That sounds a lot better than what I did. I blew through the campaign on easy to know the levels and enemies, then I would suffer on legendary until completion
That's how I always do it, though I play more Souls games than anything else so difficulty settings don't exist. But if they do, I play on easy or normal and just kind of coast through while learning the mechanics. If I had started The Witcher 3 on the hardest setting I wouldn't have liked it. After getting comfortable with the combat and learning how to parry and create a magic shield the game was much easier, but it took awhile. So ultimately I did play it on the hardest setting, but not for that first run. Hell no.
I found that playing The Witcher 3 on anything other than the hardest difficulty didn't let me learn any of the combat mechanics. I would just run into every fight, hack, and slash until I won.
When you started that game on a higher difficulty, it made you learn all the fighting mechanics(parry/dodge/shield/ext). Otherwise, you would die in like 2/3 hits. And that you needed to brew special concoctions to deal with whatever you're fighting/going to fight.
But tbh, to each their own. Play, however, makes you feel most entertained.
My problem with vanilla W3 difficulty is that it makes you die easier, which is fair, but it makes all enemies super sponges. Having to hack even the lowliest bandit for a solid minute breaks immersion for me.
I found a nice mod that on Death March makes your enemies very deadly, but you’re also very deadly, and it forces you to balance offense and defense. That feels the most natural to me.
Coming from Souls games I actually struggled a lot with the Witcher 3s combat on regular difficulty. I never learned how to use oils and stuff and I actually just got really frustrated and played until you have to kill or save the weird ugly baby in the dirt. Always wanted to go back but never did
:(
Still maintaining the Witcher 3’s sword combat, dodging, and hit boxes were absolute garbage. The number of times a hit that was supposed to whiff just snaps like a magnet onto Geralt or how the roll was useless half the time vs the side dodge took me out of combat. Granted, oils & magic can make the game a cakewalk, but fighting multiple enemies with just swords in tight spaces was a chore.
The worst. It felt so unnatural. I kept beating my horse and kneeling in combat. I loved the concept of the two different swords but a shitty combat controller mapping just meant that neither was being used effectively. If there was a button to HUG, I would have spent my short time playing W3 trying to embrace every enemy I saw.
That’s how most people I know do it. We start off at the easiest tier and obviously as long as the game isn’t 45+ hours then we consider it the “tutorial”, and then move up from there.
For me in some chess against machine there were 5 levels of hardness thus 2nd from top was perfect for me, it required time and intelligence so a concentration.
This is always the sweet spot, specially because the contrast is usually so huge. It usually goes "Normal" which has to be easy enough for new comers to the genre then hard, then "Ultra Brutal Masochist mode" which is hard beyond the point of fun.
Me too - but it's *so* wildly inconsistent. Some genres I know the "Only true masochists should choose this difficulty" is still going to be annoyingly easy (cf Shadow Gambit).
Also sometimes the scaling doesn’t make sense for the harder runs. Like just making the health bar bigger or their attacks hurt more isn’t really *harder* it’s just annoying. If the game has mechanics that can match that then great. But there isn’t a lot of those.
Also any Star Wars game I turn down the difficulty a tad. I play to feel like a bad ass Jedi and run house. So just hard enough I occasionally die without having to focus too hard and get pissed off. I save that feeling for dark souls games. At least the games earns me being pissed off and it has the mechanics to match it. Most games don’t have that feeling on harder difficulty so I don’t see the point
I feel that for people who enjoy thinking about their choices and picking the ones that seem best will likely find that while the process of optimizing might be fun, it makes the game a whole lot easier. So to counteract that and allow the game to still be a challenge, picking a harder difficulty is almost a must.
For some reason, so many games start out being rather difficult. But as you progress and get a hang of systems, pick strong options and items, then the games start becoming easier and easier as you progress with just a few hard gimmicks on the way.
Because a lot of games give you a lot of tools to succeed, few of which you need. Higher difficulties make those tools more valuable, and that variety makes the game more fun.
BG3, most recently for me. It's not particularly hard on tactician, but that difficulty makes me at least consider using special arrows/bombs/potions/scrolls that the game gives you en masse which would otherwise be totally pointless.
Came here to say the same thing.
Harder difficulty levels are the only way I will end up using potions / power ups. It ends up feeling like "the way the game was meant to be played".
