After my Stellar Blade review grind, I was a bit disappointed to learn that the game's ending is a true dead end. You're basically locked into the area just before the final fight, so any post-game is ruled out. I unlocked hard mode after clearing the game, which is great because I really could've used an added difficulty bump in my original playthrough, but I'd have to start all over to enjoy it. So I was pleased to see today's early, day-one update – the game's officially out April 26, but the street date's quite broken – add New Game+, making a second playthrough targeting a different ending and tougher experience much more tempting.
"In New Game+, all your equipment, currency, items and records, character enhancements, drone upgrades, acquired skills, and owned SP that you have gained up until the previously completed game's progress will transfer to the next game," reads the in-game update prompt. "However, your game progress will reset and will not carry over."
In other words, you're back to the first area and story mission, but your New Game+ Eve will be as strong as she was at the end of your previous playthrough. This is especially relevant here because most of Stellar Blade's upgrades are more horizontal than vertical – you get more attacks, but Eve's power level doesn't change all that much. So when you lose the upgrades that you're used to, like special attacks and flashy reactive combos, the game just becomes measurably less fun more so than harder.
A proper New Game+ system resolves this problem, as I tested for myself. And yes, you can use a normal-difficulty cleared save file to start a hard-difficulty New Game+ run, which is exactly what I wanted. I'm in no rush to go back to Eve's limited starter move set, but I would love to fight some of the game's bosses again while avoiding the duller moments since I've already experienced what they have to offer. Stellar Blade definitely feels like a game that deserves a second playthrough once you've acclimated to all its jankiness, so this is a welcome update. Now if we can just get a boss rush mode of some kind, we'll be truly golden.
The superfan who spent "about 60 hours" maxing Eve's skill tree before the action RPG is even out will be extra delighted to hear that they can bring their hard work into future runs.
