New Game Plus is a mode unlocked after finishing a game that restarts the story while carrying over levels, equipment, abilities, or other progress from the completed run. It is often written NG+ and may raise difficulty.
The term was coined by Chrono Trigger in 1995, which let players restart with their levels, equipment, and techniques intact and use that strength to reach its multiple endings at different story points. Earlier games had offered second quests and harder restarts, including The Legend of Zelda and Ghosts n Goblins, but Chrono Trigger gave the modern form its name and its carry over structure.
What carries over defines the experience. Some games keep nearly everything and become a victory lap through early areas. Others keep levels but reset key items so progression locks still work, or add new enemies, placements, and exclusive equipment that only exist in NG+. FromSoftware games are well known for escalating: each NG+ cycle raises enemy health and damage through many successive cycles while offering greater rewards.
Players use the mode for different reasons: to see missed endings, complete a collection, test a finished build at full strength, or simply stay in a world they liked. Designers use it to give a completed game a second life at almost no production cost, since the content already exists and only values and placements change.
In play"Start New Game Plus if you want the alternate ending without rebuilding your character from zero."