An option for New Game + is also necessary to produce the full version of The Cure. This is a necessity as it allows the user to replay the game with extra features to keep gameplay fresh and interesting to the player. This will further give the player an incentive to replay the game to achieve a better ending if they were dissatisfied in their first playthrough. A better ending received will hopefully increase the player’s opinion of the game as a whole- leading to The Cure to be promoted via word of mouth.
Some of the features which The Cure’s New Game + entails include:
Some of the features which The Cure’s New Game + entails include:
Feature Title |
Feature Explanation |
Animal Companion |
Whenever the player enters a New Game + playthrough, they will receive an animal companion they would like to be present with Ordinious on his travels. This companion is not present during a player’s first playthrough of the game, so it acts as a motivation to play through it once, then once more. The companion is named Arthur, a white horse who provides the player with speed whenever the player is on it. The speed the horse provides is approximately 50% increased from the normal running speed and 70% faster than the normal walking speed. Whenever the player is not on the horse, it will follow behind them. This type of bonus will also improve the player’s experience as they can get from and to locations much faster and therefore, the game will seem much less slow paced. |
Cheats |
The player will be offered to use a selection of cheats. The ability to use cheats in game will have already been implemented in the developer’s version of the game, therefore these should be simple to implement in New Game +. The cheats can be used using cheat codes in menu the player can access by pressing a certain key. This menu will include different sliders (for Enable/Disable) which the player can amend to their liking. The cheats can prove to make the game more fun for the player whilst preventing them from being required to spend large amounts of time on their second playthrough. |
Extra Good-Will |
To reward the player for playing and completing the game once, the player will automatically begin the game with 20 additional good-will points, whereas before they would have begun with 0. This will give players a better chance of achieving the “golden ending” and will leave them feeling much more satisfied, leading to potentially a better outlook on the overall game. |
Visible Good-Will |
There will also be a visible good-will status bar, which was not previously present in the first playthrough. This allows the player to view which interactions/choices have a direct negative/positive effect on the good will meter as they happen. It also gives them incentive to perform non-critical tasks to boost their good-will points. |
Keeping existing relationships |
The player can keep existing relationships which some major NPCs in New Game + as a reward. This will allow interactions and choices that would initially be negative, to be less so, giving the player a much better chance to receive the “golden ending”. |
Keeping some items in their inventory |
In order to save the player from re-collecting certain items by performing more insignificant, tedious tasks, they will be able to keep the previously collected items in New Game +. For example, the player will begin the game with the Sana Lilies that they collected in the first playthrough and this eliminates the need to visit the gardener. |