Ashen: How To Unlock Hard Mode | Alternate Ending Guide

Even if you’ve beaten Ashen once, there’s still one challenge to conquer. Along with an alternate game mode, you’ll also earn a dark ending. This is a Dark Souls-style action-RPG, so it’s no surprise that the worst ending is the hardest to unlock. You’ll need to complete about half of the standard game and then replay the entire story to fully experience everything this game has to offer.

The extra ending is all related to an unlockable ‘Hard’ mode. The enhanced difficulty is unlocked as you progress through the game, and playing this mode starts an entirely separate save file. You’ll have a fraction of the health and stamina as the standard difficulty, but otherwise everything seems pretty much the same.

[WARNING: There will be end-game spoilers after this point.]

More Ashen guides on Gameranx:

• Ashen: How To Beat Every Boss | Boss Strategy Guide [VIDEO]
• Ashen: How To Play Multiplayer With Your Friends | Online Coop Guide

How To Unlock Hard Mode | Alternate Ending Guide

About halfway through the game, you’ll be able to unlock a special additional mode in Ashen that makes the game significantly more difficult.

• How To Unlock ‘Children of Sissna’ Mode: Complete the third boss in Ashen and unlock the ability to teleport when throwing spears at red monks.
  • ‘Children of Sissna’ mode is a Hard Difficulty challenge. You’ll have less health / stamina.
  • Selecting this mode starts a new file with a harder difficulty. This is not NG+.

Other than an increased difficulty, ‘Children of Sissna’ mode is very similar to the standard difficulty. The main story beats are the same, but the ending is a little different. You’ll need to experience the game for yourself — it’s not too bad if you have a friend joining you. Even in the enhanced difficulty mode, you can still saddle up and work together to handle every boss, or summon an AI companion.