Yes, Persona 5 does have New Game Plus.
So, you’ve conquered Mementos, befriended countless confidants, and maybe even saved the world in Persona 5, now what? Many gamers are curious about the replayability and whether they can continue their journey. The question “does persona 5 have new game plus” is quite common, because it greatly enhances the experience.
Good news for phantom thieves who love to replay: the game does offer a new game plus feature. This allows you to carry over many aspects of your previous playthrough, making subsequent runs more enjoyable and efficient. You’ll be able to enjoy a slightly different experience on your second or even third playthough.
Does Persona 5 Have New Game Plus?
Yes! That’s the short and sweet answer. Persona 5, and its expanded version, Persona 5 Royal, both feature a New Game Plus mode. This mode lets you carry over a bunch of your progress from your first playthrough, making your second time through the game a more powerful and enjoyable experience. It’s a fantastic way to see things you might have missed, try different choices, or simply enjoy the story with a boosted character. We’re going to dive deep into everything New Game Plus offers in Persona 5 and Royal, so you can get the most out of this amazing feature.
What Exactly Carries Over in New Game Plus?
So, you’ve finished the game, saw the credits roll, and now you’re itching to jump back in? Awesome! But what goodies do you get to keep? Let’s break it down into categories, because some things carry over, and others do not.
Character Stats and Abilities
The most exciting part for many players is that your protagonist’s stats transfer over to New Game Plus. This includes:
- Level: You’ll be starting your new game at the same level you finished the last one, giving you a big head start.
- Social Stats: Knowledge, Guts, Proficiency, Kindness, and Charm? Yep, they’re all staying with you. This will let you reach confidant ranks quicker and access things earlier.
- Persona Compendium: All the personas you’ve registered are available right away. This is huge because you can bring out powerful personas very early, and make battles a whole lot easier (or more fun if you decide to challenge yourself).
- Equipment: Yes, all of the weapons and armor you found or crafted in your previous game, are yours to use again.
Social Link Progress
While you keep your social stats, your progress with the confidants gets reset. You won’t be going through the initial conversations from the first playthrough. This means that you’ll still need to build your relationships with them again, from rank 1. But having high social stats from the beginning will help you rank up quickly and maybe see some confidant stories you did not get to in your first playthrough.
Items and Money
Good news for the hoarder in you! You get to keep most of your collected items:
- Money: All the yen you earned throughout the game? It carries over! This makes it much easier to buy strong weapons and armor, or fuse new Personas early on.
- Key Items: The majority of key items you collected that related to gameplay carry over. This makes some aspects of the game very easy and helps you progress faster.
- Equipment: You get to keep all weapons, armor, and accessories that you found or bought or created in your previous playthrough.
Other Noteworthy Carryovers
There are a few more cool things that carry over. They make the second playthrough more fun and less like a grind:
- Playtime: Your total playtime is recorded in the system, this is just for your own information purposes.
- Special Items: You get special items when you complete the game. These items help you with fusion and other things, which can give you a boost, or help you go through content in a different way.
What Doesn’t Carry Over?
Not everything you have achieved in Persona 5 is going to be with you in New Game Plus. It’s good to know what you’ll be starting fresh with:
Story Progress
The story itself will reset. You’ll start from the very beginning, experiencing the story from scratch, and making your choices all over again. This means you will have to explore the palaces and battle the bosses again. But with boosted stats and strong personas this time, you are going to have an advantage over your enemies.
Confidant Ranks
While your social stats remain, your confidant relationships will start over at rank 1. You’ll get to re-engage with your favorite characters, and maybe spend more time with others you didn’t focus on before.
Palace Progression
All of the palaces you’ve conquered will be back to normal when you begin New Game Plus, meaning, you will have to infiltrate them once again from the first point. You need to get to the heart of each palace again to continue with the story.
Social Stats
While it’s nice to start with maxed out social stats, you’ll be back to zero with the confidants, and have to rank up your relationship with them again. However, you can gain their levels quicker because your social stats will be high.
