Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a monumental undertaking and, thus far, it has paid off for Square Enix. The remake of the PS1 classic was met with critical and commercial success and is a retelling that was clearly handled with care. Despite overall being considered one of the best games of the PS4 era, some players found the game's higher difficulty setting somewhat lacking. Updates have been made and are still coming for the PS5 version of Final Fantasy 7 Remakeand some would like to see changes made to the game's hard mode.

FF7 Remake's combat system is one of its hallmarks. Carefully adapted from the original turn-based game, the blend of real-time action with strategic use of abilities and magic was well-received overall. Fans were treated to a faithful adaptation of the materia system that forms the backbone of character growth and customization. This system becomes somewhat hindered by the way that the game's hard mode was designed, and could use some changes. After updating the Classic mode, which allows players to enjoy the game in a turn-based way more similar to the original, many are hoping that the PS5 upgrade coming can fix some of the problems with FF7 Remake's higher difficulty setting.

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Final Fantasy 7's Hard Mode

In FF7 Remake, the hard setting limits players in a number of big ways. First, items are disabled entirely, but this feature can seem like a very artificial way of increasing difficulty. Items have long played a critical role in Final Fantasy games and their absence in the higher difficulty setting eliminates a huge chunk of player strategy, and knowing that they can't be used, it eliminates the purpose of seeking out each chest while exploring Midgar in FF7 Remake's hard mode. It doesn't make much sense to search out the hidden item chests when they can't be used.

Players are also limited in another way that can seem counterintuitive to a franchise that has long had a focus on magic. MP, the resource needed for casting spells, is no longer restored upon a rest. With items also disabled, players are forced to heavily ration use of magic as they play through the game. The only ways to restore MP in hard mode are through the random gifts found in destructible crates through, or via the miniscule amount that Aerith can restore to herself by way of her Soul Drain ability. Final Fantasy 7 is part of a series that has long had magic as a key element in its gameplay.

Having to so heavily ration the use of magic is another way that the hard mode can feel like an artificial way to increase the difficulty. Not being able to use magic also feels contrary to the spirit of a Final Fantasy game. Specifically, it can feel like players have less tactical choices in combat when they have to be so cautious about using magic. The materia system can get reduced to merely buffing health and resistances instead of finding interesting ways to mix up magic and character abilities. With new materia and summons coming in FF7 Remake Intergrade, players are likely to stick with the default setting as they'll have more flexibility in how they can use the magic system. Imposing difficulty through scarcity can be effective, as per most survival horror games, but to some players, it can feel antithetical to have less access to magic in a Final Fantasy game.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Hard Mode Needs Smarter Enemies, Not Just Stronger Ones

 

Naturally, the enemies in the higher difficulty setting for FF7 Remake are a lot stronger than those in the standard setting. Players even at higher levels can get knocked out very quickly by mobs of monsters and enemy soldiers. But that's the extent of the changes to enemies. Enemies and bosses don't display more advanced tactics, better use of their magic abilities, they just hit harder. The depth of the combat system seems underutilized by the enemies themselves when they're just given more health and higher attack numbers. This is part of why making it through the brutal hard mode of FF7 Remake can turn into just optimizing HP and resistances instead of better strategies.

This isn't to take away from the game's achievements in its combat system. Playing through the matches in the Combat Simulator or Don Corneo's fighting pits where the difficulty is set to hard are fun and challenging breaks from the regular difficulty. But in those moments, the changes to the system feel natural because they are temporary. It makes sense that while in a fight pit or a simulator that the players would be stripped of some of their abilities. As an overall setting, the changes can feel artificial and antithetical to the spirit of the combat system and game world at large. It can also make losses to some of FF7 Remake's bosses feel cheap compared to a deserved loss due to strategy.

Again, this isn't to take away from what is otherwise arguably one of the best RPGs released in a console generation absolutely stacked with competition from games like The Witcher 3. With so many changes coming to FF7 as the game's story continues in DLC and its next installment, the hard mode could be tweaked to better maintain the spirit of what makes the combat engaging while not sacrificing things that feel like integral parts of the game world. Items and magic are iconic parts of the Final Fantasy franchise and taking away their utility in the name of increased difficulty can feel like taking away from the spirit of the game's combat.

The battle system of FF7 Remake is one of the game's shining achievements and a difficulty mode that encourages strategy and skill over hoarding resources and simply stacking health would go a long way in improving replayability. The game doesn't need to shy away from being difficult, again the combat simulator and tournament battle's difficulty makes sense from a narrative and gameplay sense. However, with many tweaks coming to FF7 Remake Intergrade, improving the higher difficulty setting could be a worthwhile endeavor to further improve a game that is already among the best available today.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade releases June 10th for the PlayStation 5.

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