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After finishing normal mode you can grind (~10 fights) in the arena to get lvl50 and maybe 10-20 more fights to level up HP / MP materia to 40% and all other to nearly max and getting your lvl6 weapon upgrades before even starting on hardmode.
For healing you use Chakra 40% heal (with salvation badge and weapon with 50% bonus heal on low hp) so you heal up 80% of missing health = nearly full heal without MP costs. Every partymember has one weapon with that trait.
With elemental materia you can make yourself immune / absorb enemy elemental dmg which is useful in some fights (Moth miniboss oneshot electro attack is nullified).
If Barrett is in the group just activate lifesaver+steelskin with said Chakra combo / 9999 hp and you direct all dmg on Barrett and just fill him up with Chakra.
For bosses / hard enemies look up youtube, there are hardmode no dmg kills to watch where some bosses are literal dead under 10 sec like Rufus (timestop on him and 4 hits = dead).
As for items, I think they should have done something like you get a very finite number of specific items you can carry, by item (like, 10 potions, 5 hi potions, 2 Elixirs) and you can collect more going in a stash inventory, accessible at chapter select and/or at benches where you could take them out and put into your carry inventory.
For MP management aside from boxes you can...
Synergy materia allows for an AI partner to cast the paired materia for free (base tier only though, but still very powerful with high stats like on Aerith or magic build Cloud) when another ATB command is executed. This adds up substantially to your DPS output when used right.
MP Absorb, naturally helps offset some MP cost and when paired with Magnify can do AoE MP Absorb (example: Fire + MP Absorb in one slot pair, then Fire + Magnify in another slot pair, inherits both effects). Just don't expect MP Absorb to let you constantly spam the most powerful tier of magic... Usually the tier 1 or 2 (Fire, Firara as an example) are recommended in hard outside of special strategies or like end of chapter bosses when you can go all out. This couples well with the MP you get from boxes over time, too, if you do want to use more powerful spells on occasion then in easier fights recoup MP with tier 1 spells as well as Synergy.
More complicated setup example of above: Aerith - Slot 1 (Fire + MP Absorb) / Slot 2 (Fire + Magnify) / Slot 3 (Fire + Synergy). Now when Cloud uses, say, Triple Slash she will cast Fire with MP Absorb for free. Great for boosting dps on bosses or single targets and general DPS output. If you need to do an AoE spell synergy may not carry it but you can offset the cost by having her use 1 ATB to cast Fire + Magnify + MP Absorb. Factoring in with her insane magic attack stat and Arcane Ward Aerith is grossly abusively overpowered in Hard mode (and normal). Mythril Sword Cloud is, too.
Use Chakra & Pray materia. No MP cost so you don't need to waste MP on healing. If you need, use Barrett, too, as he can further offset dmg taken due to his skills. Pray can be used on more than two characters. Use Life materia as a back up, not Restore, for clutch. If someone dies because you fail to Chakra/Pray you can revive them which is more efficient on your MP than using Cure when you might have been able to pull off a Chakra/Pray. I like putting my second Pray on Barrett who doesn't use ATB as much after his buffs as some other characters and because he gets a ton of ATB fast.
Some weapons have MP regeneration perks and stuff.
Benches heal HP offsetting healing needs, too, despite not helping MP directly.
Give your characters, all of them, Steadfast Block. The AI can use it very well and this directly cuts down on healing needed.
MP Plus is great. Percentage total MP increase while cost of MP from magic remains fixed. This can go a long way.
Some fights just aren't engaging either in mechanics (Bahamut) or because you can just roll all over them without much concern (Pride and Joy)
I'd rather them just not have a hard mode available at all in the next game. Put the difficulty into the game naturally and if you want extreme challenge you find a simulator with a "hard mode" selection that just pumps up enemy stats like in this game or have the curated selection of challenges and bumped up stats but leave the main 50+ hour game out of it.
This part I disagree with. Having a harder mode doesn't HAVE to have rewards. Most games with a hard mode, in fact, simply offer nothing extra in compensation as it is merely for the challenge. Some games simply keep escalating it with NG+s and also don't compensate despite constantly getting harder and harder. Some games, like some of the Ys games with their higher difficulty settings get really extreme and offer no compensation but they're still popular specifically because of this difficulty challenge that isn't for the casual player.
However, while I don't know the specifics about Rebirth's NG+ / harder modes, I can tell you they will feature something at default. They've included a fixed level scaling for enemy option when you start your game so you can out level them but for those who want more of a consistent challenge there is dynamic scaling so enemies keep up in level with you and you do not simply out level them, especially considering its open world design elements.
I always want a carrot for hard mode or extreme hard mode play throughs. I don't count achievements as such. Dead Space 2 had the foam finger, RE4Re had the cat ears, FF12 gave you the Wyrm Hero Blade etc. Now it would be very unfortunate if they handled it similarly to this game. Normal is easy and hard mode is number go up and you are now playing normal. I'd be inclined to pick hard mode just so I don't roll through 80% of the game without issue.
"If" the reason is due to the common misconception that leveling makes you weaker I get why you would think that but it would be wrong. As you level enemies gain more powerful magic to steal and thus you can junction increasingly powerful magic. The pacing of this newer more powerful magic in increasing both combat options (like Metldown, Double, Triple, Haste, etc.) as well as sheer stats far exceeds the growth rate of enemy power level as long as they're used right in combat or junctioned properly. Even at level 100 if setup properly you would absolutely roll over the game as a godlike entity trouncing ants.