Why Play New Game Plus?
Now that you know what carries over and what doesn’t, let’s explore why you might want to jump into New Game Plus in the first place. There are plenty of reasons, and it truly can enhance the experience.
Seeing Missed Content
Persona 5 is enormous, with many hidden scenes, dialogue options, and side quests you might have missed on your first playthrough. New Game Plus gives you a chance to explore all of that with more powerful stats and personas.
Maxing Confidants
Because of your boosted social stats, you will have a much easier time maxing out all the confidants. This is very important because each confidant unlocks special abilities which makes the gameplay easier and better. You will not have to worry about time management this time as your character stats will be high from the very start.
Experimenting with Different Choices
There are many points in Persona 5 where you have to make story choices. New Game Plus gives you a chance to see what happens if you pick different choices. This might lead you down new paths and unlock new endings.
Fusion Fun
With your persona compendium intact from the start, you have the power to create some seriously overpowered persona combinations from the very beginning. You might want to experiment with fusions you didn’t get the chance to try out in your first playthrough.
A More Relaxed Experience
Your second playthrough will be easier, you will be overpowered in most battles, especially the early ones. This lets you enjoy the story and character interactions without the stress of grinding or worrying about being defeated. It’s also helpful for completing side quests and tasks you may have overlooked in the first play.
New Game Plus Differences Between Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal
While both versions of the game include New Game Plus, there are some differences due to the additional content added in Royal.
New Content in Royal
Persona 5 Royal introduces many new things to the base game. This means when you start New Game Plus in Royal, you get to experience new additions, such as a new character, more story elements, an additional palace, and more gameplay mechanics. These additional content makes a great difference in New Game Plus and provide a much better experience.
Additional Features
Persona 5 Royal gives some quality of life changes that affects New Game Plus as well, such as improved battle mechanics, more ways to spend time with confidants and additional items. This allows for more enjoyment in your second playthrough.
A Worthwhile Repeat
Even if you played the base Persona 5, you’ll see that there is a big value in playing Persona 5 Royal because of all the new additions, even if you plan on taking on New Game Plus. You get to re-experience some of the things you liked in base Persona 5 with even more new added content.
Tips for Your New Game Plus Playthrough
Before you dive back into the world of Persona 5, here are some tips to help you make the most of your New Game Plus playthrough:
Plan Ahead
Think about which confidants you want to prioritize and plan accordingly. This will make sure you get to see content that you may not have been able to access in your first playthrough. Planning for what skills you want to use on your personas is also helpful.
Experiment
Don’t be afraid to try different choices and different strategies with your battle teams. This gives you a chance to see how different options affect the gameplay, and gives you different outcomes.
Use Your Advantages
Use your overpowered team and personas to your advantage and enjoy the benefits of the New Game Plus. This is your chance to make sure that you get all the content in the game, without having to worry about being overpowered.
Enjoy The Story
Take your time and enjoy the story again. It’s easy to rush through the game, because of your power advantage. But try to take it all in, and enjoy the dialogue, the music, and all of the side content.
Fusion Guide
Make sure to use online guides if you are lost on making the perfect fusions for your persona team. Having a strong team is very important if you plan on completing the content in the game quickly and easily.
In conclusion, New Game Plus in Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal offers players a fantastic opportunity to re-experience the game with significant advantages and discover content they might have missed initially. Whether you’re aiming to max out all confidants, try out different story paths, or just enjoy the game with a much more boosted character, New Game Plus adds a lot to this amazing game. It provides a reason to come back, and see things in a new light.
Persona 5 Royal New Game Plus Changes – Should u Start a NG+ ?
Final Thoughts
Persona 5 absolutely includes New Game Plus. Players carry over their social stats, equipment, and some items. This enables a powerful replay experience.
You can continue to refine your bonds with confidants. Certain challenges also become easier with your retained strength. Therefore, the answer to “does persona 5 have new game plus” is a definitive yes.
