Can You Go Back From New Game Plus Elden Ring

Can You Go Back From New Game Plus Elden Ring?

So, you’ve taken the plunge and started a New Game Plus (NG+) in Elden Ring, huh? Maybe you’re feeling the heat of those beefed-up enemies, or maybe you miss that starting area innocence. Whatever the reason, a common question pops up: “Can I go back to my original game from NG+?” Let’s dig into this, because the answer isn’t as simple as a yes or no. We’ll explore what NG+ really means, why you might want to go back, and if it’s actually possible to revert your save.

Understanding New Game Plus in Elden Ring

Before we talk about going back, it’s important to understand what exactly New Game Plus does in Elden Ring. It’s not just a simple replay; it’s a new game cycle with some important twists. When you finish the main story, the game gives you a choice. You can stay in the current world or start a new adventure, but this time everything’s a bit different. Here’s the main deal:

• Keeps Your Stuff: You get to keep all of your character’s equipment, level, stats, spells, and collected items (most of them anyway). This makes the early game a lot smoother because you are already very powerful.
• Enemies are Tougher: Expect enemies to hit harder and have more health. The game gets progressively harder with each NG+ cycle.
• New Items: You can acquire special items unique to the NG+ experience, such as Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones and more.
• World Changes: The world stays the same, meaning you don’t get to do any specific new quests, but everything becomes more challenging. Bosses and enemies stay in the same locations, but with increased stats.

Think of it as a way to replay the entire game again with your powered-up character, trying out different builds, or simply experiencing the story in a more challenging setting.

Why Would You Want to Go Back?

You might be wondering why someone would want to go back after jumping into NG+. There are a number of solid reasons. Let’s discuss some of the most common ones:

The Initial Difficulty Spike

The initial jump in difficulty can be a bit jarring for players who aren’t fully prepared. Those starting areas that used to feel like a breeze can suddenly become a real challenge. Some might find this extra challenge too much to handle and feel like they want to go back to the normal difficulty before NG+.

Missing Something in the Original Playthrough

Elden Ring is a vast game with tons of hidden paths and secrets. Maybe during your first playthrough, you missed a specific item, area, or a questline. You might realize this later and want to explore that missed content in the original state of the world. The original game world might also feel much easier to explore when not being challenged by increased enemy difficulty.

Wanting to Experiment With Builds

Sometimes, players like to try out new builds, maybe magic, faith, or dex-focused ones. The original save can feel like a better environment to test these builds without the challenge of tougher enemies. It allows for more relaxed experimentation and farming if necessary.

Just Nostalgia

Perhaps you simply miss the feeling of starting over fresh or facing enemies with the level you were originally meant to have during the early parts of the game. There’s a certain charm to the starting levels of Elden Ring that some players might want to relive.

Friends are at Lower Levels

If your friends are at lower levels or in their first playthrough, you might want to join them for co-op sessions. Being overpowered from NG+ makes the game less fun for them, so going back can make multiplayer more enjoyable. This allows you to play at the same level with friends that are not in NG+.

The Hard Truth: Can You Revert to Your Previous Save?

Alright, let’s get to the burning question. Can you undo your decision and return to your save before starting NG+? Here’s the unfortunate answer: No, there is no built-in way to directly go back to your previous save once you’ve begun a New Game Plus cycle in Elden Ring. This is a core aspect of how the game’s saves and New Game Plus system works.

When you start NG+, the game overwrites your main save file with a new one that reflects your new game cycle. The game does not keep a separate copy of your original save. Once you confirm starting NG+, the old save file is gone. There is no in-game option to ‘reload’ it. This means there is no option in the menu to travel between your normal game and NG+ game.

What This Means for You

This lack of a built-in way to revert has several important implications:

• Your Choice is Final (In-Game): Once you choose to start NG+, there’s no turning back. The game does not offer a ‘go back’ button.
• No Save File Backups (Typically): Unlike some games that might have cloud saves you could potentially revert to, Elden Ring typically doesn’t make easily accessible copies of your save files. Most of the saves are stored locally on your console or PC.
• Playing On Different Characters: The game offers a way to play multiple characters, so if you want a fresh start or to play through without the NG+ difficulty, you can start a new game on another character.

