Code Vein New Game Plus: What Changes When You Start Another Playthrough
Completing your first run of Code Vein opens up the exciting possibility of starting New Game Plus to test your skills further. Re-entering Vein with your accumulated gear, unlocked Blood Codes, and mastered Gifts changes how you approach the game's brutal encounters. Understanding the mechanical shifts in a second playthrough helps you decide whether to ramp up the difficulty or enjoy a power fantasy run.
Difficulty Options and Enemy Scaling
When initiating New Game Plus at Home Base, you are presented with a crucial choice regarding world difficulty. You can either enhance the enemy difficulty level or keep the original game difficulty intact while carrying over your progress. Choosing enhanced difficulty significantly boosts enemy health pools, stamina depletion rate, and raw attack power.
If you choose to scale up the challenge, basic lost enemies become far more deadly, capable of eliminating unprepared Revenants in just a few hits. Boss fights require precise parrying and dodging, as mistakes carry much heavier penalties. Players seeking an optimal challenge often choose this route to test their endgame builds against aggressive foes.
Inventory Retention and What Carries Over
Starting another playthrough allows you to retain almost your entire character progression from the previous run. Your current character level, Haze balance, weapons, Blood Veils, consumable items, and mastered Gifts stay intact. Unlocked Blood Codes remain in your inventory, enabling powerful build experimentation right from the initial Ruined City Underground area.
However, key quest items and story-specific progression materials reset completely to maintain narrative structure. You must collect Vestiges again if you wish to restore specific memories and influence ending paths in your new run. Door keys, mistles, and map revelation progress are also wiped, requiring you to re-explore each district fully.
Exploring Alternative Endings and Blood Codes
New Game Plus serves as the primary route for players aiming to unlock all distinct story endings in Code Vein. Because narrative outcomes depend on saving or sacrificing Successors, experiencing every path requires multiple complete playthroughs on one character. Certain rare Blood Codes can only be acquired by making different choices during critical story moments.
Collecting all Blood Codes enables deep character customization and opens up new passive and active Gift combinations. By switching up your decisions in subsequent runs, you can secure every unique Blood Code tied to the main campaign. This makes replaying the campaign essential for completionists wanting a full collection of abilities.
Strategies for Succeeding in Enhanced New Game Plus
Surviving a higher-difficulty run demands a thorough understanding of buff stacking, elemental resistances, and defensive Gift setups. Relying solely on raw weapon damage is rarely enough when enemies hit significantly harder. Utilizing defensive spells like Iron Will or Foul Blood Barrier can save you from instant death during tough encounters.
Partner selection also plays a major role in keeping your character alive during intense skirmishes. Bringing along strong companions like Yakumo or Io provides crucial healing and distraction during multi-enemy ambush scenes. Experimenting with specialized companion pairings allows you to neutralize difficult boss mechanics more efficiently.