If you’ve just rolled credits on Metaphor Refantazio after 40+ hours of exploring its dark fantasy world, building your ideal party, and mastering its twisty turn-based combat, you’re probably wondering what awaits in your next run. A lot of players jump straight into new game plus without checking first, only to be disappointed when a rare weapon or character bond level they worked 10+ hours to unlock doesn’t carry over. We’ve put together this breakdown after three separate full playthroughs of the game (including two NG+ runs on hard difficulty) to answer exactly what carries over in Metaphor Refantazio new game plus, so you can plan your second run without any unwanted surprises.
Key Progression Elements That Carry Over in Metaphor Refantazio New Game Plus
First, let’s cover the good stuff: all the progression you worked so hard for that will be waiting for you when you start your new run. Player and party character levels carry over fully, right up to the game’s level 99 cap. If you finished your first run at level 62, for example, every member of your core party will start NG+ at that exact level, with all their spent skill points intact.
All earned in-game currency also carries over with no limits. That includes regular gold, rare soul shards used for endgame upgrades, and the special ancient tokens you collect from secret world chests. You won’t have to grind for cash at the start of your run to buy the high-tier crafting materials you want for early-game gear.
Most usable inventory items stick around too, including all your potions, revives, crafting components, and non-story related weapons and armor. The only exception is a small handful of quest-specific items that are tied directly to the main plot, which we’ll cover later.
All collected lore entries and character bond levels also transfer over. You won’t have to re-read every single world building note you found in your first run if you don’t want to, and maxed bond levels let you unlock special character side scenes immediately, instead of waiting 20 hours to raise them again.
A few other permanent unlocks carry over no matter what difficulty you choose for your NG+ run, including:
- All previously unlocked fast travel points across the entire open world, so you can jump straight to endgame areas as soon as you leave the starting hub
- Endgame weapon and armor schematics you collected from secret boss fights and hidden chests
- Special combat abilities unlocked via full character story arc completions
- Difficulty modifiers you unlocked after beating the game once, including the ultra-hard "Legend" mode that disables checkpoints for boss fights
That means you can jump straight into challenging endgame content within the first hour of your NG+ run, if that’s what you want to do.
What Doesn’t Carry Over (And Why It’s Actually A Good Thing)
It’s not all carryover, though, and that’s intentional on the dev’s part. Some elements reset to keep the NG+ experience feeling fresh, instead of turning into a boring steamroll where you one-shot every boss you run into.
Key story-related items are the first big thing that resets. These are items like the broken amulet you collect in the first act, or the special sigils you need to open endgame story dungeons. You’ll have to collect these again as you progress through the plot, but you can skip all associated cutscenes if you’ve already seen them.
Temporary party buffs and quest-specific status effects also reset. If you had a 24-hour EXP buff active when you beat the final boss, it won’t be there when you start your new run. The same goes for any quest-specific buffs you got from NPCs for completing side tasks.
Unfinished side quest progress resets too. If you left a side quest half done in the first forest area, you’ll have to start it over from the beginning when you reach that area again in NG+. But if you already completed a side quest, you’ll get a notification that you can skip it entirely if you don’t want to redo it for rewards.
I was annoyed by this at first, honestly. I thought I’d be able to blow through the first 10 hours of the game without paying attention, but the reset progression meant I still had to engage with the combat and world, which made the run feel way more rewarding than I expected it to.
How To Prep Your First Playthrough For The Best NG+ Experience
You can make your NG+ run way smoother if you plan ahead in your first playthrough, before you beat the final boss. These are the tips we wish we knew before our first NG+ run, so you don’t make the same mistakes we did.
Max out your gold and soul shard reserves before beating the final boss. You can buy all the endgame crafting materials you need from the special NG+ vendor in the starting hub as soon as you begin your run, which lets you craft endgame gear within the first hour of the new playthrough. We wasted 10 hours grinding for soul shards in our first NG+ run because we spent all of them on low-tier upgrades before the final fight.
Next, complete all character bond quests before you roll credits. The special combat abilities you get from maxed bond levels carry over, and they make early NG+ fights against scaled bosses way easier. If you don’t finish these quests in your first run, you’ll have to redo all the bond grind in NG+ to unlock them, which takes far longer.
You should also collect all 12 hidden ancient coins in your first playthrough, if you can. If you have all 12 when you start NG+, you unlock an exclusive playable companion that you can’t get any other way. I missed three coins on my first run, so I had to hunt all of them down again mid-NG+ to unlock the character, which was a huge hassle.
Finally, hold on to any rare cosmetic skins you get from limited-time events. They carry over fully, and you can equip them as soon as you start your new run to customize your party right away.
Common Metaphor Refantazio NG+ Myths Debunked
There’s a lot of misinformation floating around about Metaphor Refantazio’s NG+ mode, especially from players who only did a partial run. We’re breaking down the three most common myths to save you time and frustration.
The first big myth is that you have to beat NG+ to get the game’s true ending. That’s completely false. The true ending is available on your first playthrough, as long as you complete all three of the hidden character side quests before the final act. NG+ just makes it easier to get the true ending if you missed those quests the first time around, since you can skip most of the grind and cutscenes.
The second myth is that all enemy levels are scaled to your level in NG+. Only the main story bosses are scaled to match your party’s starting level, to make sure they still present a challenge. Regular overworld enemies stay at their original base level, so you can still farm low-level areas for crafting materials quickly, no extra grind required.
The third myth is that you lose all your DLC content when you start NG+. All DLC purchases, including extra playable characters, side story packs, and cosmetic bundles, carry over fully. You can access all DLC content as soon as you reach the first main hub in your NG+ run, no extra hoops to jump through.
At the end of the day, knowing what carries over in Metaphor Refantazio new game plus takes all the guesswork out of starting your second playthrough. You don’t have to worry about wasting hours grinding for items you already have, or missing out on exclusive unlocks because you didn’t prep your first run correctly. Take the tips we shared here to heart, and your next run will be even more fun than your first, whether you’re playing to get the true ending, test your skills on the hardest difficulty, or just mess around with different party builds you didn’t get to try the first time around.