Greetings I just wanted to take the time to point out that there is a major change that needs to be made after the open beta. Espicialy for boss fights in story mode. As i find myself literaly struggling to even stay alive in story mode. Yes im playing hardcore diffculty but for someone whos nearly almost max level Its rediculous the amount of times one dies within story mode. Espicialy when you dont have a way to readily revive yourself without spending cash on the game to get scape dolls.... All in all there are major changes that need to be made.

1. Boss fights in story mode need to be toned down. While the fights need to be challenging getting constantly hit by 1 shot mechanics is extremely aggravating. as it leaves you dead with no way to revive but to abandon the quest and start it agian. Witch is another annoyance. Balance is key in this as if your not going to allow partys for story mode for co op play. Then you need to rebalance the fights. 2. Scape dolls and half scape dolls. These need to be made more readily available to the community without having to spend RL cash on them. As i find it extremely frusterating to constantly spend rl cash just to revive.

I didn't know Story Mode had Hard. In JP, I only saw up to "Normal" on the Story Quest/Missions for Episodes 1 - 3. Once completed, I couldn't play them again, ever.

I remember having a bit of trouble with Shiva on Harukotan on easy difficulty but that wound up being because I didn't have a level-appropriate weapon.

If you're playing on a hardcore difficulty, make sure you're properly geared... If you're evenly leveled or a few levels lower on harder content on this game without having sufficiently powerful gear, you'll get your rear handed to you.

The XH version of Enchanted Forest really made me feel woefully undergreared even after I hit 80, my units weren't a set and they were all 13* and 14* units had been added to the game.

That's the point, right? Normal is supposed to be balanced, and yes, 1 hit KO's are not strange, if you want it easy then select easy. I died many times against "Shiva", but eventually beat her.

I agree playing on your own or with NPC's should not punish dying with a pay wall it would be nice if you could give NPC's moon atomizers or something so that when you die on your own you aren't forced to quit or pay up as opposed to when you are playing with friends who can revive you. the story on hardcore is already longer and more tedious than it needs to be.