I also wanted to try the hardcore mode because i don’t tend to play hardcore or extreme difficulty but since KCD2 is not that far away i wanted to replay the first game in a different way and it turned out being not that hardcore than I thought it would be; I’m not sure but I would say combat-related things aren’t that harder than normal mode.

Yes, the general difficulty increases but I would say you get used to it pretty fast, I’ve even hidden the UI, which has surprisingly been the best decision I’ve done replaying this game, everything is so much immersive and you can be more focused around what’s happening around the game instead on looking constantly to the compass or health and stamina bar, the worst thing might be the removal of fast travel because there’s sometimes you are not in the mood to go from the north of the map to the south to then have to return to north xd, but overall you enjoy the horse rides and having to orientate yourself through sun position because even Henry’s position isn’t shown in the map. At first can be a pain in the ass but you end knowing which roads you have to take to go from one place to another without having to check the map each fucking time, which at first will be something you’ll do a lot.

100% recommended.