PLEASE NOTE: This article contains MAJOR Spoilers for God of War Ragnarok. Proceed at your own risk.
It is still less than a week since God of War Ragnarok’s launch, but now is the time when a lot of players are probably close to finishing the game on their own time. God of War Ragnarok is a huge undertaking, encapsulating a long narrative and even more optional content to backtrack to once the first set of credits roll on-screen. Much of this content can be experienced earlier, though some areas require late-game equipment to be able to reveal those areas fully. Likewise, players may want to be as upgraded and equipped as possible to take on God of War Ragnarok’s most fearsome threats.
There is always a great deal of satisfaction when players are able to achieve a 100 percent completion in any game, and the same holds true for God of War Ragnarok. God of War Ragnarok’s endgame content is not for the faint of heart, tasking players to clear out any remaining Berserker Souls and the unbelievably tanky Gna. But if players finish the game and wish to play it again with all of their scrounged equipment and overpowered upgrades in-hand, they will not be able to do so yet since God of War Ragnarok does not have a New Game Plus mode at the moment.
God of War Ragnarok Takes After Its Predecessor’s Lack of New Game Plus
Many modern games have taken an interest in implementing a New Game Plus mode right at launch. This is fantastic for any fans who want to play the game again, but not from a fresh save file where they will need to work hard to obtain everything they had previously managed to possess in their inventory.
It is not surprising that God of War Ragnarok did not launch with New Game Plus, however, and for one reason. Quite plainly, God of War did not have a New Game Plus mode at launch either. That said, it only took several months after God of War’s release for it to receive a patch with New Game Plus available.
It has not been confirmed one way or another if New Game Plus is coming to God of War Ragnarok at all, let alone that soon. But if the previous game received one then it only seems natural for its sequel to have one as well in the future.
God of War Ragnarok Lets Players Leisurely Backtrack in the Meantime
The biggest downside to this is that players will not yet be able to begin God of War Ragnarok’s realm-hopping adventure with all of their equipment and abilities carried over. This is a fun option in games that many players indulge in, especially if difficulties scale to accommodate for how overpowered the player may be at that point.
If difficulties do not scale with the player, or do not scale as steeply, then it is also a blissful way to enjoy the game while being able to pummel any enemy or traverse any blocked path they want. Usually, New Game Plus modes also come with the disclaimer that narrative events may withhold certain equipment or items—this could be the case for God of War Ragnarok’s side quests and activities as well, where Celestial Altars, Hel-Tears, and other narrative-specific activities may not be accessible until the point in the game where they are first introduced.
Further, the endgame’s Last Remnants of Asgard would also seemingly be kept locked away until players finish the story again. It will be interesting to see what is available early for players and what is locked to story progression if God of War Ragnarok does eventually get a New Game Plus patch.
God of War Ragnarok is available now for PS4 and PS5.