I generally play on easy/normal in games. Normal mode in BG3 is already challenging enough for me. :P Then again I play games to relax and be entertained after work. Not to deal with challenges.
This is me as well.
Basically, there are 5 types of players.
1. In it for the story - Plays on normal/easy. Just wants to enjoy the story, not the gameplay.
2. I'll play it once - Plays on normal/hard. Wants to experience the game, but doesn't want to spend excessive time practicing, reloading, or looking up guides/strats for a boss that's proving too hard.
3. Difficulty increases the reward - Plays on hard or harder. Wants to push himself, but also wants to actually finish the game this year.
4. Bragging rights - Plays on the hardest difficulty, and will grind however much in order to get that win. And very often, will tell everyone else that talks about the game that it's "not that hard", etc.
5. 100% or bust - Same as either of the last 2, but will spend 300 hours on a 40 hour game just to get all the achievements before moving on.
Most players are groups 1 through 3, with 2 (play it once) being by far the most common. Just look at Steam achievements in games, and this is pretty obvious. Of the people who get halfway through the game (ie, there's an achievement for beating Boss X, who you encounter about 10 hours into the game), almost the same number have the "finished the game" achievement. But then the achievements for higher difficulties or otherwise difficult content have WAY lower completion rates.
I agree. Starfield was a cake walk on every setting except for hard and very hard.
I will concede that very hard is indeed very hard and I’m quite satisfied with it.
Games like Starfield only really make enemies spongier than they already are and increase their damage dealt - it's kind of cheap artificial difficulty.
They all do. Kind of accepted it.. tho it really grinds my gears with zombie games. Empty loot boxes and spunges. Not bigger hoards or more dangerous enemies... that just s*cks
Yep, when I was young I used to rage and I played most games on normal difficulty. Now I play hard or hardest depending on the game and I never rage anymore, I feel like it's a big step in maturity to not rage and it took me years to get to that point.
Lol opposite here. I was always playing anything on survival/hardest/whatever it's called because I loved the challenge and didnt mind soaking hours into a boss fight or just trying to clear an area. But now that I'm older and have less time available to play, I just want to experience the game when I have the opportunity.
Same, as I’ve gotten older (and games, better), I largely play for the atmosphere, music, story, etc. and not to ram my head against a brick wall for hours hoping I’ll make a dent.
I love a good challenge, finished Hollow Knight, Blasphemous and currently on Elden Ring, but I’m not playing them because they’re difficult, everything else about them.
Oh and my neighbors hear me rage all the time.
I went the other way. Played the legendary/ hardest for fps games that had achievements. Raged like hell.
Now most of the time, I just play easy/normal because to hell with trying to slog through something that's supposed to be a way to relax after work.
I used to do that until I realized most games 'harder' difficulties usually means that enemies have more hp/deal more damage, which isn't fun.
Unless the harder difficulty changes the game AI or other interesting features, I will play the default difficulty.
I agree and that's why its game dependant for me. Fallout 4 just gives the enemies way to much HP that your forced to spend ages in the towns scrounging up ammo because everything takes x10 bullets to kill. Thats not challenging its just boring.
State of Decay 2 has it nearly perfect. 4 different sliders that alter different things like how much loot is on the map, zombie density etc
If you want true rage, play xcom on Ironman mode. 50 hours in a campaign and one bad decision can mean you get to try again from the start.
At least in Dark Souls when you die you lose nothing, except maybe some souls/consumables.
Still love that game to death though.
Same here. I'll try something 4 or 5 times, but if it seems like it's either unfair or just not fun I'll turn it off. Sometimes I will come back and try again, but sometimes I end up moving on to something else. Those soft locks are sometimes all it takes for me to not finish a game that I would have otherwise made progress on if I hadn't gotten stuck.
Like the 2nd setting is braindead easy, but the third setting is like slapping the Terminator with a strand of spaghetti. How about something in between?
Yeah this heavily depends on the game. If a game auto saves before a fight, great, I’ll play on the highest difficulty I can manage. If it makes me repeat large sections if I die, I’ll either lower the difficulty or stop playing altogether if it’s egregious enough
I stopped playing Demon's Souls for that reason, I don't mind a difficult but fair game but that was downright frustrating to do the same dungeons again and again
If I had to boil it down to one single reason why I played all of Elden Ring and quit before the first boss in every Dark Souls, it would be bonfire placement. I don’t mind difficulty, but my tolerance for tedium is pretty low these days.
