If history is to be unwritten New Game+

[Balipu]

So I have been wondering

NG+ Sounds like a fun little gimmick. For like a few hours. Beat the MSQ again with our current level and item level? Sure, a fun little speedrun, but only good once. Besides, I don't really buy this whole "reexperience the story" argument. We have the unending journey for that.

But what if New Game + works a bit like it does in Yoko Taro games? What if the second playthrough is different? Maybe, just maybe, we will see NG+ integrated into the story. If the Warrior of Light/Darkness is sent back in time, he or she can change the past and possibly avert the new calamity. Imagin saving Thancred from Lahabrea. Solving the Uldah banquett with zero casualties. Stopping Ilberd from summoning Shinryu. Slaying Zenos during our first encounter. It can happen. Saving Haurchefant.

Am I going crazy or is this possible?

[Lambdafish]

I'd rather they didn't spend that many resources on it. If NG+ is part of the lore in the way that you suggest it would almost make it a requirement, which I would hate

[ChazNatlo]

Amusingly, I actually had a thought about what would happen if people were sent back to the beginning of the game with player knowledge circa the end of the latest patch*.

Basically, there is a certain amount of stuff that you'd just have to let happen. The tragedy of the Waking sands and the Ul'dah banquet are part and parcel with you getting into Ishgard for example ((there are a few ways to contrive these outcomes without the deaths and tragedies, but they may not work out as well, since then you're working off script.)) The earlier and more drastic your changes are, the less knowledge you have concerning upcoming events. Butterfly effect and all that. The less knowledge you have concerning upcoming events, the less control you have over fixing them. Imagine getting Aymeric killed by accident. Or saving Foulkes only for him to show up at a really awkward time.

*((I'd been re-reading the "What would you do if you were trapped in FF XIV" thread. Not important to the the conversation, but there's the context))

[Iscah]

The entire purpose of New Game Plus is so people can go back and replay this very long story that some people haven't played-from-the-start in years. Not everyone even remembers what happened, let alone trying to subvert it.

(I think there may only be a 50/50 chance of people even remembering why the Vault is significant for anything besides Charibert memes...)


But even aside of that, giving players the ability to affect past events would be an absolute nightmare for continuity. Once you can affect one thing, how many others are affected? What are the repercussions?

If you only get one shot to change certain things as you pass through the entire now-only-approximately-main-sequence story, what happens if you miss it? How many fractured versions of the MSQ now exist?


It sounds like an idea that might work if built as an integral part of a "designed-in-one-piece" game, but not for trying to weave it into such a long narrative as this.

[Kalise]

Re-experiencing the story is likely the main reason for NG+. Not just for cutscenes, but also other things, such as talking to the random NPC's about the place at various times. As well as reading all of the text with new perspectives.

Changing major plot points is unlikely, because it would create far too much work to have so many events that can be altered and the many repercussions this has (As well as making it potentially mandatory to go through NG+)

Honestly, my major question about it is will it only be available for max level classes? Or would it become an alternate means to level up classes in lieu of dungeon spam/grinding out FATEs? Since MSQ is a pretty decent way of gaining experience. Even more so if you could return to specific points in the story to replay (So you didn't have to say, do all of 2.X MSQ before getting to level 50+ quests to level up with).

[KDSilver]

For those who think this is a waste of ressources and such...

This has been a suggestion for a long time.
A lot of people among the community wished to reexperience the whole MSQ without having to relevel a character.

So this wish has been heard.

[Balipu]

Honestly, my major question about it is will it only be available for max level classes? Or would it become an alternate means to level up classes in lieu of dungeon spam/grinding out FATEs? Since MSQ is a pretty decent way of gaining experience. Even more so if you could return to specific points in the story to replay (So you didn't have to say, do all of 2.X MSQ before getting to level 50+ quests to level up with).

No kidding. MSQ quests give you like double the EXP of Normal quests. And even 2.5 gear can cheese the 2.0 content. But really. If we actually do need to change the past, the system used for NG+ could be an amazing tool.

[Fenral]

I think Yoshida mentioned something about having to make choices that matter in Shadowbringers, so while the 2.0-4.56 MSQs might still play out the same way every time, it's entirely possible that 5.0, which is being designed with this system in mind, could implement something along those lines. It probably won't have anything new on NG+, but it could let players try out other options. They might even work it into the NieR raid somehow.

[ObsidianFire]

If I remember correctly, Yoshida said at the NA Fan Fest that New Game + would reset the MSQ to the start of 2.0. Not that we could pick what quest to replay. If it's still like that at launch that means in order to replay 5.0 for the parts with different decisions, you'd also have to replay all of 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to have to do that every patch just to see what the "other paths" are. It would feel to much like a cash grab for storyxskip potions.

Given that SE seems to want everyone to experiance the same events (roughly), I don't think they will ever give us so serious a choice that we'd have to replay the entire MSQ over again just to figure out what is really going on. Just look at the Eureka "choice". Ultimately it doesn't matter what choice you make. The story has the same end, just in a different order.

[Moomba33]

For those who think this is a waste of ressources and such...

This has been a suggestion for a long time.
A lot of people among the community wished to reexperience the whole MSQ without having to relevel a character.

So this wish has been heard.

Yup, this is something I've wanted for awhile. I've made alts to play the story again but I'm looking forward to getting to do it on my main.