New Game+ Is the Best Cheat Code Developers Ever Built Into Their Own Games

Remember when cheat codes meant punching in a string of buttons on the title screen and hoping your character turned invincible? Those days are mostly behind us. But here's the thing — developers didn't stop giving players a power trip. They just got sneakier about it. New Game+ is the modern equivalent of a developer-approved cheat mode, and it's been sitting in your menu this whole time.

If you've been sleeping on NG+ runs, you're leaving some of the best content in gaming on the table. Let's break down why this feature has quietly become one of the most rewarding systems in the industry.

What New Game+ Actually Is (And Why It's Kind of Wild)

The concept is simple on the surface: you finish a game, start over, and keep most or all of what you earned. Your levels, your weapons, your upgrades — they carry over into a world that's been reset back to the beginning. It sounds almost too good to be true, like the game is just handing you a win.

But that's kind of the point. NG+ isn't about making things easier for no reason. It's about recontextualizing the entire experience. You're no longer a scrappy newcomer figuring out the mechanics. You're a returning veteran who gets to bulldoze through early content, experiment with builds you couldn't afford the first time, and pay attention to story details you missed when you were frantically trying to survive.

The first run is about learning the game. The second run is about mastering it. That's a fundamentally different experience, and developers know it.

The Secret Weapons Nobody Talks About

One of the sneakiest things NG+ does is gatekeep certain gear and weapons behind a second playthrough entirely. Games like Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Persona 5 Royal are notorious for this. Some of the most powerful — or just flat-out coolest — equipment in the entire game is locked until you've already beaten it once.

Think about what that means. The developers intentionally held back content from your first run. They designed weapons and abilities specifically for players who came back. That's not a bonus feature. That's a reward system built for people who love the game enough to go again.

In Persona 5 Royal, for example, NG+ lets you carry over your Persona compendium, social stats, and money, which completely transforms how you approach the early game. Suddenly those first few months in-game feel like a victory lap instead of a grind. You're not just replaying — you're playing a different, more powerful version of the same story.

Hidden Story Content That Only Shows Up the Second Time

Here's where NG+ gets genuinely interesting from a storytelling perspective. Some developers use the mechanic to surface narrative layers that are completely invisible on a first run.

NieR: Automata is probably the most famous example of this in recent memory. The game practically demands multiple playthroughs to understand what's actually going on. Route A gives you one perspective. Route B reframes everything. And by the time you hit Route C, the whole structure of the game has shifted in ways that would've been impossible to appreciate without the earlier runs. It's not just NG+ — it's a story that's architecturally designed around repetition.

Less extreme but still meaningful: games like Hollow Knight and Dark Souls scatter environmental storytelling and NPC dialogue that hits completely differently once you understand the full picture. That throwaway line from a merchant in the first area? Second playthrough, it's foreshadowing you completely missed.

Why It Feels Like Cheating (In the Best Way)

Let's be honest — walking into an early-game boss with maxed-out gear from your previous run feels incredible. Enemies that gave you a hard time before crumble in seconds. You're basically playing on easy mode, except the game gave you permission to do it. No shame required.

This is exactly why NG+ scratches the same itch as traditional cheat codes. It's a power fantasy. It's the game saying, "You earned this. Go have fun with it." And unlike entering a cheat code that might lock you out of achievements or feel hollow, NG+ power comes from your progress. You put in the hours. The overpowered build is yours.

Games like God of War and Ghost of Tsushima lean into this hard. Their NG+ modes don't just let you keep your gear — they introduce new armor sets and upgrade tiers that only exist in that mode. So you're not just replaying with old stuff. You're chasing a whole new progression layer that didn't exist before.

The Completionist's Dream Mode

For the achievement hunters and trophy chasers in the audience, NG+ is basically a gift. A ton of games lock their platinum trophies or 100% completion behind content that's only accessible on a second run. Missable items, alternate endings, secret bosses — they're all sitting there waiting.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has four different endings, and you need multiple playthroughs to see them all. Final Fantasy VII Remake locks certain combat challenges behind a hard mode that only unlocks after you've finished the story once. These aren't arbitrary design decisions. Developers are using NG+ to keep completionists engaged and give them a clear reason to come back.

If you're the kind of player who needs to see everything a game has to offer, NG+ isn't optional. It's the whole second half of the experience.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Next NG+ Run

Before you jump straight into a second playthrough, take a few minutes to actually plan it out. Here's what tends to make NG+ runs more rewarding:

• Look up what carries over before you start. Some games are stingy about this. Knowing whether your skill points transfer changes how you approach the final stretch of your first run.
• Switch up your build completely. If you played aggressively the first time, go defensive. If you stuck to one weapon type, try something new. NG+ is the perfect sandbox for experimentation.
• Pay attention to the story differently. Now that you know the ending, watch for setup and foreshadowing. Most games reward this with a completely different emotional experience.
• Chase the exclusive content first. If there are NG+ specific weapons or areas, prioritize those. That's the new stuff — don't save it for last.

The Bottom Line

New Game+ is one of the best things to happen to single-player gaming in the last two decades. It takes a game you already loved, strips away the friction of starting from zero, and layers in new rewards, hidden content, and a fundamentally different power dynamic. It's the developer saying, "Come back. There's more here than you saw the first time."

And honestly? That's the kind of cheat code we can all get behind.