Difficulty Level

The Difficulty Level of a game in the Kingdom Hearts series determines enemy strength and limitations the player will be presented with during gameplay. Players can choose a difficulty level to clear the game on when they first start a new game, but they cannot change difficulty levels once they have started. The most difficult difficulty is Critical mode, followed by Proud Mode, then Standard Mode, then Beginner Mode. Critical Mode is available in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix. The first time Proud Mode became available was in Kingdom Hearts 2 and has been in all games since.

Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix
Compared To Standard and Proud, enemies inflict twice the damage, except for the Mushroom XIII who inflict 1.25× the damage.

Several abilities are granted on the third day (Reaction Boost, Finishing Plus, Draw, 2x Lucky Lucky, MP Hastera and EXP Zero).

Roxas's initial AP is 50.

AP increases by increments of 3 instead of 2.

Compared to Standard and Proud, HP and MP quantities from Bonus Levels are halved (You only get 60 HP instead of 120 HP).

Compared to Standard and Proud, EXP gained is three-quarters of the normal amount.

Save file displays "Critical Mode".

Unlocking the "Birth by sleep" video just requires you to win the Gold Crown.

In the PS2 Browser screen, there is a symbol attached to the save data file on the memory card.