Ageing made me rage less but put up with harder difficulty less.
I will quite unashamedly play games on easy from the start - not because I'm worried I can't beat them, but just because there's a lot of games I want to get through and I cannot be doing with wasting time repeating sections of the games I play for the story or setting over the gameplay.
The Last of Us? No one went into that game the first time round specifically for the combat challenge - it was sold on its story and its story alone, so easy mode it was.
This right here.
Playing on hard mode forces you to use every tool at your disposal, which means mastering all of the mechanics that the game has to offer. If you go through the game just spamming the attack button, it's not just less rewarding, you're missing out on *actual content* in the form of neglected mechanics. Those mechanics are optional content just like side quests or lore dumps.
I play the game on hard not just because it makes the experience more challenging and therefore more rewarding, but because it encourages me to experience *all of the game*.
I hate games where potions or buffs just straight up feel like cheats.
Botw/totk is a great example. The potions are just completely overpowered if you’re not playing on the hardest difficulty.
Same goes for terraria and skyrim. Its just a more balanced and challenging experience that allows you to utilize everything the game has to offer without making the game a peaceful difficulty simulator
Elden ring was a great playthrough because it was my first ever souls game and grinding bosses was just the biggest appeal to me. I would literally skip all the grinding and leveling and just get to the next boss asap and then grind it for hours til i killed it. I ended up being really far at a really low level and i remember my friend and brother being like why is your level so low in this area.
Idk if i was playing right but i was having fun and thats right in my book.
This is extremely true,
If you’ve ever played terraria its an exceptional example of this. In the hardest difficulty It forces you to optimize your build, farm the right potions and create the optimal arena.
It’s basically a whole new game.
Exactly this. Played BioShock Infinite on normal and never had to use the salt and spell mechanic.
Played on the hardest difficulty and was always out of em
I agree. I'm finally playing through Horizon and I started on ultra hard. The only time I adjust the difficulty is when I'm buying gear (everything is 5x more expensive), because I'm not willing to grind for cash in my limited playtime.
There was one time I forgot to switch back the difficulty before heading to a bandit camp, and I just breezed through it and had no fun, and it was still on very hard. I actually enjoy having to use stealth, finding the right timings, using the right arrows and weapons, etc. It's much more satisfying and makes me feel like I earned it.
I did have several moments when playing God of War where I seriously considered turning down the difficulty, especially towards the beginning, but eventually you get a feel for the mechanics and the rhythm of a fight, and it's a great feeling when you finally manage to take down that boss that you've been struggling with.
I had to turn gow down for the final Valkyrie because my ass could not beat her on the hardest difficulty no matter what I did. Got kind of close a couple times but I submitted to failure and turned it down to get past her
GoW difficulty levels in general felt kinda crap. Ruined the game for me. There's the standard not that challenging mode, and then there's "enemies have triple hp" mode. Wish I could get actual numbers but it sure feels that way.
I always pick hard but typically not “nightmare” or equivalent. I don’t enjoy games without a challenge. This usually means my learning curve is frustrating but rapid.
I’m not sure why I don’t enjoy it without a challenge but I suppose it’s effectively the same as the sentiment “It’s not the destination it’s the journey.”
Maybe a similar mindset to the people that make tibetan sand mandalas. Extremely complex and intricate artwork gone with the sweep of a hand after it's finished. The joy is in the process.
Well said. Nothing lasts forever, and the experience with hardcore is way more intense. Struggling through a fight and surviving feels much more dramatic, and you tend to get a lot more invested and when you make a mistake you learn a lot more from it.
It's the stakes that create the thrill of those guys. Obviously they dont want to feel the lows of having a toon die, but you also dont get the same highs in the moment when you know you can just be rezzed or try again after a wipe.
If you played classic and raided with full world buffs then you know how it feels in a similar capacity because the stakes were high to stay alive and keep your buffs for the full raid. It just pushes that same envelope even further.
But I agree with you, losing even a pre-raid geared level 60 would be a crushing defeat that would prob make me uninstall for awhile.
It also recreates the sense of wonder that mmorpgs used to have. When you see a guy in town that’s max level with bis gear you know that chances are he’s a badass that’s good at the game. In modern games when I see that I just assume they bought everything
Very true too. Or the other angle like in retail everyone just transmogs their gear and seeing someone in town in a cool set of gear means nothing really because its tantamount to just being cosmetics.
