New Game Plus Guide — Beast of Reincarnation

How you unlock it

New Game Plus sits at the end of a three-step chain that our endings page documents as the game's entire finale structure. You reach Chapter 13, defeat the Beast of Reincarnation, watch the ending through, and then start the second run. Each step has its own achievement:

Step	Achievement	Unlock rate (31 Aug / 7 Sep read)
1. Beat the final boss	The End of Reincarnation	24.0% / 25.3%
2. Watch the ending through	Life After the End	24.0% / 25.3%
3. Begin New Game Plus	Reincarnated	3.0% / 3.3%

The two reads come from two pages that measure the same Steam statistics on different dates: our trophy page captured the list on 31 August and our achievement tracker re-reads it weekly, showing 7 September above. They are snapshots of a drifting figure rather than rival claims, which is why both dates are printed.

Look at the step between rows two and three. Everyone who watches the ending has already finished the game, and roughly one in eight of them presses start on a second run. That eight-fold drop is the steepest step inside this three-achievement finale chain — dozens of achievements with intermediate unlock rates sit between those two points on the full 46-entry list, so this is not the largest gap on the list overall, just the biggest single move within the finale sequence — and it is not a difficulty gap, it is a willingness gap.

Why it is mandatory, in numbers

NG+ is not optional content on this list. Our endings page states that the full trophy and achievement set requires finishing the game in New Game Plus, and the numbers behind that are stark. Duty Fulfilled — one of the eight achievements Steam actually describes, reading simply “Unlock every achievement” — sat at 2.7% on the trophy page's read and 3.0% on the tracker's. It is the rarest entry in the list of 46, and it sits below Reincarnated on both reads.

That ordering is the whole story of completion in this game. A player who starts NG+ is already inside the top 3.3% of owners, and roughly one in ten of those does not finish the list. Our trophy page's reading is the one to internalise before you plan: one playthrough will not finish it, and you should not sweat missing collection thresholds on run one.

The PS5 side matches. Our endings page cites reporting that the PS5 trophy list requires a New Game+ playthrough, and our trophy page notes the PS5 list mirrors the 46-achievement structure with a platinum on top. There is no platform where a single run closes the list.

How long a second run takes

Our length guide gives the measured post-launch picture for a first run: about 20 hours focused, 25–28 typical, and 30–35 for completionist play inside a single run. The same page files true 100% under a separate heading — “two runs, NG+ required” — rather than quoting an hour figure for it, because the site has no measured NG+ duration.

What we can say is what shapes it. Our builds guide records a level cap of 100 and confirms points can be redistributed, so a second run starts with a character that has room left to grow rather than a finished one. Our endings page makes the same point from the completion side: NG+ is where most players finish maxing builds, skills and collectibles. And because NG+ is described as a harder replay of the same story rather than new content, a second pass through thirteen chapters you already know is the shape to plan for.

What carries over — and what our pages do not say

Here is the honest state of our coverage. Our builds guide describes NG+ as carrying your build into a tougher second run. Our length guide is blunter about the limits of that: Game Freak has not published a breakdown of what carries over. So the direction is documented and the detail is not.

We do not know, from anything on this site, whether the following transfer: Spirit Stones and their levels, Amber, collected katanas, arrow and bolt manuals, Rapport with Koo, the Giant Tree progress, or seedlings. Every one of those feeds a sub-7% achievement, so the question matters — and we would rather say not confirmed than guess at it. Check your own save when you start the run, and treat any list you find elsewhere that states all of this confidently with suspicion unless it names a source.

