Previously,
I replayed Pikmin 4 recently. It was quite fun. My opinion on the game—in terms of how it stands relative to the other Pikmin titles—has warmed significantly. That the game contains fun replayable challenges where you can aim for high scores helps. That it also contains an entire reimagining of the first Pikmin (a game I love) as a side mode is truly delectable as well.
Pikmin 4 was also updated late last year—over two years after its initial release—to add a small amount of new content as cross promotion with the mobile game Pikmin Bloom, alongside a new way to play called "Carry Over". It's functionally a New Game+, an uncommon feature in many games which allows the player to carry over progress from a finished game file into a new one—though the details of exactly how differ from game to game. In the case of Pikmin 4, the progress which is carried over includes upgrades for both of its playable characters on top of the state of the "Onion" mothership that allows you to grow more Pikmin units during ordinary gameplay. This means that carrying over a 100% completed save file lets you immediately start Pikmin 4 with two fully upgraded characters, 10 of each Pikmin type, and the ability to grow any Pikmin type at will.
I opted not to bring this progress over from my existing save file, I think because I'd never actually 100% finished the game and also because I wanted "the authentic Pikmin 4 experience". I think this was a mistake; What I should have done instead was to go back into my initial file, finished it up, then finally actually replay by carrying over my progress, because Pikmin 4's New Game+ is awesome.
In a conventional playthrough of Pikmin 4, the player will be tasked with using their squad to slowly and deliberately explore and clear out various areas. Above-ground levels contain various caves and timed challenges which yield rewards to upgrade your characters and progress through the game.
In an NG+ playthrough, there are no rewards to earn and instead the playthrough is simply focused on enjoying the game again. Being fully powered up however presents to players an interesting opportunity that the initial playthrough doesn't: the ability to go fast. When carrying over my unlocks, I can play through the whole game with abilities that I would normally only obtain after finishing nearly everything, such as quickly plucking Pikmin creatures from the ground, having one of my characters be able to lift absurdly heavy objects, and being able to resist many damage types. Played this way, Pikmin 4 becomes a game of organizing troops to carry out logistics as quickly and smoothly as possible—in other words, Pikmin at its best. The difficulty floor is lowered, but the ceiling has been raised for how quickly I can blaze my trail through the game. By giving me an idea of just how much more skillfully I could play, the result was a new challenge far beyond simply getting to the end goal. In other words, being superpowered made me want to speedrun the game. While I haven't done so now, I suspect I may come back to Pikmin 4 on occasion in the future to see just how far I can get in the quest to do it right.
Speaking of coming back to a game over and over again, I am currently on my 3rd playthrough of Mina the Hollower, which also offers a New Game+ mode.
And by that, I mean it offers seven NG+ modes. Each NG+ in Mina is played in sequence, and each round offers new modifiers affecting the gameplay experience. At their base, each NG+ is more difficult than the last and has an increased level cap which allows the main character to become more powerful in turn. This progression isn't equal, however. I have found that I die much more quickly in NG+, falling after just a few little mistakes. This would be frustrating, if previous playthroughs hadn't already given me practice against all of the enemies the game has to offer. I am also familiar with the world's entire layout as well.
That is perhaps the real brilliance of Mina the Hollower's approach to NG+, because it seems to understand how people learn. Learning is best done by repetition over the medium to long term. Learning something, applying it immediately, then never touching it again is why it's so easy to forget so much of what is learned in grade school. But if for instance you type at a keyboard every day for many years, you'll eventually get fast at it—even if you start with a poor technique.
It isn't terribly diffiucult to finish the first playthrough of Mina the Hollower. Likewise, it isn't much more difficult to finish the second playthrough—in part because you get to keep your upgrades from the first playthrough. Mina's third playthrough (its New Game+2) is where the repetition comes to fruition: upgrades are not carried over (and must be reobtained), and the game world is mirrored. The increased difficulty combined with the loss of some power would be a bad combination if players didn't already have two playthroughs' worth of experience in learning boss enemy patterns. The mirrored world should still be pretty easy to navigate by players carefully trying to recall their prior playthroughs, as well. The result is a careful blend of freshness and familiarity. I won't spoil the contents of Mina's later New Game+ playthroughs, not only because I haven't played them but also because I have not cared to spoil them for myself. Play Mina!
The point I wanted to make is that I think more games should deliver NG+ features, and I think Mina the Hollower's approach to it is absolutely brilliant. For completeness, I wanted to point out some other games which take great approaches to NG+ as well. Final Fantasy VII Remake's New Game+ mode carries all upgrades over, and the game's hardest difficulty is designed with the expectation that players will have fully upgraded characters. Slay the Spire (and its sequel) have Ascensions, which function as multiple rounds of NG+. Each level of Ascension introduces new wrinkles to make the game more difficult for players who seek to be challenged; Eventually, the game's difficulty would make the game utterly unrecognizable to new players, but skilled players are still able to navigate this increased difficulty with remarkable consistency.
In some cases—by trivializing a game's difficulty curve with inappropriate upgrades—New Game+ options can be very boring, but when done right they can be not only a great way for developers and designers to stretch out a game to a greater length for dedicated players, it can also motivate players into the practicing the dedication needed to enjoy a game to the fullest. I think games with relatively short durations could benefit greatly from the implementation of this type of feature. I would love to see more.