Final Fantasy VII Revelation will make its Hard Mode available to players from the very beginning of the game, a significant departure from Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, where it served as a reward for completing the game.
Naoki Hamaguchi, director of Revelation, confirmed this change in an interview with Hardcore Gamer, explaining that the decision stems from the game's expanded end-game content. "In Revelation, we’ve reimagined the high-difficulty experience to align with the new game design," Hamaguchi stated. "Hard Mode is selectable from the very start of this game. Therefore, players who want to tackle challenging battles and high-difficulty gameplay right from the beginning can enjoy that experience from their very first playthrough."
This approach is intended to allow players to engage with varied challenges throughout their entire experience with Revelation, not just after finishing the main story. Hamaguchi added, "Rather than relying solely on the traditional flow of challenging Hard Mode after beating the game, we aimed to create a game where players can enjoy various new content and challenges even after completing the main story."
Unlike its predecessors, Revelation will not disable item usage in Hard Mode. Hamaguchi cited the game's more complex and strategic FITS job system and combat interactions as reasons for this adjustment. The game will also retain Dynamic Mode from Rebirth, a feature that continuously increases enemy difficulty as players progress.
Previously, developers had indicated that Final Fantasy VII Revelation would feature a more accessible Platinum Trophy on PlayStation 5. Making Hard Mode available at the start addresses a common frustration with the previous titles, which required multiple playthroughs to achieve 100% completion.
Fans can also anticipate story DLC for Revelation in the year following its launch, with previous leaks suggesting content focused on characters like Sephiroth and Vincent.