What to do before the credits

Because the carry-over rules are unconfirmed, the safe plan is to advance the slow systems during run one regardless. Our trophy page's own advice is that the sub-6% achievements are slow-burn systems — feeding them from Chapter 1 costs nothing, while starting them post-credits is a grind. Concretely, from our own coverage:

Pet the dog, constantly. The Rapport chain runs Man's Best Friend (63.7%) → Closest Companion (38.2%) → Bestie (34.1%) → The Perfect Pal (6.6%), and our Koo guide records that Rapport raises Koo's combat power as well as unlocking rewards. It is the one completionist system that also makes the current run easier.
Collect blades as you explore. Blade Collector (5.9%), Blade Enthusiast (4.1%) and Blademaster (3.8%) form a three-tier chain, and our weapons page reads that chain as proof the katana roster is a genuine long-tail system rather than a handful of drops.
Buy manuals when you see them. Manual Maniac asks for the manuals for every arrow and bolt type, and our trophy page singles it out as sitting well below its neighbours — easy to walk past. Manuals are among the things our Amber farming guide lists as merchant stock.
Sweep for campsites and shrines. First Fire (first campsite) is at 92.5% while Happy Camper (every campsite) is at 5.0% on the tracker's read — the same activity, two orders of thoroughness apart.
Keep the rare Spirit Stones. Our Spirit Stones guide's one firm rule is to sell only common stones, because rare ones are the hardest thing to re-find. That rule gets firmer, not looser, when a second run is coming.

NG+ is not another ending

Our endings page is unambiguous on the point people most often search for: the game has a single canonical main-story ending, there is no verified branching, no good/bad split and no hidden true ending — and NG+ has been confirmed not to alter the ending either. It is the same story at a higher challenge, built for build completion and the collection grind.

The achievement list is the cleanest evidence. There are no “Ending A / Ending B” entries anywhere in the 46, and every player earns the same three finale achievements in the same order. Our glossary carries the same definition. If a second run is going to be worth your time, it will be for the build and the collection, not for a different last scene.

The 80-hour figure, and why we flag it

Two numbers on this site disagree about what a 100% run costs, and anyone planning an NG+ should see both.

Our walkthrough and builds guide both quote roughly 80 hours for a 100% clear including NG+ — the walkthrough explicitly labels it a single, approximate estimate.
Our length guide, rebuilt around measured post-launch figures, puts completionist play at 30–35 hours per run and declines to attach an hour figure to the two-run total at all.

Two runs at the measured completionist rate would land near 60–70 hours, which is in the same neighbourhood as 80 without matching it. We are not going to pick between them: the 80-hour number is flagged as an estimate on the page that carries it, and the measured figures were taken later. Budget somewhere in that band and treat either number as directional.

What this page does not claim

We do not know what NG+ actually changes mechanically. No page here documents enemy level scaling in the second run, whether new gear or stones appear, whether chapter structure changes, or whether the level cap of 100 is reachable inside one run or requires two. “A harder replay of the same story” is the most specific description our coverage supports, and we are leaving it there.

New Game Plus FAQ

Do I have to play New Game Plus?

For the full achievement set and a 100% clear, yes — our endings page and trophy page agree that the list is built to span two runs, and the capstone achievement sits below the NG+ achievement in unlock rate on both reads. For the story, no: the ending is complete after one run.

How do I start New Game Plus?

After the credits. The Reincarnated achievement fires on beginning NG+, which places it after Life After the End in the finale chain.

Does New Game Plus change the ending?

No. Our endings page states it has been confirmed not to alter the ending — it is the same story at a higher challenge.

What is the level cap?

100, per our builds guide, which also confirms respeccing is supported. Our endings page ties both facts to NG+ being where most players finish maxing out.

How many people actually do it?

3.0% of Steam owners on the 31 August read and 3.3% on the 7 September read had started NG+; 2.7% and 3.0% respectively had the 100% capstone. Roughly a quarter of owners finish the story, so NG+ is started by about one in eight of the players who see the credits.

Is there any reason to start NG+ other than achievements?

Our coverage gives two: the level 100 cap with respec support means a build has room to keep growing, and the collection tiers — the three Blade achievements in particular — are described as running well past the credits. Both are build-and-collection reasons rather than story ones.

Sources on this site

Every figure above is drawn from the following pages of this guide, each of which names the outside material it was checked against:

Last reviewed: September 11, 2026 · Game version checked: 1.0.11 · Every figure on this page is sourced from the pages listed above; where they disagree or fall silent, this page says so instead of choosing.

New Game Plus: What It Requires and What Carries Over