master hunter armed with these powerful tools, nearly unstoppable as she progresses through the story.
NG+ will undoubtedly change that with the introduction of Ultra Hard difficulty, although legendary weapons will still provide a boost for Aloy to continue on her way. Unlike Zero Dawn's NG+, which saw the same-named weapons appear only with an Adept title and additional mod slot, Horizon Forbidden West's NG+ introduces eight completely unique legendary weapons, which require 10 Champion Tokens each.
- Rain of Sparks (Warrior Bow)
- Iriv's Downfall (Sharpshot Bow)
- Legacy's Reach (Blast Sling)
- Defiance (Spike Thrower)
- Brawl Breaker (Boltcaster)
- Tears of the Land-God (Hunter Bow)
- All-Mother's Blessing(Tripcaster)
- The Final Chapter (Shredder Gauntlet)
With NG+, fans of Aloy's adventures throughout the Western and Southwestern United States can challenge themselves to Ultra Hard difficulty, unlocking new rewards such as trophies, legendary weapons, dyes, and paints, all while experiencing enhanced graphics and quality-of-life fixes. With the ability to carry over gear, stats, and skills, running through the world of Horizon will remind players of its lush and deadly landscape where they must become master hunters to survive.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.