Going in Hard

On your first play through of a game, if given the option, what difficulty setting do you play on? Easy, Medium or Hard.

And is there anyone out there that actually plays a game on easy?

I'm not sure if its that the games I tend to play are getting easier or if I'm just getting better, but over the past few years I've been playing on hard. Although I should say that this is for games like CoD, Force Unleased, Uncharted and stuff. Everyone says that if I want a truly difficult game I should play Bayonetta or Ninja Gaiden, but monster bashing isn't really my kind of thing.

Usually medium or hard on a first playthrough and a level above that if I play it again. The game would have to be pretty damn frustrating for me to set it on easy.

I usually go on normal. But I typically only play RPGs so Hard mode is really for players who already know all the game mechanics right from the get go. (Not that RPGs usually have difficulty levels)

Never easy though.

I always leave it on the default setting. You never know when "Normal" is Megaten Normal or just Normal Normal. God have mercy on those who pick "Hard" when playing a Persona game for the first time expecting Final Fantasy.

Usually Normal, but lately I go Easy because I'm lame like that. :jess:

Normal, usually. I'm too much of a pussy to go hard right from the get go. I only pick easy if I'm playing a game for the umpteenth time just trying to score points.

Definitely start on the standard setting for a first run through, I'll go harder after that.

I'll do Hard if I'm feeling especially squirrelly but that's usually after at least one play through on Normal. I don't think I've ever played a game on Easy.

What are you gonna do, go in soft? :bigsmile:

I play X-Com on easy. Any other setting is impossible. And Easy is "Yur Scrude!"

Easy :P
Because the first time you play for the story -.-

Hard because I am MLG pro

Depends on the type of game. Something like Halo I will play on Heroic (one step above normal, one step below stupid hard). If I'm playing a football game I will usually crank the difficulty up as high as it'll go, otherwise it's just ridiculous. RPGs I will put on normal or easy for sure. It only usually affects combat and I never play RPGs for the combat. I just want to explore and see pretty places, damnit, stop making me fight things.

Usually Normal. If I'm somehow good at the game and find the time and interest, I'll try something harder.

Personally, I like games that let you switch the difficulty at your discretion. Then it's like endorsed cheating.

I play most games on normal the first time but always hard the second time. I can't remember the last time I played through a game on easy!

(SPOILER)Easy

U jelly?

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Hard because I am MLG pro

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Haha you go in hard

I always pick easy mode because 1) it's just a game and 2) I just want to know the story

Alwasy Normal/Medium, that's how the game was intended to be played. I had a brief fling with playing shooter campaigns on hard b/c they were getting kinda easy, but that was a big mistake on Killzone 2, which can be difficult in itself, and the last engagement was designed to be a hug endurance test. My girl decimated FEAR2 kinda nicely on hard, though.

After beating a game I might play around on Easy if there's trophies like beating a level without dying.

Depends on whether or not it's a game in a franchise I'm familiar with. I burn through Halo games on Legendary because I largely know what to expect and troubleshooting any trying parts is usually just a matter of trial and error with different strategies anyway.

Most games I'll play on the default setting and then beat again on a higher setting. I'll bump down to easy if I've already played the game through enough (like my more recent runs of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 just building a file to transfer into ME3).

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Originally Posted by Bolivar

I had a brief fling with playing shooter campaigns on hard b/c they were getting kinda easy, but that was a big mistake on Killzone 2, which can be difficult in itself,

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Couldn't agree with you more! Killzone 2 is probably one of the toughest games on PS3 & probably the
toughest FPS I've played when on it's highest difficulty! Great game though and can't wait for Killzone 3

Hard usually.

I would have started P3 on hard, but I got it before FES, so I could only do normal. I did start 4 on Hard though. :p

Whatever difficulty the game defaults to I play as. Developer knows best.

Normal or Easy.

Usually Normal in genres I'm pretty good at, and then easy for genres I know I tend to struggle with.

In translation that would mean I always pick normal for survival horror games like Silent Hill and I tend to go easy on games that require aiming in action, like the newest Goldeneye game.

I never pick hard, unless hard actually regulates puzzle difficulty like in some Silent Hill games. But usually Hard just means more enemies, more bullets to kill an enemy or less hits you can take before you die, and all these things are just annoying and getting in the way of the real game, so wuteva~~~

depends, on KH games I always go normal first, then whatever the hardest mode is, and attempt to get everything.
On the Warriors games (ex. Warriors Orochi) I always unlock everything in hard or normal, then reset every character's level to 1 and play on critical mode only.

