There’s still a whole lot of game waiting for you after finishing up Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The story takes about 35 hours to complete, and a load of new content unlocks after the credits have rolled.
Instead of a traditional New Game+, you’ll unlock something a lot more versatile — a Chapter Select. From here, you can choose to replay any chapter at any difficulty. You’ll be able to finish up all those Battle Intel challenges, replay chapters on higher difficulty, and unlock a few things that weren’t available before — like Aerith’s Level 2 Limit Break.
Chapter Select is incredibly versatile. As long as you keep a checkpoint or a save file, you’ll keep every item, armor piece, weapon and materia. You’ll stay the same level, no matter what part of the game you play, and never lose any XP for restarting a fight. It’s a great way to grind and reach Level 50. Below, I’ll explain how to access all the new content that’s waiting for you at the end of the game, including how to fight all three hidden super-bosses.
More Final Fantasy 7 Remake guides:
Tips & Tricks Beginner’s Guide | How To Unlock Level 2 Limit Breaks | All Weapon Locations & Proficiency Abilities | All Rare Materia Locations | How To Unlock All Summon Materia | All Jukebox Music Tracks Locations | ‘Heavenly Dart Player’ Trophy Guide | ‘Sultan of Squat’ Trophy Guide | PSA: 3 Very Useful Button Inputs | How To Get 200% Or 300% Stagger Bonus | How To Beat Roche, Crab Warden & Air Buster | How To Beat Reno, Rude & Hell House | How To Beat Abzu, Ghoul & Eligor | How To Beat Reno & Rude, Failed Experiment & Abzu (Rematch) | How To Beat Jenova, Rufus & Arsenal | How To Beat The Final Boss | All Side-Quests Guide & Rewards List
Everything That Unlocks After Completing The Story
Once you complete Chapter 18 on any difficulty, you’ll unlock the following features, fights, abilities, and content.
- Chapter Select: You can now access Chapter Select from the System Menu. Retain all levels, items, weapons, XP, gil, and collectibles.
- Hard Mode: Harder battles, no items allowed, and new Manuscripts you can unlock.
- Bonus EXP and AP: Earn x2 XP and x3 AP — available in all game modes. Yes, even Easy or Classic.
- New Combat Simulator: The new Combat Simulator is available in Chapter 17: Hojo’s Lab. You’ll find unique new Hard Mode only battles here — including two secret bosses.
- Bike Mini-Game is now skippable: Very simple. When replaying chapters with the bike mini-game, you can choose to skip the entire sequence.
- Aerith’s Level 2 Limit Break: You can finally unlock Aerith’s Level 2 Limit Break. Return to Chapter 9 and defeat Hell House to unlock Corneo’s Colosseum. Play the newly unlocked ‘Aerith vs.’ battle to earn the Planet’s Protection Limit Break.
- Three New Super-Bosses: There are three super-bosses in the post-game — Bahamut, Marlboro, and Pride & Joy.
- Bahamut: You must complete all of Chadley’s Battle Intel challenges to unlock the fourth (and final) VR Battle. Defeating Bahamut unlocks the fourth summon materia.
- Marlboro: The final round in the Hojo’s Lab Hard Mode Battle Simulator.
- Pride & Joy: The Ultimate Weapon. The 7-Star battle is only available after you’ve completed all Battle Intel challenges, all Corneo Colosseum fights, and all Shrine Battle Simulator fights.
Return to Chapter 17, and defeat the first enemy encounter. Up the stairs, you’ll find Chadley. He’s standing next to the door that leads to the new Combat Simulator. All of the new 5 Star Battles are only available when you play on Hard Difficulty.
You’ll also find an Aerith vs. SOLDIER Trainees mission, which gives you the Geometric Bracelet. Two of the 5 Star battles reward you with Refocus Materia — when equipped, this materia gives you the Refocus Limit Break, which adds a third ATB bar to your meter. With all three, you’ll be able to deck out your entire party with Refocus.
The final challenge in the Ch. 17 Hojo’s Lab Battle Simulator is only available to players that have completed battle intel reports, and all challenges in the Corneo Colosseum and Shinra Battle Simulator.
