So you’ve beaten Final Fantasy 7 Remake and can’t get enough of the game? Well, that’s what the Hard Mode playthrough is for. Unlocked after clearing the campaign, Hard Mode allows you to play through the entire game again with tougher enemies, as well as a couple of additional restrictions that make the experience a little more challenging. Before you jump in, though, here are a few Final Fantasy 7 Remake Hard Mode tips to give you an easier time going in.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Hard Mode Tips
Before we get into the tips proper, let’s go over some of the major changes in this difficulty setting:
- Enemies are tougher, meaning they deal a lot more damage.
- You cannot use items at all, whether in or out of combat.
- You can only restore HP and MP at benches or resting spots. Oddly enough, Cloud’s room at Stargazer Heights in the Sector 7 slums only restores HP.
With that in mind, it’s going to be very important to make sure that you have the right Materia on you at all times, along with a healthy MP pool to keep your party topped up.
Get the EXP Up and Gil Up Materia
If you haven’t already, jump back to chapter 16 before starting your Hard Mode playthrough, and go to the Recreational Facility in Shinra HQ. Take on the combat simulator missions there to get the EXP Up and Gil Up Materia as rewards.
EXP Up can only be equipped on one character at a time, so put it on Cloud until he hits level 50, then pass it on to the next character. Levels won’t matter that much in terms of helping you survive (it’s all about your weapons and Materia), but it’ll at least give you a stat boost. You want to hit the level cap on all your characters as soon as possible before you start getting into the end game bits of your Hard Mode playthrough.
After beating the game, you get double exp and AP, so you should be able to hit the level cap quickly.
The Gil Up Materia isn’t as essential, but doubling your Gil earnings will ensure that you’ve always got a good bit of money to spend on any additional Materia orbs and accessories you need. This isn’t that important, though, since items are completely worthless in Hard Mode.
