Poll of the Day > there is no reason not to play on easy mode

(+) Yeah! (+)

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Let people play how they like

Easy mode is good for wanting the story in most games, and want a relaxing gaming experience

Harder modes if you want a challenge. Though Harder modes give some games more gameplay. Like Thief adds more goals in each level.

I think it depends on the games, like Skyrim I will never turn it off the easiest setting since the difficulty doesn't really make the game harder it just turns enemies into damage sponges which isn't enjoyable for me.

I hate when they lock achievements during easy mode

or make you played harder difficulties for achievements

Nah always start on the Default or 'Normal' mode...then if I'm really into the Game then Beat it on the Harder Modes...

But some games you need to play Easy Mode to unlock Achievements, Titles, Etc

FrozenBananas posted...

or make you played harder difficulties for achievements

Something like finish the game on Hard mode is fine. Doing so not unlocking trophies for lower difficulties can be annoying though.

In the Star Ocean games it's called Earth mode.

In SO3, the hardest difficulty is 4D Mode. The name makes you think you're navigating through a 4-dimensional space projected on a 2-dimensional surface but it's not nearly that cool.

I want to play on the hardest difficulty I can play and not get frustrated at.

Easy mode is fine. I wouldn't like a game being intentionally made easier, but an actual easy mode is okay

Pathetic.

most games just make enemies take way more damage, and deal more than you can

Lol easy mode you might as well watch a YouTube long play video

I usually start off on easy mode with new games and move up if it gets too easy (either mid game or the next play through)

I played your mum on easy mode.....

depends on how i want my experience to be

shit like RotTK or warhammer 2 where i suck at it? easy mode all day, maybe with some cheat engine so i can try really dumb shit. how many skeletons does it take to beat a well rounded dwarven artillery/missile composition? let's find out.

revengeance? im going to master this two minute boss fight on the hardest difficulty because damn it's fun and there's no consequences for losing

Generally, I find that higher difficulties than easy are more fun. That's enough of a reason for me to not play on easy mode. Others' mileage may vary, though, and those that get butthurt over the mere existence of an easy mode as though it somehow insults them are stupid.

I actually like a moderate to challenging experience. Games that you can play on autopilot are stupid boring and lose my interest very quickly.

FTL, darkest dungeon, and into the breach are a few of the only games I've played on easy mode. Darkest dungeon doesn't actually really get easier on easy mode it just makes you grind less to make the town buildings.

I will typically play games on normal mode, hard mode for most first person shooter games.

I get bored with games very very quickly if there isn't a threat of failure.

DocDelicious posted...

I get bored with games very very quickly if there isn't a threat of failure.

I bet you loved Prince of Persia 2008

Metalsonic66 posted...

I bet you loved Prince of Persia 2008

Was that the reboot one? Pretty sure that's the only game in the series I didn't play.

gotta have options

even be like utawarerumono original release, where it had multiple hard difficulties that were simply far too hard (and people eventually got around with tricks), and noone expected to clear half of the difficulties in the game

Literally no reason not to play on start menu difficulty mode. What's the point in even trying harder than that?

joemodda posted...

What's the point in even trying harder than that?

in action RPGs like tales games, fights that take 2 seconds aren't fun, and fights that take 2 minutes aren't fun too

finding the happy medium.... is game design

I don't care about other people's difficulty choices, true, and which level I prefer depends on each game. I think difficulty SLIDERS where you can change individual aspects of the game are better than preset modes, though; Xenoblade Chronicles 2's sliders were something I appreciated a lot in that game, and I think that slider systems to customize challenge to suit you just makes sense.

TLoU had a lot of stuff like that also

Gaawa_chan posted...

I don't care about other people's difficulty choices, true, and which level I prefer depends on each game. I think difficulty SLIDERS where you can change individual aspects of the game are better than preset modes, though; Xenoblade Chronicles 2's sliders were something I appreciated a lot in that game, and I think that slider systems to customize challenge to suit you just makes sense.

Refresh my memory, how did XC2's sliders work? I think those might have been a NG+ thing or something that got patched in after I finished the game, since I vaguely recall knowing about them, but I don't remember actually using them.

I do like sliders in general, though. Kid Icarus: Uprising was great in that regard, though it got a little frustrating having the Intensity drop by so much with every death. I also appreciate Sakurai taking the same approach to Smash, though it's not as meaningful there (mostly because Smash's single-player isn't interesting enough to keep me engaged through a difficulty progression). One of the best examples of the concept is Hades. Tweaking the difficulty so specifically was great.

