Starfield New Game Plus Explained

Starfield has New Game Plus. It feels strange to type that. A role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios with an honest-to-goodness New Game Plus is not something we had on our Space Explorer Bingo card, but here we are.

Is Starfield's New Game Plus feature worth trying out? We definitely think so, and we're here to explain why - and why you might want to wait before diving into the game until you have unlocked it.

What Is New Game Plus In Starfield?

If you have played a game with New Game Plus between the Square JRPG Chrono Trigger from 1995 and today, we probably don't need to explain the concept of this feature to you. New Game Plus in Starfield, like almost any other game that touts this feature, is only available after you have completed the main story. At that point, it is designed to entice you to replay the game.

The success of implementing a New Game Plus mode generally depends on what it has to offer and how much progress is carried over. In Starfield, the level and unlocked abilities of your character are carried over into New Game Plus.

That is a significant part of the overall equation, as the level and, especially, the abilities greatly contribute to how challenging the game will be. Unlock enough of them, and you'll likely spend minutes in low-level star systems before those Level 5 Ecliptic mercenaries successfully kill you.

Now you know what carries over, but this is a Bethesda RPG, right? Isn't the whole idea that you can play for hundreds of hours, discover new quests and areas, and never have to start over? (Not that we don't still create new characters all the time, but you know what we mean.) Well, yes and no. Here's the crucial part. Some content is locked behind New Game Plus in Starfield, including complete quests. The main story remains essentially unchanged, but that side content is simply not available on your first playthrough.

We're not exactly sure what exactly this content entails, and when we can delve into it in more detail, we will not only update this article but also ensure there are sufficient spoiler warnings before discussing it. But for now, here's your warning: If you thoroughly explore the inhabited systems and intend to engage in New Game Plus, remember that all those other quests you've just completed, along with the main story, will be reset. It's really a bit of a dilemma.