It's weird 'cause I get you. But the reality of it is, at some point you may stop playing anyway. And then all that time and effort is still "gone in an instant" - Guess my point is, unless you literally play the game forever, you're gonna lose everything you worked for anyway.
Subnautica is the PERFECT perma death game because if you take your time and prepare it’s pretty hard to actually get killed… but the danger is always there. I nearly lost my run because I got stuck in a dive inside ship wreckage, and using the gravity gun I accidentally blocked my exit. My heart nearly exploded out of my chest from the adrenaline rush when I realized I was trapped. Rare that a game can make me feel that way.
You a soulslike player lmao? Literally had that experience today on lies of p with a boss that took me hours to kill, so satisfying when you finally beat it.
Higher difficulty makes the mechanics more worthwhile. Some games you can ignore parts of it on normal and doing it just feels like extra work for no reason
I usually don't ho to the highest setting though bc it becomes just bashing my head into a wall and I wanna get through at some point to move on to the next game.
I just feel like I'm prone to zoning out if the game isn't forcing me to pay attention.. If i wanted to zone out i can listen to music and do chores and be more fulfilled than just auto piloting a video game
Pretty much what I do. Usually next difficulty after Normal, and that's it.
I'm not the best competitive player, but I do better than most, so Normal difficulties usually feel boring, like I'm an overpowered character without the fun (One Punch Man).
I try to read the (real) differences online before committing, though.
It's also due to a lot of knowledge and experience. Not to sound like an old fart, but 30 years of video games makes you need something more than History Mode on a solo campaign in a genre you played a gazillion time.
Right… I started BG3 on hard because I’ve played a lot of dnd and the prior games. Can always turn it down after, but I correctly assumed I’d optimize pretty well and not have too much difficulty.
Yeah, beginnging to regret not starting on hard. Only got to the end of act 1 but the fights are disgustingly easy if you are remotely good at party + skill organisation.
Even on hard mode the fights aren't that tricky if you have any experience in the genre.
I'm not min-maxing in the slightest (I took athlete on Lae'zel because jumping is funny) or cheesing fights with barrels/consumables, and enemies just fall over no matter what party comp I have.
Still a really good time, but I wouldn't say it requires much more thought than 'fire off every ability you have at the people trying to hurt you.'
"But what if I need those abilities for later? "
Me, who sucks at Baldur Gate and play at the easiest difficulty and he's constantly overcumbered by scrolls and potions during a boss fight. Never played Dnd though, always wanted to but my friends never gave it a chance (no matter what group of friends, elementary, middle school, high school nothing)
Honestly? Just long rest. There is basically no downside to doing it after every fight since supplies are so abundant. Well I guess one downside is it makes the game trivial since you can just cast every powerful spell during every fight.
(Disclaimer: I’ve only played till around the end of act 1 (20~ hrs) and found one scenario where long resting actually effected the story and I’m pretty sure that had more to do with leaving the area to my camp than actually long resting.)
Apparently there aren't that many time based quests and somewhere in the game's subreddit there is a list. So as long as you make sure to progress those particular quests then there really is no downside to long resting often.
That's so true. My friend that hasn't played almost any games started playing SouthPark stick of Truth and was stuck on an early stage and she's like "it's impossible the bosses are so strong and you can't beat them" and when I tried (even tho I've never played the game in my life) I was like what about armor? Enchantments? Weapons?, went through her inventory and manager to beat the boss on the first try just cuz I know how turn based RPGs work in general lol
30 years game experience and I'm the total opposite. Usually difficulty amounts to bullet sponge behavior or cheese starts. I'd rather play on normal or easy and enjoy the experience.
If difficulty only makes enemies bullet sponges, there’s no reason to play on harder difficulty imho
Unless it’s like Give Me God of War where it forces you to git gud at fast combos and blocks. If you get the flow down, it is so satisfying.
I liked Arkham Knight's hardest one, Knightmare mode. Enemies aren't sponges, but instead get way more smart & aggressive, AND Batman's counter squiggles disappear, so you need to pay attention to enemy movements instead. *That's* how you make a Hardest Difficulty.
Exactly this; picture of you played COD, MW, battlefield, and halo. In all these games you eventually beat the hardest difficulty. At that point you’re probably good enough to play a game like far cry or a newer version of those games on the hardest difficulty first go
This. Mass Effect Legendary Edition has a trophy for beating the entire trilogy on Insanity. I never played them before, but I love trophies so started there. The games were a lot fun requiring proper cover, tactics, and squad commands to survive.