Easy mode doesn't have enough action.

There's a reason why Casual Scenario is an option on Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection.
It's not easy mode. It's Fair mode. The games are so hard that they actually didn't make easy mode. They just toned the difficulty down, but it's still hard. Zero 1's last boss swept the floor with me about 18 times.

Hard on Hot Wheels Unleashed is too hard but Medium is not satisfying.

I hate that.

Wargroove has sliders for damage received, income, and special charge rate.

Easy mode is ridiculously easy in Witcher 3.

I always felt like plot and/or story was the reward for getting through difficult challenges, so easy mode feels like cheating. Like instead of going through college and working hard to get a good job you just have your parents pay for any and everything you want. Like, yea, same result, but no one should respect you for the latter.

It depends on the game for me. I generally play most games on whatever the default difficulty is. However, as I have gotten older and have less free time for games I do play some games on easy mode if I am just looking get through the game without too much frustration, or having to repeat parts from dying. I like an easy mode that still offers a little challenge, some dumb it down way to much for my tastes. I have 100% Hollow Knight, beat all the souls games so it is not that I can't overcome a challenge, I just don't always want the frustration.

Really depends on the game; there is a Ghost in the Shell game for the PS2 where the difficulty setting was super wonky and the game got easier to play on harder settings.

I don't know if anyone else here has played it, but the controls on the easy settings are wonky but get smoother when you up the difficulty; started off on easy and was constantly pinned down, couldn't get any of the hacks right, always getting killed in the first five minutes of the first level, upped the difficulty to max and all of a sudden I'm wall jumping, hacking everything and 360 no scoping all the bad guys.

I don't really enjoy overt difficulty or games that are hard "cause it's fun to die a million times before beating one area".

I got enough struggles in my everyday life, I don't need to come home and be stressed out while playing games, as well. It defeats the entire purpose of why I play games; to relax and enjoy myself.

So, whatever the "normal" dev intended difficulty is I usually play that.

By that logic, there's no reason not to play normal or hard mode. I've tried easy mode on a few games that are challenging or hard. Holy shit it was boring.

If I want an easy and relaxing game, I'll purposely play one of those instead.

i like getting really drunk and playing games on easy mode

Dikitain posted...

I always felt like plot and/or story was the reward for getting through difficult challenges, so easy mode feels like cheating.

This mentality has always seemed pretty silly to me. People play games to have fun. That fun - story included - isn't something that has to be "earned" or treated as a "reward." It's the fundamental point of the activity. For some, overcoming those challenges is part of that fun, but that's no more or less legitimate than people who have more fun mindlessly button mashing their way through the story. The only person you can "cheat" in a single-player game is yourself.

Dikitain posted...

I always felt like plot and/or story was the reward for getting through difficult challenges, so easy mode feels like cheating. Like instead of going through college and working hard to get a good job you just have your parents pay for any and everything you want. Like, yea, same result, but no one should respect you for the latter.

It really doesn't matter how you got to a place, as long as you don't act like like you're superior for getting there a certain way.

Just because someone took a harder route doesn't mean they "are more deserving" of a position or station.

adjl posted...

This mentality has always seemed pretty silly to me. People play games to have fun. That fun - story included - isn't something that has to be "earned" or treated as a "reward." It's the fundamental point of the activity. For some, overcoming those challenges is part of that fun, but that's no more or less legitimate than people who have more fun mindlessly button mashing their way through the story. The only person you can "cheat" in a single-player game is yourself.

Sure, I understand that. But for me gameplay is fun, and rewards are the reason I play a game. If all I cared about was the story, I would rather read a summary or watch a Let's Play. Basically what I did with Resident Evil 6 because there was no way in hell I was subjecting myself to that game's frustrations after 5.

I could see people not liking trying the same section of a game 10-20 times, training yourself to be good enough to get through it. However, I think the feeling of actually getting through a tough section in a game far outweighs the frustrations you felt getting there. It is the reason retro games are so popular still, just aren't as many modern games that let you have that feeling anymore.

GanonsSpirit posted...

Wargroove has sliders for damage received, income, and special charge rate.

I think this is the worst application of difficullty theres is. The devolopers should know the game's systems best and make their difficulties instead of leaving it up to the player.

dioxxys posted...

