7 things to do now you've finished FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE's campaign

You've seen the end (so far), but you definitely haven't seen everything…

1. Form a Platinum Trophy attack plan

There's a lot to do after the credits roll if you plan on going for the Platinum. Focus on one task at a time to keep from getting overwhelmed, but try to keep a couple of others in mind as you accomplish them. Completing lists, maxing out equipment, and finishing off side activities all have trophies related to them that will inch you closer to the Platinum.

Remember that there's a double EXP and triple AP bonus for your characters and Materia, respectively, that kicks into effect as a reward for finishing the story. This is invaluable for getting your party to the Level 50 cap and fully unlocking the benefits of your Materia.

Materia

With dozens of different materia to hoard, it's likely you've barely scratched the surface of their highest-level benefits. Use some of that late-game gear and its increased number of slots to level up your materia, especially when paired with an AP Up-linked slot.

Remember, there are offensive and defensive benefits to many of them depending on where they're equipped, and sometimes an elemental resistance or negation is more important that imbuing your weapon with that element.

Chadley's Battle Intel

Chadley's an interesting guy—so interesting that he gets his own materia-with-a-list icon on the map in the Sector 5 and 7 slums. Not only does he have a…let’s say 'unique' dress sense, he's got a sweet VR headset that lets you battle summons to make them yours, and a laundry list of battle techniques he wants you to try out.

Help a fella out, and as you complete the tasks, he'll sell you some of the most unique materia available for dirt cheap—at least for the first one.

Weapon abilities

Every character in FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE has multiple weapons, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. If you found a particular favorite, you might not have spent enough time with some of the others. That's a shame, because every sword, staff, gun, and glove has an innate ability you can use in combat.

If you pull off these moves in battle and raise the proficiency to 100%, you'll be able to use them even when a different weapon's equipped—so try to use all the weapons you can!

Your bestiary

Unless you were almost obsessively re-slotting the Assess materia onto party members as they cycled out, it's likely you missed scanning more than a few bosses. What’s more, some enemies appeared too early to even be scanned.

This is your chance to grab all of the 100+ enemy profiles. Okay, so this one won’t count towards the Platinum Trophy, but it’ll fill out the enemy log. What could be better than a nice, full list?

The combat simulator

The combat simulator in Shinra HQ is fantastic if you fancy a fight—when you finish the game a new range of hard challenges open up.

Taking on these powerful foes will test everything you've learned about the game so far. Are you up to the challenge?

Mini games

Did you clinch the top spot on the darts leaderboard? Best all the Wall Market's personal trainers in squats? Whack enough boxes to impress those admiring kids?

And did you overcome what many believe to be the ultimate challenge: beating Jules in pull-ups?

If not, better get busy…

2. Use Chapter Select to alter your story choices

Rather than starting the whole adventure over, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE introduces Chapter Select, an opportunity to hop around the story while keeping all your upgrades and equipment.

It's not immediately obvious while you play through the game the first time, but there are actually specific branching bits of content (conversations and side-quests) that are impossible to see the first time through. With the ability to go back and choose new options, you can open the door to new quests, new story, and new battles. You might even pick up a few Trophies along the way.

Choices persist once you finish a chapter, and can be replayed to lock in new decisions, which is the only way to satisfy some side quest prerequisites.

3. Explore all the new content in Hard Mode

Not for the faint of heart, Hard Mode is more than just beefed-up enemy health pools (though there is that) or attacks that hit harder (there's also that). You have to say goodbye to item use, too. Get used to not being able to rely on your precious elixirs, phoenix downs, and ethers…and having very limited MP.

Boss battles often have a new wrinkle to contend with: new phases, extra-powerful attacks, the addition of enemies that complicate old strategies, and even normal encounters can be tough without proper ATB gauge-building techniques. Thought Hell House brawl was tough? Try it with a Tonberry or three waddling around to knock out your party members with a single hit.

4. Refine your weapon and materia loadouts

A second playthrough is an opportunity to try out new materia and weapon combinations to find the most effective pairings.

It's fun if you stay on the same difficulty level, but if you move onto Hard Mode, refining your loadouts becomes a necessity. You won't be able to brute force your way through fights—you'll need to understand how different materia work together and make sure they're equipped on the perfect weapon for the battle.

Some Simulator battles unlocked post-game are also very difficult, so getting to grips with your options is strongly recommended.

5. Make the most of Corneo Colosseum's Challenges

Deep underground, just outside Don Corneo's mansion, the Colosseum is the pudgy lech's pit fighting showcase. It's also arguably the easiest way to apply those endgame EXP and AP multipliers to get everyone up to Level 50 and max out materia.

If you didn't spend time here when the opportunities were originally presented in chapters 9 and 14, you may have missed that this is also where you unlock everyone's level 2 limit break, so they're more than just a way to farm EXP/AP and gain some super powerful reward items.

6. Hunt for collectables

There are a lot of collectibles scattered around Midgar, and some are really only fully collectable once Hard Mode has been unlocked:

Dresses

Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa can each get three dresses to wear in the Wall Market section of the game (hence the Dressed to the Nines Trophy that pops upon getting them all), but you can only see them by using Chapter Select to replay specific parts of the game and choose different dialogue options in Chapter 3, or complete a different number of side quests in Chapters 8 and 9.

Music discs

30+ music discs add some truly wild remixes of classic FINAL FANTASY tracks to jukeboxes (and, for some reason, potion vending machines). You'll see three question marks when an undiscovered tune is playing, so take the time to track them down.

Discoveries

Not to be confused with side quests (though they can lead to them), these appear as purple dots on the map. They are your ticket to unlocking unique cutscenes and even some secret bosses. With the exception of story-related discoveries, they'll only show up when you get close, so explore every nook and cranny of an area.

Manuscripts

Dozens of these are only available by finishing off certain enemies in Hard Mode. They add permanent upgrades to weapon cores and dole out the SP needed to actually unlock all of their bonuses, so they're vital to drawing the most out of weapons.

7. Defeat all the hidden bosses

If you've exhausted all of the above, you're ready to tackle some of the hardest of the Hard Mode challenges in FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE.

There are all the Hard Mode-exclusive Shinra Battle Simulator challenges to chew through, you must fell all of Don Corneo's Colosseum baddies and take down those VR Simulator bosses to nab their summon materia.

If you managed to do all that and fulfill all of Chadley's battle intel requests, you're ready for the final, hidden boss fight, which only appears after those previous conditions have been met. Head back to the Shinra Combat Simulator (this can be done in Normal Mode to avoid broken controllers) and enter one last time to take down The Pride and Joy Prototype and claim the Götterdämmerung as your own.

This accessory gives you a full Limit Break meter right out of the gate and will continue to charge the gauge throughout a fight, making you a Limit Break machine.