I;m playing on Apocalyptic and I;m currently fighting the Phantom General, the guy you fight before letting Samael out of prison. It may just be the fact that I haven;t slept in over a day so I;m over tired but I can;t beat him. I was just curious if there is a good strategy for fighting him, I think I;m getting close, I can take out all the soldiers he summons but as soon as I heal myself he kills me in one hit. Am I missing something? Also, is there a way to switch the difficulty setting in-game? I;ve checked both the Start and Back button menus and I don;t see the option anywhere. Thanks.

Try using the Earthcaller on him every chance you can. It sends him flying back and breaks his guard/and attacks and leaves him open for a while. I basically just used the horn on him, dashed up, hit him with a combo and a half, and then backed off for his attack. Then rinsed and repeated.

You can literally Earthcaller him to death without getting hit. Once the wave of enemies he sends at you is done with (I think you have to fight them once), just use the horn on him and hit him till he starts an attack animation. Immediately blow him down again ;)