Persona 3 Reload New Game Plus: What Carries Over to NG+, and how it works

You might not necessarily be all that interested in New Game Plus by the time that you actually finish Persona 3 Reload - it's a very long game, after all. The average time to beat it will run you about 50 to 60 hours, give or take a few. However, during your Journey you will accumulate a lot of progress, be that in the form of Compendium completion rate, various hand-crafted weaponry and armor, or less fleeting advancements, such as personal stats and modifications to your favorite Persona. The good news is that if you still haven't had enough, you can transfer much of your progress into a tasty new save file thanks to the P3 Reload NG+ feature.

• How New Game Plus Works
  • Is there anything new added to NG+?
• New Game Plus List: What Carries Over

How New Game Plus works in Persona 3 Reload

New Game Plus is exactly what it suggests; it invites you to challenge the game again, but with a complete arsenal. Almost everything that you've collected and accumulated in your previous run will be available from the get-go on a new save file. We say almost everything because it isn't quite comprehensive - but we get into that below, listing what carries over to New Game Plus in detail.

In terms of how to start the mode, it's pretty simple - you'll be given the opportunity to start a new save while loading up a completed save file, presuming you have one. New Game Plus is an ideal time to try for a 100% S-Link run, in fact - as though it is possible to do a 100% run on your first attempt at Persona 3 Reload, that can be quite stressful. NG+ is a more natural fit for that challenge.

One final note: practically nothing can be carried over into a Merciless difficulty run. It would sort of defeat the point of the super-hard mode, after all. Upon trying to load a Merciless file from old Save Data, the game warns you that the only thing that will transfer is the various costumes you've collected, as well as a handful of less-than-useful souvenir items from your friends.

Is There Anything New Added in New Game Plus?

As far as we can tell, there is no new content in a second run that wasn't available in your first run. A second file is more designed so that you can have an easier time maxing out all of your Social Links, filling out the Compendium, and maybe trying a more challenging difficulty setting.

There's also an optional secret boss that you likely haven't defeated on your first run, and with an entirely new year to go through, you'll have plenty of days to raise your Persona stats, tweak their skills, and max out your arsenal before you challenge them.

Persona 3 Reload New Game Plus List - What Carries Over

Below is a list of what carries over in New Game Plus:

• Persona

  • Kind of a no-brainer, but any Persona you have on your person after the final battle will make the jump.

• Compendium

  • Whatever your completion rate is on the Persona Compendium will also carry over, along with any personal registrations you have made. Go ahead and summon Satan on your first Tartarus outing!

• Analysis Info

  • You will not need to rescan or play the guessing game with any Shadow you've already scanned or fought, including bosses!

• Personal Stats

  • Any modifications you've made to your Persona, such as playing Arcade Games to boost their stats, or giving your Chi You Phys Amp, for example, will carry over as they were in the last file.

• Social Stats

  • Spent all that time studying to max out your Academics? In New Game Plus, it carries over so you can spend more time at Tartarus.

• Protagonist Level

  • If you were rather diligent through your first playthrough, odds are good that you are hovering around level 80 to 85 near the end of your first file. That carries over to the new file, allowing you to immediately summon any Persona from the Compendium that you could previously.

• Protagonist HP/SP

  • On your previous file, you likely picked up some random HP/SP gains from things like Escapade URLs, or spending time bonding with your team. These changes carry over into your next file as well.

• Teammate Stat Boosts from Incense

  • That's right — if you spend all of your incense making Koromaru the strongest dog in the world, he will remain that way on your next file. You can then gather the Incense again on your next run, allowing you to power up the rest of your team as well.

• Teammate HP/SP Gains Outside of Leveling

  • Much like your HP/SP, your teammates will be exactly as they were in the last file.

• Items / Equipment / Skill Cards / Materials

  • Any items you collected will remain in your inventory — and you can collect new copies of them in your next run as well.

• Twilight Fragments

  • If you ran around collecting all the fragments in your first playthrough, you will retain those on your next — and be able to collect new copies as well.

• All Costumes (Except SEES Uniforms)

  • Any costume you acquired will carry over into the new file except for the SEES Uniform, likely because you obtain it for free on a specific date in line with story events.

• Some souvenirs received from characters

  • When you form a deep relationship (such as a romantic one) with one of your Social Links, on special holidays they will gift you a Souvenir — usually a powerful healing item that functions like a Soma. These will make the jump as well.

• Items from characters for unlocking Persona

  • When you attain max Social Link rank, or participate in Linked Episodes enough times, you will obtain a Key Item that grants you the ability to fuse a powerful Persona. While your Social Links will reset, these items remain and will allow you to fuse them from the get-go. 

• Total Playtime and Money

  • In addition to your total playtime, your earned money on hand will also make the jump, allowing you to fuse as soon as you get access to the Velvet Room.