Final Fantasy 7 Remake series producer Naoki Hamaguchi has confirmed details about Revelation's difficulty, including a new enemy strength option.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth obviously have beloved combat in both entries, but neither game has combat I'd describe as particularly difficult. Obviously, tackling the Summon Materia battles from Chadley earlier than you're meant to is a bit of a nightmare, but for the core story progression, there were only a handful of moments when things felt much more challenging.
And unfortunately, Hard mode was only made available after you beat the game in full, so unless you really want to replay it – which, given how long Rebirth is, I don't blame you for not wanting to – you won't experience it.
Thankfully, Hamaguchi – in an interview with Hardcore Gamer – confirms that "Hard Mode is selectable from the very start of this game." He explained that the hard difficulty "won't function in the exact same way as it did in Remake and Rebirth" and that for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation "we’ve reimagined the high-difficulty experience to align with the new game design."
"Unlike Remake and Rebirth, Revelation offers a wide variety of end-game content even after you’ve beaten the game," Hamaguchi explains, adding, "we aimed to create a game where players can enjoy various new content and challenges even after completing the main story."
On top of that, the balance of hard mode has changed somewhat, with him explaining that player options "have expanded significantly," and, as a result, the team "determined that simply banning items wouldn’t be enough to achieve the ideal high-difficulty experience we envisioned."
Hamaguchi also detailed an option in the difficulty settings, namely 'Enemy Strength,' which lets you choose between the returning Dynamic mode and static enemies. He explains, "we’ve created a challenging environment that will thoroughly satisfy those seeking high difficulty, while also expanding players’ freedom and strategic options."
More options are always a good thing, and after talking all that smack at the start of this, I look forward to bouncing my difficulty back down to normal after the third roadblock.
