The difficult mode of Final Fantasy VII Remake can present several headaches due to some handicaps such as the inability to recover MP while resting or using objects. However, completing the title in hard mode is a necessary step for platinum and some challenges are only present in that mode.
In this guide we give you a couple of vital tips on how to overcome the adversities of the hard mode of Final Fantasy VII Remake without too many hitches.
- In the meantime, it should be specified, as it will allow you to save some time, which duels on motorcycles against Rosch in Chapter 4 and the Shinra Chariot towards the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake can be skipped pressing Option and selecting “skip”. Doing this will not affect your run in any way, it will prevent you from obtaining the related trophies.
- The party we recommend you use for the Shinra simulator challenges of chapter 17 is made up of Cloud, Aerith and Tifa. As you continue reading you will find out what their roles are and why it is advisable to leave Barret on the bench. Completing the final challenge to the Shinra simulator against the Ubris prototype in chapter 17 will allow you to get the most useful accessory of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Gotterdammerung, which allows you to start the fight with the Limit bar at maximum and once used the bar will begin to fill gradually. At the end of the fight you will also have obtained another gold trophy in the process.
- Keep Aerith's MP high thanks to her Aspir ability. You will damage an enemy and absorb some of their MP. Also, if you use Aspir on an exhausted enemy, Aerith will absorb even more MP.
- You cannot use items, so it all comes down to how you will use your MP, whose only way to be restored, albeit gradually, is by simply fighting or completing the chapter for a total HP and MP restoration And this is where some come into play. Matter that will play a very important role in saving MP and at the same time being able to progress in history. We list those, in our opinion, essential.
Votive: This yellow matter allows you to access the Prayer skill, recommended for characters like Tifa or alternatively Barret who don't have a lot of MP. Prayer heals a certain% of HP - depending on the level of Matter - throughout the party by taking advantage of 2 ATB bars but without wasting MP. In the phases where you only have Cloud and Aerith active, equip Votiva a Cloud.
Eclectic: Of the 4 techniques obtainable from enemies thanks to Eclectic Matter, there are two particularly useful: Frosty Aura and Fetid Breath. Before explaining how to make these two techniques devastating, we refer you to this guide that reveals how to get all the techniques of the enemies.
Fetid breath will not be particularly useful, since you must have already reached chapter 17 of Final Fantasy VII Remake and in difficult mode, however it can facilitate you for the remaining challenges or if you find yourself having to replay some chapters due to the clean up related to the trophy of Platinum. Fetid Breath numbs, poisons and silences enemies, and with the exception of the final bosses in Chapter 18, all of your opponents are sensitive to these statuses (some may resist Sleep). Aura Frosty is a very versatile ability, especially when linked to the Blue Leech Matter.
Our advice is to entrust the Eclectic and Leech to Cloud and to take advantage of his parries and counterattacks after activating Frosty Aura. Cloud will repeatedly cause damage via the ice barrier while absorbing a% of HP based on the damage dealt by connecting with Leech. This way you will have Cloud with a kind of Regene always active, whether you are attacking or parrying from an enemy assault and even if the battle continues, you should be able to win.
Energetic : connected to Matter Extensive - of which unfortunately there is only one in all Final Fantasy VII Remake - is your indispensable resource for healing. Make use of Rigene often, which takes little time to cast compared to Energiga and consumes less MP. We highly recommend entrusting these 2 Materia to Aerith. However, make sure that at least 2 out of 3 party members have a spare Energy matter, in case your healer does not have ATB bars available or you simply want to safeguard his MP a little.
Reanimating: This Green Stuff resurrects a KO ally. Not being able to take advantage of the phoenix tails, it is necessary that you have at least two active characters with this Materia, possibly at the maximum degree, since the enemies beat hard.
Vitale, Arcana, Occult: These 3 purple Matters increase HP, MP and the Magic parameter respectively. They are Materia that need many APs to reach the maximum degree, but the benefits you will derive from them will be a cure-all to most of your problems. To face the most difficult challenges, it would be advisable to sort the aforementioned Materia into the following scheme:
- Cloud: 2 Vital, 1 Arcana
- Tifa: 2 vital, 1 Arcana
- Aerith: 2 Vital, 2 Arcana and 2 Occult
Although they don't rely on magic, Cloud and Tifa also need a good dose of PM, in case they have to resurrect allies or otherwise rely on some magic. Aerith needs a large amount of MP, as she will basically play the role of Healer. However, you can use its basic spell power and occult matter to cast spells like Fulgoga or Igniga or use the Radiant Verdict ability. In addition, Aerith will constantly have to keep Regene active on the party, which in addition to gradually restoring HP is able to cancel the Poison.
To conclude on the Matter, one Meditative at max level it might come in very handy in stages where you only have one active party member in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
- In phases where you only have one active party member, stock up on awakening earrings and equip them every time you use a pair. This is the only way to avoid, even mistakenly, from a Game Over. Awakening earrings can be found in any accessories store and they are also quite cheap. Finally, you can also equip the Eclectic and Meditative Matters to use Frosty Aura and Chakra, to facilitate you during battles.
- Make sure to break as many Shinra Crates as possible to recover PM thanks to Makolite and use every bench to keep your HP always high. What really matters in your run on Hard is getting to the boss at the end of the chapter with enough MP to be able to heal even in the event of a prolonged battle.
- Speaking of Boss, a good way to reduce them to pulp is to use its exhausting factor well. The ideal time to give the enemy that extra blow to send him into “Stremo” is after making sure that you have activated the Secret Art ability with Tifa twice and that he has 2 ATB charges. Execute Direct Punch twice with Tifa to increase the enemy's Exhaust% to finish using both Warrior Frenzy and Martial Wrath, which can be performed with the triangle button. The enemy's% of exhaustion will have already reached mind-boggling levels and the damage it will take during this phase is incredibly high. If you want to rage further and have maximum HP, use 2 Aerith ATB Bars to hurl Radiant Verdict, a technique that in addition to causing considerable damage gradually increases the opponent's exhausting%.
That's all. We remind you to consult our other Final Fantasy VII Remake guides to find all the Materia, exhaust the enemies and get the other trophies!
► Final Fantasy VII Remake is an Action-RPG type game developed and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 10/04/2020
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a game to own at all costs: we decided to evaluate it with a 92%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Final Fantasy VII Remake Review
