Does HFW have New Game Plus in PS4 and PS5? Post-Completion Guide

Since its launch, Horizon Forbidden West has promised and delivered an immensely demanding experience for players courageous enough to venture into its machine-infested wilds. Moreover, the game’s various difficulty levels and interlocking systems render it exciting for new and returning players alike. 

However, numerous difficulty levels can only take a game’s replayability so far. Needless to say, players lose all their progress, collected items, and acquired skills while switching over to a different difficulty. 

In such cases, the New Game+ mode comes to your rescue as it maximizes the replayability of Horizon Forbidden West and helps you transfer all the progress you make till the main story’s conclusion. 

Fortunately, Horizon Forbidden West does have the revered New Game Plus mode. Although the game didn’t have this particular mode at launch, Guerrilla Games added it through Patch Update 1.14 along with the Ultra Hard difficulty mode on 2nd June 2022. HFW’s NG+ allows players to replay the game with their past progress and new items specific to this mode only. 

Here’s more about the NG+ mode in Horizon Forbidden West and its post-game content.

1. Does Horizon Forbidden West have post-game content?

Unlike Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West does have an actual post-game. Once you reach the point of no return in the final main mission, the game will remain in the same state upon the main story’s conclusion. Although you can’t interfere with the main quests in post-game, you can continue to explore the world and complete side quests and errands. 

The point-of-no-return in HFW comes in the final mission of the last main quest, “Singularity.” Once you prepare for the ultimate confrontation at the Zenith, the objective changes to “Call Your Companions at the Campfire.” After fulfilling this objective, the game shows you that you’ve reached the point of no return, meaning the open world will be inaccessible going forward. 

If you’re ready to conclude the main story, select “Call Your Companions (No Way Back)” and follow the narrative. 

But, if you wish to wrap up any activity involving the main quest before beating the game, now is the time. This is because once you beat the main story of HFW, you won’t be able to load the saved files from before the final mission. You’ll simply pick up from where you ended the game.

2. Can you still play Horizon Forbidden West after you complete the game?

Yes, you can still play Horizon Forbidden West after completing the game. Since the game has post-game content and allows players to retain their progress, explore the map, engage in incomplete side quests, and gather collectibles after the credits roll, it’s fair to assume that playing HFW after completing the main campaign is possible. 

If you’ve completed Horizon Forbidden West and looking for an activity to participate in, below are the various things you can do in the game after beating its main missions.

3. What to do in Horizon Forbidden West after you complete it?

There’s a plethora of activities you can engage in after beating the main storyline of Horizon Forbidden West. Players can strive towards 100% completion of the game. Furthermore, they can spend time maxing out their gear and outfits, achieving the maximum XP level, maxing out every skill on the skill tree, and playing Machine Strike.

To achieve 100% completion of Horizon Forbidden West, players need to meet the following requirements.

• Complete the 28 Side Quests and 20 Errands 
• Override the 5 Tallnecks
• Finish All the Challenges at the 4 Hunting Grounds
• Clear the 6 Cauldrons, 4 Melee Pits, 6 Rebel Camps, 17 Rebel Outposts, 4 Gauntlet Runs, and 20 Arena Challenges.
• Complete the 17 Salvage Contracts
• Solve 9 Relic Ruins, including the Nights of Lights Errand
• Collect the 9 Legendary Weapons and 6 Legendary Outfits
• Scan the 43 Machines and Variants
• Collect the 12 Black Boxes, 10 Survey Drones, 3 War Totems, 6 Signal Lenses, 9 Vista Points, and 9 Ornaments.

4. What happens when you start a new game in Horizon Forbidden West?

When you head to “Options” and click “New Game” to start a new game in Horizon Forbidden West, a campaign precisely the same as your initial run in the game will begin. So, you can expect a similar enemy difficulty level and reward return rate upon defeating enemies and completing quests. 

However, unless players save their previous progress by heading to a campfire and selecting one of the first two options, namely Quick Save or Manual Save, they’ll lose all their progress by starting a new game on the slot of their last saved game.

Nevertheless, such confusion can be avoided by starting a new game with New Game Plus in Horizon Forbidden West. Although the enemy difficulty level increases in this mode, players retain their progress and receive more rewards for completing objectives. But the catch is that you must beat the game’s main story to switch over to New Game Plus.

5. How to play Horizon Forbidden West in the New Game Plus mode?

To play Horizon Forbidden West in the New Game Plus mode, players must first ensure that they’ve completed the final main quest of the game, “Singularity.” Then, they need to update their game to the latest version and go to the Base in the easternmost mountain range to begin the New Game+ mode.

You can update your game by clicking the “Check for Updates” option in the dropdown list in the Options tab of the home menu. Subsequently, proceed to download any patches that appear. 

Then, open the save file containing the completed main storyline of Horizon Forbidden West. Whether or not you come across the pop-up saying that you can start the New Game+ from the Base, head down to it. Go to the Base in the easternmost mountain range, located west of Plainsong and east of Scalding Spear. 

Next, enter the central communal area and look for a pile of white and gold Zenith technology on the left of the kitchen area, adjacent to the small sitting space. Interact with the white diamond sign with a “+” floating above it by pressing and holding the triangular button. Lastly, press the cross button to confirm the transfer to the New Game+ mode, and voila!

6. Items that You Keep and Lose in the New Game+ Mode in Horizon Forbidden West

While shifting to the New Game+ mode in Horizon Forbidden West, players keep the following.

• Weapons, Outfits, Coils and Weaves, Tools, Ammo, Resources, and Strike Pieces.
• Special Gear is retained, including the Pullcaster, Shield Wing, Igniter, Diving Mask, and Vine Cutter.
• Sunwing Override
• Entries in the Machine Catalogue, Character Bios, Tutorials, and Statistic information.

However, remember that Aloy does not start with the Sunwing Override assigned to the Sunwing Call, implying she needs to Override one first. As a result, the flight is unavailable until “The Eye of the Earth” quest. Also, any progress made to the Hunter Bow and the Nora Anointed Armour is reset. 

Notably, you can view all data points and collectibles normally, but their icons are greyed out until you collect them again. 

You lose the following things while transferring over to the New Game+ mode in Horizon Forbidden West.

• Progress in Hunting Grounds, the Arena, and Gauntlet Run races
• Quest items in your inventory
• Entire Map (It’s reset and re-fogged)

In addition, the following things will be locked until story progression in the New Game+ mode in Horizon Forbidden West.

• Purchasing and selling weapons and outfits – Locked until “To the Brink.”
• Changing Outfit Dyes – Locked until “The Embassy.”
• Changing Face Paints – Locked until “The Eye of the Earth.”
• Accessing areas located West of the Base – Locked until “The Eye of the Earth.”
• Overriding the Tallneck in The Shining Wastes – Locked until “The Wings of the Ten.”

7. About Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn by Guerilla Games. An open-world, action adventure game, players control Aloy, a Nora hunter who is on a quest to reverse the effects of a strange crimson blight which is infecting the land. Set in a completely new world, Horizon Forbidden West has many new machines, threats and adventures for Aloy.