On Crisis core, hard mode only, even Minerva is easy on normal

Eh, usually medium (or, in the case of halo/cod, the second to easiest), not too much of a challenge, then if I replay a game, I go to a harder difficulty

Always the default 'normal' level. I then do harder levels if I enjoy the game enough (which is rare, I usually prefer to just move on to the next game) and if I'm really into it and there are a lot of trophies to get, I'll do what I can on easy later on (eg. for Uncharted 2, I got most of my "kill-so-many-people-with-each-gun" trophies on easy and a lot of them using unlockable 'cheat modes' such as one-hit-kills and unlimited ammunition).

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Always the default 'normal' level. I then do harder levels if I enjoy the game enough (which is rare, I usually prefer to just move on to the next game) and if I'm really into it and there are a lot of trophies to get, I'll do what I can on easy later on (eg. for Uncharted 2, I got most of my "kill-so-many-people-with-each-gun" trophies on easy and a lot of them using unlockable 'cheat modes' such as one-hit-kills and unlimited ammunition).

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(high fives Bob)

In all seriousness, it depends on the game in question, or at least the genre. If it's an FPS I'm liable to put it on hard right away, I'm fairly good at them and anything less tends to not be challenging. I'll put a JRPG on hard, if it has difficulty levels at all, just to try and provide some reason for the gameplay mechanics rather than reading a book. Aside from a couple of accidentally too-tough bosses which you get in most games, JRPGs are usually very easy. WRPGs are often a lot less so, and I'll usually go through on normal at first (With Mass Effect I went through on Hard, but Hard is the third of five difficulties :p I have also played most of the way through starting with a level 1 character on Insane, but that's hardly something I would do the first time I played the game :love:)

Fighting games I tend to keep on normal or put on easy; in no other genre is there a greater disconnect between difficulty and fairness.

I understand what people mean about different game genres having different difficults. I've found that RPG's on hard seem a lot more challenging than a FPS on hard.

But what do you mean when you say that you play on easy because your playing for the story? The difficulty doesn't effect the story, it just effects the gameplay and the amount of trophies you can unlock.

Its rare for me to play through games multiple times these days, so its entirely dependent on the specific game. Some games have things that are only available on the hard difficulty, meaning i will play on hard because i want to experience everything the game has to offer. Otherwise i will probably just play on normal.

Fps games i always play on the hardest difficulty though, because otherwise i would just fly through it in like 6 hours because their campaigns are usually so short.

THE JACKEL

I pick normal or easy. I care about the experience of the game and for most that means the story. There are too many games to be played for me play a game on controller-throwing mode. I get no sense of superiority out of being able to play a game that has been made arbitrarily more difficult by giving enemies more health or throwing more of them at you. I don't appreciate that type of difficulty at all and that's generally the type you get from games that allow you to choose.

If I want difficulty I want it in an earnest form like Demon's Souls rather than some cheap headshot-from-across-the-map form.

Normal/Medium because I dunno, I feel like that's the ideal difficulty devs intended for the average person who wants the standard experience.

Most modern games won't even let you play hard mode until you've finished normal. Which is kinda silly.

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Originally Posted by DMKA

Normal/Medium because I dunno, I feel like that's the ideal difficulty devs intended for the average person who wants the standard experience.

Most modern games won't even let you play hard mode until you've finished normal. Which is kinda silly.

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that's so they can say the crappy tunnel gameplay has a high replay value

Depends on the game but generally speaking: Play the game on normal first time, then for the kicks of it go back and play it on the hardest possible setting. If I enjoy it enough then go back and do any super hard settings such as when I did European Extreme for Metal Gear Solid 2 or my Mass Effect files (which I need to finish!) Some games however I go in on the hardest setting and keep at it. I very nearly did so with Halo Reach and in hindsight wish I had done because I think that there was something about fighting so very hard on legendary that made the story better. Bungie always say Halo is designed to be played at the Heroic level of difficulty but I disagree and say that in the case of Reach, legendary was the intended difficulty so that when you get through it you're satisfied it makes the fight feel more real, more painful when you lose.

I think I played KH I on easy on my first playthrough and some other games. with GoW II I jumped from medium to hard and that was frustrating as I had stated in my review. Typically if it's my first time I go for Medium especially if it's with a series I'm new to.

Never Hard. For most games, I'm happy to play through several times on Medium without ever going up to Hard. For FPS, I almost always have to play on Easy because I'm awful.

edit: just remembered that fighting games usually have a difficulty setting in their menus. For most fighters, I will pick Hard or Very Hard (whatever the second hardest one is). Soul Calibur 2 has been the only game in recent memory that I've been able to play on it's hardest difficulty.