Possible (but Tricky) Workarounds

While the game doesn’t give you a direct way back, there are a few potential workarounds, but they come with caveats.

Manual Save Backups (PC Only)

On PC, you might be able to manually back up your save file before starting NG+. This involves finding your save location on your computer, copying the file, and pasting it in a secure folder somewhere else. If you decide later you don’t want to play NG+, you can overwrite your current save with the backed-up one.

How to Find and Backup Your Saves (PC):

1. Close Elden Ring completely. Make sure the game is not running.
2. Open File Explorer and paste the following into the address bar: %appdata%\EldenRing
3. Inside the folder, you will find a folder containing numbers, similar to this: 76561198012345678. Open that folder.
4. Inside that folder, you’ll see a file named “ER0000.sl2”. This is your Elden Ring save file. Copy this file.
5. Create a new folder on your desktop or in a safe place, and paste the “ER0000.sl2” file into that folder.
6. Now, start your NG+ in Elden Ring. If you want to revert back to your original game, copy the save file in your backup folder, and replace the “ER0000.sl2” file in your Elden Ring save location folder with this copied file.

Important Notes About This Method

• PC Only: This method is only applicable to players who play Elden Ring on PC.
• Not Recommended by Game Developers: Be aware that manually altering game save files might not be the intended way to play the game and could result in problems.
• Risk of Corruption: Always be extremely cautious when working with game save files. If something goes wrong, your game file could get corrupted, resulting in data loss.
• Be Sure You’re Ready to Go to NG+: Because backing up game files manually is not the easiest thing for everyone, be sure you’re absolutely prepared to go to NG+ because there is always risk when doing this.

Using Different Characters

Another method that’s not a direct reversal is starting a new character. It’s not quite the same as reverting your previous save, but it does allow you to experience the game with a fresh start. You could start playing your new character before you even get to NG+, or, if you have a NG+ character and want to go back, you can start this new character.

Advantages of Starting a New Character:

• Fresh Start: You get the full experience of starting from level 1.
• New Build Opportunity: It lets you try completely different builds, or even play a specific playstyle from the beginning.
• No NG+ Difficulty: You can play the entire game at the original difficulty.

While this is not the same as going back, it can be a good way to experience the original game again without dealing with the increased difficulty of NG+.

Things to Consider Before Starting New Game Plus

Since you can’t go back once you start New Game Plus, here are a few things to consider:

Are You Truly Ready?

Make sure you’ve explored every area, fought every boss you want to, and gathered all the items you might need. Once you start NG+, you’ll have to go back and do these things again in the tougher NG+ world.

Are You Happy With Your Current Build?

If you’re thinking of trying out a different build, it might be a better idea to start a new character instead of jumping into NG+ with a build you might not enjoy. Experiment with different builds on your regular game to make sure you know what you’re doing before moving to NG+.

Do You Have Any Missed Questlines?

Double-check your quests. Make sure you haven’t left any quests or bosses unfinished before you dive into NG+. It could be more challenging to do them in NG+ if you are not ready for the difficulty spike. Remember some quests can only be done once.

Prepare for the Increased Difficulty

Enemies hit much harder, have more health, and some might even get new abilities in NG+. Make sure you’re ready for a more intense challenge before you start.

The Appeal of New Game Plus

Even though you cannot revert from New Game Plus, it is still a valuable experience in Elden Ring. It allows for additional gameplay, and allows you to engage with your character and the game world again, while still creating a new challenge. Here are some reasons players enjoy NG+:

More Challenge

If you found the initial game challenging but wanted more, NG+ offers it in spades. The increased enemy health and damage keep the game fresh and exciting.

Completing All Builds

With all your items still available in NG+, you have more freedom to try out any build you might want. With your powerful character from the first playthrough, it’s much easier to get the items you need for your new build.

Collecting Everything

You are given more opportunities to collect things you may have missed, or buy out all the merchants in the game. Because you carry over all of your items, you can make quick work of any item collecting.

The Story Again

If you really enjoyed the story, you can experience it again, with a new perspective and build. This lets you experience the game in a new way.

So, while you can’t simply “go back” from NG+, it doesn’t take away the fun of replaying the game. The game is designed to be replayed this way, and for many, NG+ is a big part of the overall Elden Ring experience.