How to unlock Hard difficulty in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Final Fantasy games aren’t known for being hard—unless you count Stranger of Paradise. In fact, there are few games in the franchise that let you adjust the difficulty like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth does.

At first, it might seem like the only options are easy, normal, and dynamic difficulty, but one look at the FF7R trophy guide proves different. The Of Hardy Stock trophy requires you to complete every chapter in the game while playing in hard difficulty. Since this option isn’t available at the start of the game, I’ll show you how to unlock it.

How to unlock Hard mode in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

To unlock Hard difficulty in FF7R, you must complete the main story once in one of the three available difficulties. After rolling the game’s credits, you can start the game again with this new difficulty unlocked.

Unsurprisingly, enemies are much tougher in Hard mode, but there are a few other tweaks, too. You can’t use items in battle, and HP can only be restored in Benches with a Cushion. On a brighter note, you get access to exclusive Folios and Manuscripts reserved for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s Hard difficulty. Plus, it’s the only way to platinum the game since that Of Hardy Stock trophy can only be obtained by completing all chapters on Hard mode.

If you’re having trouble deciding whether you should try FF7R in Hard Mode, why not give Dynamic a try? By the end of the game, you should have a solid idea of which combat style works best for you and feel confident enough to tackle this mode.