Honestly, I found the balance and depths of FF8 to be pretty incredible with the one highly baffling exception of the ability to easily obtain infinite limit breaks and an obvious way to maintain immortality with Rinoa by not learning her other skills abusing the RNG of her limit break.
I think in these cases then you should just not look at the higher difficulties and stick to normal if there is no reward since they don't bring you any benefit. To others, however, they're great. I think the FF12 example to be rather ironic considering after you get Hero Blade, considering the staggering boss fight involved in getting it... there is essentially no use at all for the game after and its basically right before final dungeon. The other examples are similar but at least have carry over to NG or NG+s. Well, as I type this I just remembered this only applies to the original FF12... the newer Zodiac does have a NG+. Oh well.
Well, per the above examples FFVII Remake's hard mode grants those three accessories that grant a limit break at the start of battle and super fast automatic limit charge rate afterwards for rest of battle. They're honestly far more practical / stronger than the stuff you listed above for your "carrot", even compared to the Cat Ears.
If I like a game I look to the higher difficulties. It isn't so cut and dry. Character action games want to be played on hard or higher so you can more freely engage with the combat systems the game has in place. Normal and easy enemies die too fast to enjoy the combat depth. DMC and Bayonetta come to mind while I'd put the newer GoW games in the other end of combat not engaging enough to just dial up the numbers in hard mode.
FF7R has leaned into more character action combat so it needs to be difficult enough that you engage with those systems and want to engage with those systems. FF16 failed at this by not making hard mode available from the very beginning. Sea of Stars did the same thing even though it is a turn based RPG. The challenge was not there from the start and the games are not good enough to warrant a second playthrough.
I never said getting a reward that was more or less pointless was an issue, just that I do want something for my time. Dead Space 2 Foam Finger blows everything you mentioned out of the water in terms of power. You do the challenge, get the reward, and then victory lap on the parts that gave you the most trouble and never play again.
FF7R "combat missions" award you the unga bunga necklace which more or less can be completely ignored. If I was awarded an unga bunga necklace after beating Sephiroth in hard mode I'd of liked that more than hey more SP for a character you hate.
If hard mode has to exist then I hope they model it after OG DMC. New enemies, different encounters, additional boss fights etc. I'd still just want a clean "no modes" game like Hollow Knight for the best experience in difficulty.
I like the feeling of progression and overpowering things that were initially tough. Particularly if it is all stat based. In more skill based games, my own skills improving can do that fine.
I also like going off the intended path and entering the volcano lands of crushing certain death early on and dying instantly to the glare of a Mook with virtually no hope of fighting them. Gives me something to aspire to.
I also don't see how it would be an issue with Rebirth tbh, but the game lets you pick if you want it or not in Rebirth at least.
I'm not sure how Foam Finger is better than the accessories mentioned that can instantly end all normal encounters and majority of bosses in the game. If anything, the two are essentially at the same power level.
I'm not sure why an item, comparable in power to the other stuff you mentioned like Foam Finger "can essentially be ignored" but the ones you mention are great. That is a bit confusing tbh... I've already said I agree the basic rewards, aside from that accessory are pretty poor and this could also be said about a bunch of the games you've mentioned having poor rewards except those final peak rewards that have limited usage due to being obtained after beating the hardest content possible.
You might like those basic single mode only games but sometimes having higher difficulties with extra restrictions like no item use, no MP recovery, etc. forces you to engage mechanics, strategies, and challenges you might otherwise not and are simply not realistic to enforce on those single difficulty games.
Agreed. When done poorly it can be harmful, but when done well and you gain increasing skill, knowledge, abilities, tools, etc. and can suddenly trivialize an encounter despite not being statistically necessarily much stronger I think that is pretty good.
Based on your comment you might like Xenoblade Chronicles (specifically the first game, not X or 2, I can't comment on 3). If you ever do try it go Naked Dunban for dodge tank and with the right strategies you can be taking on enemies way stronger than you are supposed to early on for increasingly better rewards, which is cool because they often have higher level enemies wandering the world and various areas to explore that try to somewhat restrict you by having such level enemies.
The broken ATB system is the root issue. AI teammates do not attack at the same speed the player does, forcing the player to constantly switch. Then you have to remember each boss/cinematic so you can avoid blowing an ability by triggering a cutscene.
This combat system would be better suited for Parasite Eve.
Foam Finger is instant, infinite and accompanied by two different amazing sound effects. You don't see Bahamut or Sephiroth activate limit break and win. With foam finger you see them and go "Pew pew pew" or "Bang bang bang" and they are dead. The difference in what can be ignored is down to my preference. I got unga bunga necklace and both the challenge and reward were lacking to the point in retrospect I'd just ignored it if I had known better. The rewards I mentioned were both great because they had functions in the game and were enjoyable to obtain. As for rewards along the way, they change how you engage with the game and the fact that the final reward trumps all other rewards just seems like a logical conclusion if implemented correctly. This even addresses the issue of limited use as "hey that was the last reward, go play something else".
Implementing an effective plethora of difficulty restrictions in a game generally isn't practical as it takes a bunch of work to put that all together without it feeling cheap. It can be achieved through players just choosing to enforce restrictions themselves just the same. Whether or not it can be implemented in a single mode game is not the point to me as again a player can just choose restrictions themselves. A single mode game with great difficulty allows the devs to more fluidly make challenges as opposed to number go up in a less than skill based game. Single mode games tend in my opinion to have really good balance in difficulty.
Ultimately we agree on rewards and challenge engagement needing to be better in Rebirth. We disagree and or don't understand each others preference or perspective on everything else.