I think this is the worst application of difficullty theres is. The devolopers should know the game's systems best and make their difficulties instead of leaving it up to the player.

Terrible take. They designed it around hard mode and gave the sliders to make it easier or harder.

agesboy posted...

depends on how i want my experience to be

shit like RotTK or warhammer 2 where i suck at it? easy mode all day, maybe with some cheat engine so i can try really dumb shit. how many skeletons does it take to beat a well rounded dwarven artillery/missile composition? let's find out.

revengeance? im going to master this two minute boss fight on the hardest difficulty because damn it's fun and there's no consequences for losing

Basically this.

I saved scrummed and turned down the settings on Sunless Skies with zero shame, mostly because it already took 80+ hours before I wanted to finish the game, and it's not a rogue-like done well, so dying and REALLY set you back far.

I like it when games have none of their achievements tied to difficulty settings, because then I can set my own pace without missing out on something no one cares that I got. Some content is more fun when set harder, and some content I just want to get through and be done with. If you like to play easy through any amount of any number of games, then have at it; it won't affect the rest of us.

Sometimes I like a challenge

BlackScythe0 posted...

I think it depends on the games, like Skyrim I will never turn it off the easiest setting since the difficulty doesn't really make the game harder it just turns enemies into damage sponges which isn't enjoyable for me.

One of the earlier Stalker games on PC did this, but in reverse. They made it where if you pick easy, good news is that it takes a shit load of bullets to kill your character, bad news is that it takes a shit load of bullets to kill each enemy (they become annoying bullet sponges). This results in ammo being wasted and having to go search for more ammo, making the game far more annoying. It's actually somewhat easier and more fun to turn up the difficulty in that game. While it's easier for your character to die, it's much easier and quicker to kill enemies as they die much faster and you waste much less ammo.

GanonsSpirit posted...

Terrible take. They designed it around hard mode and gave the sliders to make it easier or harder.

Not really if you really think about it.

The developers are intimate with their games systems and understand what would make their own game harder or easier. Leaving a bunch of sliders to the player to determine their own difficulty is worse off because that assumes that the player is familiar enough with the game systems in the first place. And if the player is familiar with those game's systems, then they probably didn't need to make it easier in the first place.

Though of course not all games are balanced well in the first place when easy or hard modes are tacked on, especially where all they do is give the enemies more health.

I think a game that benefits sliders most would be an open world sandbox wear sliders affect resources or enemy spawns. Don't Starve applied this really well.

dioxxys posted...

The developers are intimate with their games systems and understand what would make their own game harder or easier. Leaving a bunch of sliders to the player to determine their own difficulty is worse off because that assumes that the player is familiar enough with the game systems in the first place. And if the player is familiar with those game's systems, then they probably didn't need to make it easier in the first place.

Ah yes, a player must read the source code to determine that they could beat a level if they had more money.

I wanted to have a discussion but I think you're purposely being close-minded and argumentative, so whatever bye.

Dikitain posted...

Sure, I understand that. But for me gameplay is fun, and rewards are the reason I play a game. If all I cared about was the story, I would rather read a summary or watch a Let's Play. Basically what I did with Resident Evil 6 because there was no way in hell I was subjecting myself to that game's frustrations after 5.

I could see people not liking trying the same section of a game 10-20 times, training yourself to be good enough to get through it. However, I think the feeling of actually getting through a tough section in a game far outweighs the frustrations you felt getting there. It is the reason retro games are so popular still, just aren't as many modern games that let you have that feeling anymore.

That's all well and good, but that just means you find it unsatisfying to progress through games that lack challenge, not that playing on easy is "cheating." As I said, some people find difficulty fun. Some people don't. Neither is any more or less legitimate than the other; people should just play their (single-player) games however they most enjoy them.

dioxxys posted...

Not really if you really think about it.

The developers are intimate with their games systems and understand what would make their own game harder or easier. Leaving a bunch of sliders to the player to determine their own difficulty is worse off because that assumes that the player is familiar enough with the game systems in the first place. And if the player is familiar with those game's systems, then they probably didn't need to make it easier in the first place.

On the flip side, different players have different playstyles and strengths, and having multiple adjustable variables lets them tailor the difficulty to produce the most enjoyable experience for them, rather than being stuck with pre-designed difficulty settings where certain aspects are more frustrating than enjoyable. That's not to say cohesive, well-designed difficulty settings are inherently worse than open-ended, customizable ones, but both approaches certainly have merits.