After completing a lengthy and challenging main story, players may be at a loss for what to do next. Luckily, these games have some excellent content available after the credits which can keep players engaged for many more hours. Some games even offer so much post-game content that it almost seems like a completely different game or free DLC content.
This post-game content is not simply a new game + mode where players work through the same story again. Instead, this is a wealth of new areas, quests, dungeons, loot, and bosses which offer an entirely new experience, and which players cannot miss. As it all takes place after the end of the game though, players should beware of potential spoilers ahead.
7 Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
In Dragon's Dogma, the player hunts down many giant enemies in their quest to defeat the Dragon, the final boss of the story. After sinking many hours into this beautiful open world, players may not want to part with it quite yet. Luckily, after defeating the Dragon, the story is far from over as the player returns to Gran Soren to find it almost entirely destroyed, and the Duke weakened and aged.
The player can then continue to explore Gransys and finds optional quests that deal with the aftermath of killing the Dragon. This includes the quest line that leads to the true ending of the game in which the player fights a god. Aside from this, the map is also completely changed with new enemies and new areas offering the player a true challenge. They can also fight the optional boss known as the Ur-Dragon and venture into Bitterback Isle.
6 Mega Man Battle Network 3
The Mega Man Battle Network series is a great option for players looking for a game that goes beyond the main story. All the entries in the series offer a wide variety of content after what is considered the final boss and the third game is the best example of this. This excellent post-game content is one of the many reasons players should return to Battle Network with the Legacy Collection.
Many players consider the post-game of the third game to be so expansive that the actual story is only really half the experience of playing the game. With the post-game taking around 50 hours for most players to complete, this is easily true. Aside from small side quests and additions to the world, allowing the player to learn more about the lore and characters of the Battle Network series, they will also have to face several new and returning foes in a new secret area that is far more challenging than the main story.
5 Monster Hunter: World
The true grind in Monster Hunter games only begins after the final boss. That is when players begin to hunt the most dangerous enemies and can use the parts from completing those hunts to craft the best weapons and armor in the game. In Monster Hunter: World, defeating Xeno'Jiva allows the player to access assignments for Tempered monsters, which are much more powerful variants of some of the enemies in the base version of the game.
Players will also unlock some new side quest hunts and the Iceborne DLC, which, along with the new Tempered enemies, begins the grind for the perfect gear. True Monster Hunter fans, however, will know that the main reason to unlock all of the gear and complete the game is to enter the true endgame of any Monster Hunter game: fashion.
4 Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a beautiful but sad tale that makes simple insect-like creatures incredibly deep and sympathetic characters. Even if players find the true final boss of the game and defeat the Radiance, there is still much to be done in Hallownest.
Aside from the usual completionist activities such as finding all the Grubs and Charms, players can take on the Colosseum of Fools and the Pantheons. These are the most difficult combat encounters in the game and can give even Hollow Knight veterans a run for their money. The Colosseum of Fools is an arena offering fame and glory to those who cut down the waves of enemies who oppose them while the Pantheons are boss-rush style tests that will require absolute mastery of the game's mechanics to complete.
3 God Of War: Ragnarok
After completing the main story in God of War: Ragnarok, players would be forgiven for assuming that Kratos would want to hang up his blades and axe and take a long, well-deserved rest. This is far from the case though, as, after completing the game, players can journey across the realms and complete a number of activities. Some of these are simple, such as finishing favors and finding new artifacts, but one activity is much more challenging.
Where God of War (2018) had its Valkyries, God of War: Ragnarok has Berserkers. Defeating these imposing bosses is no easy task and only after defeating all twelve can the player then face King Hrolf, the final challenge in God of War: Ragnarok. It's a tough battle, but also a rewarding one.
2 Dragon Quest 11
Dragon Quest is another series that has great post-game content in many of its installments. Dragon Quest 8 had secret quests after the final boss involving dungeons and new bosses and Dragon Quest 9 had an almost addictive grind for higher-level treasure maps and rarer boss item drops to use in alchemy. The post-game content of Dragon Quest 11, however, is downright ridiculous as is pretty much an entire game on its own.
After defeating Mordegon at the end of the story, players unlock Act 3. Here, they can play a completely new storyline in which they find a way to bring back a lost friend by traveling through time. This leads to them facing the optional final boss of the game: Calasmos. If this still is not enough, the player still has a few new challenging activities left such as beating Drustan's Labyrinth and the Wheel of Harma.
1 Borderlands 2
The sheer amount of additional content in Borderlands 2 is astounding. In addition to completing the game three different times to reach the end of Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode and the level cap at level 80, players have multiple expansions and headhunters to choose from, each with unique bosses and loot. If that is still not enough to satisfy them, then players can embark on the final journey a Borderlands 2 character must attempt: The Raid on Digistruct Peak.
This expansion adds a new location where the player can take on the Digistruct Peak course, run by Tannis the mad scientist. Completing the Peak in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode is extremely difficult and will require the player to have a strong build and the best weapons in the game. After completing it, the player unlocks an OP level, meaning that all the enemies in the game become one level higher than the player, and also unlocks the next course in Digistruct Peak. There are ten levels of the course, with the hardest enemies and bosses in the game returning to challenge the player once more. If these ten courses and the overpowered enemies that they create are not enough to keep the player busy, then nothing is.