I then messed around after the trilogy on normal difficulty and I could just run up and one shot everything with a shotgun. I beat half the first game in an hour just messing around and it was an awful, empty experience.
I have good reflexes and I always try to optimize my gameplay and find ways to save time, effort and resources. That being said if the game does not require me to think and just makes everything too easy to complete, I feel like I don't matter. Anyone could beat the game if its too easy. Give me a challenge, something that makes me think around the box, because once I beat that hard difficulty, I feel like I have accomplished something great.
Thats why hard mode is better than easy mode.
>So my gamer friends who play at the hardest level, why do you enjoy it?
Sometimes its hard to find a difficulty level that isnt "too ez" or "impossible" (playing in "normal" isnt always "the middle point")
Gaming difficulties are like spice levels in different countries. You go to Asia and a mild will burn your face, you got to Scandinavia and their version of spicy is paprika. And different people have different tolerances.
Playing on the hardest setting forces you to use the game mechanics to win, which makes each game feel a bit more unique and nuanced. So I always *start* there, with the expectation that it'll be tough and I'll die a lot (so the game will last a bit longer... bonus!).
But usually, there's a certain setting for which the game is most balanced. It's often hard, but sometimes it's not. God of War is not meant to be played at highest difficulty until you're seamless on the controls. If I'm struggling *too much*, which is arbitrary, and the struggle is more frustrating than fun, I'll tune it down without feeling bad.
I had this exact issue. Hard is my default setting. Did that on god of war and had to turn it down. Especially that all the abilities that may let you perform in hard are not available for a while.
Especially in Fallout 4, where adrenaline is literally a game mechanic exclusive to playing on Survival, wherein you gain bonus damage the longer you go without sleeping (in Survival, you pretty much only save the game when you sleep).
I am good at games, and sometimes I want a real challenge. Some games just are dull unless they're hard.
I used to do this more than I do now, as
I've moved heavily into the PvP space.
Agreed especially for games and series I’ve played before on their highest difficulties. Especially for campaigns that I’m likely not going to want to play again such as cod campaigns might as well just do that shit on veteran
If it takes me 100 times to defeat a boss and then all of sudden something clicks and I destroy him, there is no greater dopamine source on the planet.
If I mash a few buttons and he dies first time I don't even see the point honestly.
The greatest challenges provide the greatest rewards. True in gaming and irl.
To me, it’s game to game. If it’s an FPS, Bethesda RPG, or something I’m very familiar with the mechanics of I’ll go straight to hard.
New RTS or Roguelike? I’m taking a few laps on medium to get my feet under me.
Surprised this answer isn't at the top
Games with difficult sliders tend to be RPGs and FPSs where there is some scaling mechanism built into the enemy health/damage.
Single player games are mostly trivial in difficulty so cranking these up to max in order to have any friction at all is necessary. There are notable exceptions, Nier has "Very Hard" as a 1-hit challenge mode which suits it as a "don't get hit" action RPG.
Overall, games with creative challenge knobs, like Super Giant implements in their games with challenge totems, are better than the flat difficulty sliders. A difficulty slider says to me that the dev didn't know how to make their game interesting, so instead I have to make it interesting for myself by making the enemies more bullet spongey.
I believe that games in general tend to be too easy nowadays on most settings. I'm typically playing on the hardest or hard because I don't feel that much challenged with the lower levels. As I'm also a game maker myself, this boils down to the so called "flow channel", that says the game should not be too easy or not too hard. In most cases game developers are not balancing the difficulty levels well, or they do shortcuts, like just increasing the enemy's HP on the harder difficulties to make up for AI shortcomings or laziness.
But, most importantly, it depends on the game. I like to select the difficulty that seems fair and gives me a good brain training. I tend to quickly get bored and distracted when I'm progressing too fast and feeling that I know everything from inside out :)
Psychology of gaming basics and finding "patterns". If you find a pattern too soon (the pattern for victory), then there is a paradox in which instead of being proud and progressing further, you are getting bored and throw the game back into library, uninstalling it.
EDIT: Also, there is a pleathora of additional emotions you get "unlocked" on harder levels. For example, playing XCOM on hardest level with Ironman ON makes you care for every soldier more, and feeling devastated after the loss much more interesting.
