Hard Mode

Hard Mode is no different than a hard mode in any other game, although it is only accessible in Golden Sun: The Lost Age and not the original Golden Sun. To play Hard Mode you must start a new file after completing the main game. You start the game out as you normally would (with no stats carried over) but your enemies are far stronger; specifically, they will have 1.5 times the amount of HP and 1.25 times the amount of Atk and Def.

It is highly recommended you know as much about the game as you can, seeing as how one mistake can cause the loss of one or all your current battling Adepts. It is also recommended that you level up as fast as you can and as high as you can. Boss battles, in particular, will be sharply more challenging. Interestingly enough, the only enemy that does NOT get as significant a challenge boost as others in Hard Mode is Dullahan, the strongest optional superboss: The theoretical maximum amount of HP the game's code would allow any enemy to have is 16,383, so that will be the HP Dullahan will have instead of his normal 16,000. It is also worth noting that any monster spawned mid-battle (such as Star Magician's Balls) will retain their original normal-mode stats, and thus will be significantly easier than their Hard Mode counterparts.

Hard mode exists only for optional challenge value, as there are no extra rewards for playing through or completing it.