Sword of the Sea’s New Game Plus Lets You Hit 1,000 MPH — Wisp Cloak Turns It Into a Speedrun Playground
Sword of the Sea’s New Game Plus adds a set of replay-focused features that change how the game feels and plays. In concrete terms, the mode gives players a visible speedometer, a new Wisp Cloak that generates speed boosts, resettable collectibles, and extra unlockable moves — all of which affect scoring and movement.
- New Game Plus introduces the Wisp Cloak (up to five Wisps), a visible speedometer, and a score counter.
- The game includes 50 hidden shell collectibles and Ocean Seeds that reset each playthrough.
- Players can unlock additional Hoversword tricks if they earn more Tetra (the gold-triangle currency) across runs.
What New Game Plus changes
New Game Plus in Sword of the Sea preserves story progress while adding replayable systems. For example, Ocean Seeds reset on each playthrough so players can re-find them, and the game’s hidden-shell total is 50, which players can collect across runs.
Additionally, the mode displays a visible score counter in the upper corner of the screen. This lets players track whether they are improving on their first-run totals. Also, if players did not gather enough Tetra during their initial playthrough, New Game Plus lets them unlock extra Hoversword tricks by earning more currency.
Speed tools and the speedometer
New Game Plus grants the Wisp Cloak, which can generate up to five Wisps that players can activate for speed boosts. The mode also shows a speedometer so players can see actual speed values while moving. As a concrete example from playtesting, the game easily reaches around 160 mph, and players can reach four-digit speeds when they combine Wisps with level geometry and physics.
Design notes from Giant Squid’s creative director Matt Nava explain the team’s goals for the mode. He said, “It turns into a racing game,”
and added that the team debated how to present the speed values. Specifically, Nava said, “We almost decided to divide all the speed numbers in half before we displayed them on the speedometer because we thought people would just think it’s too crazy.”
Developer commentary and competition
According to Nava, the studio has been using New Game Plus as a platform for internal competition. He said, “I think speedrunners are going to have a blast,”
and described team members competing for highest scores, most tricks in a run, and top speed runs.
Another direct quote from coverage captures a simple reaction to the movement: “This character is so freaking fast.”
Context and related notes
Sword of the Sea is developed by Giant Squid, the studio that previously released ABZÛ, which is set in the same universe. New Game Plus provides ways to re-experience key moments through resettable collectibles and new movement tools, and it adds visible metrics for score and speed so players can measure improvement across runs.