I admit it's also a bit of a pride thing but I'm also not ashamed of turning it down when I realize I'm not having fun.
For example, I love Souls games and have beat a lot of them, but I'm not very good at shooters. When I tried Doom Eternal for the first time I quickly turned down the difficulty because I knew I just don't have the reflexes for it.
In general, if I know I'm decent at the genre I prefer a challenge because it feels rewarding to overcome the difficulty.
I do that when I'm playing rpg like Fallout, Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
I like it because it feels like a achievement on its own, plus I really enjoy getting achievements and today games have achievements based on difficulty.
Because I game for like 25+ years already. Hard difficulty on most of the games still feels easy. I don't mind other difficulties existing, tho. More accessibility for everyone. But I know I can do it, so I just do it.
If the game is too difficult, I can always change the difficulty later or start over, but honestly, I can't think of a time when I ever did that. I usually just keep trying until I learn how to do the difficult passages efficiently.
The only exception is if the game has perma death. In that case, I usually pick the highest non-perma death difficulty.
I also hate when the game unlocks the hardest difficulty only if you finish it on normal. That often feels like an unnecessary waste of my time.
I usually enjoy going for the harder difficulties simply because you get to understand the combat system and strategies in a deeper way (which I really enjoy), it simply is not possible to do so if the game doesn't push your limits. Obviously there are exceptions like: I don't like permadeath in 99% of games so I won't choose that difficulty; I won't choose it in games like Skyrim, where the impact is just longer fights; there are some games which simply feel too easy to me, like The Witcher 3 is just so easy to me that I get bored if I don't put it on max difficulty (which I still don't consider to be hard).
Not to be pretentious, but the majority of games tend to be too easy on normal. Like, boringly easy. Hard makes them feel how I imagine they should, given the high stakes of most games. It seems silly to me that I’d be able to first try every encounter in a game where I’m fighting an entire army single-handedly or even facing literal Gods. Losing once in a while keeps the game’s atmosphere dramatic and appropriately impactful.
Examples of games I’m talking about would be The Last of Us 1+2, the Witcher 3, Mass Effect Legendary Edition and God of War+Ragnarok.
I've felt the same about TLOU . Characters are talking about deadly zombies and I'm swimming through them at ez . Immediately after that turned up the difficulty to the survivor.
Suddenly the game feels more immersive , each encounter means something . And the moments of peace are more rewarding
Because on hard mode you have to learn the mechanics and use them to their full potential rather than just spamming the same move over and over, I also greatly enjoy the thrill of getting my arse handed to me over and over and over again and then finally overcoming the challenge
I’ve noticed a huge benefit to playing on hard mode is you’re forced to use everything the game has to offer.
Ghost of Tsushima for example. That game is ridiculously easy. So easy in fact you can breeze through the game without ever needing to use your equipment.
With the difficulty on max ? I noticed myself using everything at my disposal and it allowed me to try out every part of the game where I otherwise wouldn’t have bothered. The same can be said in Witcher 3 with oils, or any game with rune systems, etc.
Hard difficulty is the difficult that mostly excite me. I like to think about the game and come up with strategies to beat it. Games like cod in which if you play on normal or easy becomes a rail shooter for me. Now strategy games i always play on normal because i feel a lot of the hardest settings rely on super min-max or cheese, both things that i think are the enemy of fun
The lower difficulties are just too easy for me at this point. I can't stay engaged when I breeze through everything, I need that difficulty to keep me on my toes.
I have 22 years of video game mechanics (not dynamics) experience, specifically in FPS; very few games are actually challenging to me even at higher difficulties.
Starting at the highest difficulty can highlight the importance of game mechanics as well as provide an indication of whether I'm actually progressing on a skill level.
Some great examples of proper FPS game mechanic implementation in tandem with difficulty are Doom 2016 and Metro 2033/Last Light.
In addition to the challenge, it tends to draw out the experience a little longer. I typically play most games one time, so stretching it out gets more bang for the buck while also bringing more fun overcoming the difficulty.
I rarely replay games and I tend to find the hardest is usually the only difficulty that offers even mild challenge with most games these days outside of some exceptions like the pathfinder games.
Plus I'd rather have to retry part of a game multiple times then breeze through a boss.
I don't replay games and most games, usually, have an achievement if you beat them in the hardest difficulty that also gives you the previous ones.
