hello,

I believe Hardcore is intended as a true way to experience this game, however this is quite killer for the novice players and just plain, well, hardcore. I would still try the game on Software first and finish it fully (or at least play for a while to understand the mechanics) before trying to beat it on Hardcore

the differences are:

• on Softcore you have 12 inventory slots (for gadgets, weapons, ammo, medkits), on Hardcore you have only 9
  
• your aiming is much worse on Hardcore - the crosshair constantly moves up and down, making dealing the headshots a hustle
  
• enemies deal double damage on Hardcore (Walkers will one-shoot-kill you if you have no protected vest)
  
• you got twice as little ammo and save-diskettes on Hardcore. say, at some place there is x20 ammo for Pistol and x5 save-diskettes on Softcore, but there is only x10 ammo and x2 save-diskettes on Hardcore

have found a developer's quote about Hardcore being an intended difficulty (in Russian):

引用自 antales：

А вообще сложность, под которую игра разрабатывалась - это хардкор. 9 слотов инвентаря, покачивание прицела. Однако в процессе разработки (уже ближе к концу) было решено добавить более низкую сложность с большим числом ячеек инвентаря и без покачивания. Так же количество предметов, разбросанных на уровнях, было увеличено, хотя само их местоположение не изменилось. Не смотря на это оба режима можно рассматривать как сложные. Сами названия Softcore и Hardcore - это жанры в порнографии, что можно интерпретировать в стиле "как вы хотите, чтобы вас поимели - мягко или жестко?". Прошу отнестись к этому с иронией :)

source: https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/app/530890/discussions/0/1675812484339717372/

引用自 rarestMeow：

hello,

I believe Hardcore is intended as a true way to experience this game, however this is quite killer for the novice players and just plain, well, hardcore. I would still try the game on Software first and finish it fully (or at least play for a while to understand the mechanics) before trying to beat it on Hardcore

the differences are:

• on Softcore you have 12 inventory slots (for gadgets, weapons, ammo, medkits), on Hardcore you have only 9
  
• your aiming is much worse on Hardcore - the crosshair constantly moves up and down, making dealing the headshots a hustle
  
• enemies deal double damage on Hardcore (Walkers will one-shoot-kill you if you have no protected vest)
  
• you got twice as little ammo and save-diskettes on Hardcore. say, at some place there is x20 ammo for Pistol and x5 save-diskettes on Softcore, but there is only x10 ammo and x2 save-diskettes on Hardcore

Thx, your reply was very helpful. So far the game feels a little unintuitive, but I will see how I feel about it once I get into it. The atmosphere is nice (all the eeriness)

引用自 N Tyler's Sense of Humour：

So far the game feels a little unintuitive,

yes, the game is unintuitive, but this is kinda a selling point: game was inspired by Metroid-esque maze-like level design with lots of backtracking ans constant searching what shall you do next. but, yes, lots of people feel frustration while playing it without guide or any walkthrough. I personally spent about an hour trying to solve the puzzle, only realized that you are not suppose to solve it now and shall return here with a special item later. yes, unintuitive at its worst

my biggest advice is save the game in the different slots, because you can actually softlock yourself from beating the game and if you re-saved your progress that you will have no option but to start the game anew.

引用自 rarestMeow：

引用自 N Tyler's Sense of Humour：

So far the game feels a little unintuitive,

yes, the game is unintuitive, but this is kinda a selling point: game was inspired by Metroid-esque maze-like level design with lots of backtracking ans constant searching what shall you do next. but, yes, lots of people feel frustration while playing it without guide or any walkthrough. I personally spent about an hour trying to solve the puzzle, only realized that you are not suppose to solve it now and shall return here with a special item later. yes, unintuitive at its worst

my biggest advice is save the game in the different slots, because you can actually softlock yourself from beating the game and if you re-saved your progress that you will have no option but to start the game anew.

Thanks for the advice