Board 8 > What difficulty level do you typically play games on?

(+) Yeah! (+)

If your default is something like 'the easiest possible setting' then just pick Very Easy. If your default is 'the hardest possible setting' then go Very Hard.

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Normal 99.9% of the time
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Easy if I'm bad at or new to the genre (like for MGS or something)
Normal otherwise

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Usually normal unless it's Resident Evil. Then it's always the hardest.

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im kind of evenly split between normal and hard lately, it depends on the game
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Normal by default. Hard if I have some reason to believe the normal mode is for babies.

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Legendary for the Halo series. Otherwise Normal for everything else.

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tyder21 posted...

Legendary for the Halo series. Otherwise Normal for everything else.

my man

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Typically the hardest unless it's either not available from the outset or turns out to be something like God of War 2018 that really expects you to have a playthrough's worth of knowledge first.

I'm definitely at my happiest when I'm overcoming the absolute most a game can possibly throw at me, and I do my best to learn the mechanics inside and out for any game with a modicum of depth to it.

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Usually one step below the hardest difficulty.

If it's just Easy vs Normal vs Hard, I generally go with Normal.

If you throw in Very Easy and Very Hard to the selection, I'll probably go Hard.

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Recently I've been trying a thing here and there where I'll start on the hardest available and then bring it all the way down to easy when I reach a part that's taking me more than a few tries to beat if the game lets you change difficulty mid-game, and then turn it back up. That way I still get a challenge but I never hit brick walls, which I've learned over time can be demotivating for me just playing games in general and I'm trying to get through my backlog. But that's just something I'm starting to play around with, normally it's:

-Hardest available if it's a rhythm game
-Easy if it's an FPS/3PS
-Normal otherwise

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Most games are replayable enough that doing a Normal run initially is worth it even if it's easy.

That said for KH I usually go Proud because I don't really want to play something that long too often.

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I normally default to the highest possible that's not some sort of special run mode. This is especially true for shooters and more western or action styled rpgs. But less so for games with quick gameplay segments like fighting or racing as I'd have to learn more intricate things there first

Normal, then I move up to hard if it seems fun.

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Normal or Hard depending on the game.

Play however you want though, I'm not gonna judge.

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Normal on the first play to get the experience that the creators intended. Unless it's a series I'm very familiar with to the point where I'll know what kind of things will be adjusted, then I'll do Hard.

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I'll do hard mode first if it's anything more creative than "all the enemies have more stats lol", but it barely ever is so normal is the answer here.

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This is surprising to me. I can't believe so many people start on normal, especially here. I feel shame any time I have to bump the difficulty below the hardest

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MarkS222222222222222 posted...

This is surprising to me. I can't believe so many people start on normal, especially here. I feel shame any time I have to bump the difficulty below the hardest

Really depends on the game and why you are playing it. A game like halo or destiny the highest difficulty feels mandatory. But s lot of games like open world RPGs the combat isn't the draw so upping the difficulty doesn't improve the experience, and can even detract from it.

I've also found that a lot of games don't really play fair on the highest difficulty. And also have little to no ego when it comes to video game accomplishments lol. Beating a game is akin to finishing a book or movie to me at this point. At some point game design shifted in that direction and I've embraced it.

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MarkS222222222222222 posted...

This is surprising to me. I can't believe so many people start on normal, especially here. I feel shame any time I have to bump the difficulty below the hardest

This is me
But I'm playing through p5r right now and did hard instead of maniac or whatever because the way they made it "harder" is just not fun. If you hit a weakness you always one shot the shadow so it's almost impossible to recruit new personas. Not how I wanted to spend my time playing so I just noped out of that right away

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Unless its sports or racing.
Normal

Normal is usually too easy for sports and racing.

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Depends on the game. Usually Hard I guess but then games I know I'm going to replay and are of reasonable difficulty like DMC5 I'll start on normal.

Starting (or generally even playing) on easy is done under no circumstances, and starting on the hardest difficulty isn't done because that's total replay bait for me.

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Well I want to experience the game as it's meant to be played. Having said that, if it's meant to be butthole easy I'll make it harder.

To me, the difference between Beginner, Advanced, Expert, Master, and Perfectionist should be if you die in 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 hits respectively. The level design should be unaffected if it's a good game no matter what. I can do Expert in this scenario if the game is really fun but harder than that is annoying. Unless you can heal, then Master is fine but never Perfectionist. Unless you have revives, but that's dumb.

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Depends a lot on the game. If it's a game I'm good at, I play it at the highest difficult. If it's a game I'm not good at, then probably normal. If it's a game I'm AWFUL at, then the easiest difficulty.

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Whatever the trophy list requires of me

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Either Normal or Hard.

I'll start on Hard if it comes with the label "recommended for people familiar with this genre/series" and it's a genre/series I'm familiar with. I'll also start on Hard if the game has three default difficulties and Hard is the middle one (which usually means what they're calling "Normal" is actually Easy). Otherwise Normal.

If there's a "Very Hard" mode I won't start on that regardless, that's always for replays.

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Normal 99% of the time, unless it's something where anything less than the highest difficulty is almost an insult, like Guitar Hero.

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Normally usually. Will do hard occasionally if theres a trophy and its reasonable. Will switch to easy if its overly frustrating but still want to see the game through.


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MoogleKupo141 posted...

im kind of evenly split between normal and hard lately, it depends on the game

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normal if i'm hyped for a game

maybe easy if i think it's possible i'll bail after 30 minutes

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_stingers_ posted...

This is me
But I'm playing through p5r right now and did hard instead of maniac or whatever because the way they made it "harder" is just not fun. If you hit a weakness you always one shot the shadow so it's almost impossible to recruit new personas. Not how I wanted to spend my time playing so I just noped out of that right away

The pacing feels bad on most Persona games playing on difficulties higher than Easy. You spend a longass fucking time in the dungeons there because the experience and money drops are balanced to make you grind.
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I'd never a play an RPG on hard mode if it meant grinding for certain items for hours or hit a certain level before you can even progress.

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I generally play on hard/second hardest option, though there's a certain magic only the hardest difficulty generally gives

l think my favorite experiences in gaming are when you fight a very long, drawn-out and even battle that's balanced on a knife's edge the whole time. It's not close because the enemy is overpowered of gimmicky, they're just strong and if you fuck up, you're toast.

I got this a few times when playing Trails in the Sky 3rd in the highest difficulty (do not recommend without doing NG+ there's a lot of bullshit that outweighs this) or in Total War or other RTS games where I win the fight with 1% of my army still alive. It's a really incredible, surreal feeling starting with both sides having armies of thousands of men and ending up an hour later with thirty on either side desperately trying to get the final upper hand, where a Pyrrhic victory is still a victory.

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I find myself starting on hard majority off my games now. Worst case if it becomes too unbearable for whatever reason I'll put it back to normal.

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Normal. If I like the game though I will normally have a real go at trying to Plat it and that will normally involve doing harder difficulties.

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Nice, I was the 99th Normal voter. I wonder who will be #100

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I was #100. I try to get an idea if the difficulty is too low and will start on Hard if so, but I default to Normal. Also my philosophy on many games is that I'd rather play on a somewhat lower level and try to experience a more balanced view of the game. For instance, I know Trails of Cold Steel 2 is very easy to break, and people like to recommend starting on Hard or even Nightmare, but I would rather go the other way.

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Normal and if the game is hard even there, then on Easy.

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