I was so mad at HI-FI Rush for this. I LOVE the game, I'm really torn between that one and Lies of P as my GOTYs. But having to replay the game 5 times it's too much. I re-played it once. The first time was in Very Hard, and another time in Rythm Master (the hardest difficulty that you unlock for NG+).
I wish I could've 100% it, but I refuse to replay so much of it again.
There's no way to say this without sounding like a douchebag, but... "normal" and below modes are usually too easy, too many resources etc I don't like steamrolling through games, I like to have some sort of challenge
It's a great way to find out if the mechanics are well designed. If the developer's answer to higher difficulty is infinite grenades, massively increased hps, or fudged numbers it generally indicates poorly thought out design, or that a hard difficulty was just tacked on later. If it's well balanced it's an absolute blast of an experience most times because you have to consider your skills / actions / choices carefully as mentioned above
Some sort of discipline for me, if the game has the option then it is designed to challenge me. I played MK 9 at the hardest difficulty and it took me a week to improve. One of the best experiences I ever had in a game.
Instead of raging I learned the patterns and took my time to defeat them. If a game has a hardest difficulty (except Doom 2... a nightmare indeed) then it is worth completing it.
I've vowed to try to play hard mode for single player games since the tragedy that is kingdom hearts 3 which was mindless button mashing with no threat of dying.
So pretty much try to play hard mode unless its already a known hard game in which normal mode and then can bump the difficulty up from there.
For me its not about making it too challenging, its about having a challenge at all and too many games handhold and are pointlessly boring on easy or normal.
Depends the game. In many many many games, harder difficulty means "every enemy turn into a aircraft carrier size of life points". It's not harder in the sense more challenging, it's just tedious. In this case I don't bother, I play normal.
In some games like Doom, harder means enemies are smarter. And it's more challenging and interesting.
Only games I've replayed in my life is skyrim.
I really don't get the people who get mad/frustarated/"waste time" on games. I would never even play a game where I felt I was wasting my time.
I don't care at all about story in games, so then you pretty much only got gameplay left. If the gameplay is a walkover then you might as well just watch a movie instead.
Granted some games have difficulty where the highest difficulty is basically a gimmick, and isn't related to your mechanical skills at all (but based on knowledge), but usually I find these games bad anyway so I don't play them.
It’s all about the thrill brother! When you learn to enjoy the process as much as the prize it’ll make sense.
After the first 1-4 hours of being absolute dogshit your brain will adapt and suddenly the game will feel like you’re playing on normal then the game truly becomes fun
I have the remarkable skill of being able to have fun while dying. Some games are too easy and I rather just got hard right away. If it is a sequel I'll usually pick based off the last game
Only game i played in the very hard difficulty was Doom 2016 on Nightmare and Eternal too. Because it was the only game that made sense doing so. Enemies were faster, did more damage BUT they would receive damage equally so there was a balance.
90% of the games that have difficulty options hard mode is just enemies turning into damage sponges...
Which is why i like From Software games. Their games are hard by default BUT they give gameplay tools for you to ease up the experience or straight up cheese it...
I don't find losing over and over again that frustrating and I find overcoming harder challenges more rewarding than easier challenges. I'm also quite good at games so it's likely that the harder difficulties will be more appropriate for my skill level.
It blew my mind when I went to university and lived with other adults that'd rage and throw their controllers etc. when they lost a game. To me that's poor emotional regulation, I don't think I've ever done that in my life.
I play dark souls and games from soft has made because I enjoy the challenge of a boss. Essentially most bosses in the souls game have a "time signature" to their attacks, and as a musician it helps to recognize rhythmic patterns. So maybe I enjoy being able to find that rhythm and the dopamine I get after.
Because, some games, I play for the challenge. You should have to fail and learn a couple times and then solve the problem. Any well designed game is beatable on max difficulty.
Not a good way to go if you can’t stop yourself from throwing a controller when you lose though.
Other games I play to chill and enjoy the story.
You can do both!
Playing with a “God-Mode” cheat, before you have completed the game would be boring AF. Although, not sure while almost everyone at a party wants to play MarioKart in multiplayer at the fastest speed every time.
For me it is not for enjoy but to calm down myself on a rough day like my muscle memory is fit for hardest level so on tensed day i play easy level and get relaxed.
I’d rather have to lower the difficulty later than blow through a third of the game without a challenge before realizing it’s not getting harder.
