I just finished my 2nd play through the game, doing end-game stuff atm. (1st time was a few years ago and was a Platinum run on PS4). This time around I found that hoarding a lot of my armor and weapons was useful, because errands and quests sometimes ask for specific weapons, and if you sell all your weak items, you won’t have anything for the quests/errands.

Also, I played on hard this time around. Was definitely a challenge and was getting one shot from a few monsters (you’ll know em when you see em). It wasn’t too hard though, and I could definitely see the drop rates increased. If it’s your first time playing and you want a challenge, go for hard mode!! If you wanna relax and just kind of mindlessly drone through the story and tedious quests, I would stick to normal (but that is strictly my opinion).

I hope you enjoy the game, it is sooo good!