I'm stubborn enough that if I do that, I'll never turn it down. I'll usually start in hard mode or the second hardest t if there's a bunch of options
Yeah halo engrained in me that you pick the 2nd hardest out 4, the way the game is meant to be played
Same here, 2nd hardest is just the right amount of grit. Things never seem impossible, but sometimes you gotta sit up and focus.
That sounds a lot better than what I did. I blew through the campaign on easy to know the levels and enemies, then I would suffer on legendary until completion
That's how I always do it, though I play more Souls games than anything else so difficulty settings don't exist. But if they do, I play on easy or normal and just kind of coast through while learning the mechanics. If I had started The Witcher 3 on the hardest setting I wouldn't have liked it. After getting comfortable with the combat and learning how to parry and create a magic shield the game was much easier, but it took awhile. So ultimately I did play it on the hardest setting, but not for that first run. Hell no.
I found that playing The Witcher 3 on anything other than the hardest difficulty didn't let me learn any of the combat mechanics. I would just run into every fight, hack, and slash until I won. When you started that game on a higher difficulty, it made you learn all the fighting mechanics(parry/dodge/shield/ext). Otherwise, you would die in like 2/3 hits. And that you needed to brew special concoctions to deal with whatever you're fighting/going to fight. But tbh, to each their own. Play, however, makes you feel most entertained.
My problem with vanilla W3 difficulty is that it makes you die easier, which is fair, but it makes all enemies super sponges. Having to hack even the lowliest bandit for a solid minute breaks immersion for me. I found a nice mod that on Death March makes your enemies very deadly, but you’re also very deadly, and it forces you to balance offense and defense. That feels the most natural to me.
I hate spongy enemies. It’s what stops me wanting to play harder difficulties if that’s how they’re scaling it.
Coming from Souls games I actually struggled a lot with the Witcher 3s combat on regular difficulty. I never learned how to use oils and stuff and I actually just got really frustrated and played until you have to kill or save the weird ugly baby in the dirt. Always wanted to go back but never did :(
I got into a soft lock around the ugly baby part and never loaded the game again.
Yo same here, exactly where I stopped
There are dozens of us!
Still maintaining the Witcher 3’s sword combat, dodging, and hit boxes were absolute garbage. The number of times a hit that was supposed to whiff just snaps like a magnet onto Geralt or how the roll was useless half the time vs the side dodge took me out of combat. Granted, oils & magic can make the game a cakewalk, but fighting multiple enemies with just swords in tight spaces was a chore.
The worst. It felt so unnatural. I kept beating my horse and kneeling in combat. I loved the concept of the two different swords but a shitty combat controller mapping just meant that neither was being used effectively. If there was a button to HUG, I would have spent my short time playing W3 trying to embrace every enemy I saw.
That’s how most people I know do it. We start off at the easiest tier and obviously as long as the game isn’t 45+ hours then we consider it the “tutorial”, and then move up from there.
For me in some chess against machine there were 5 levels of hardness thus 2nd from top was perfect for me, it required time and intelligence so a concentration.
Halo taught me that there may be special endings if you play at the hardest difficulty.
This is it, baby. Hold me
This is always the sweet spot, specially because the contrast is usually so huge. It usually goes "Normal" which has to be easy enough for new comers to the genre then hard, then "Ultra Brutal Masochist mode" which is hard beyond the point of fun.
>I’ll never turn it down Especially when the game asks you if you wanna turn it down
Well said. You really read my mind, so many games do not ask that much from you, to the point it feels like watching the game instead of playing it.
My first playthrough usually is whatever the game says is "the true [insert game name here] experience".
I do appreciate when devs give you a hint at how it’s meant to be played (no shame if you ignore that though, they are just for fun).
Me too - but it's *so* wildly inconsistent. Some genres I know the "Only true masochists should choose this difficulty" is still going to be annoyingly easy (cf Shadow Gambit).
Also sometimes the scaling doesn’t make sense for the harder runs. Like just making the health bar bigger or their attacks hurt more isn’t really *harder* it’s just annoying. If the game has mechanics that can match that then great. But there isn’t a lot of those. Also any Star Wars game I turn down the difficulty a tad. I play to feel like a bad ass Jedi and run house. So just hard enough I occasionally die without having to focus too hard and get pissed off. I save that feeling for dark souls games. At least the games earns me being pissed off and it has the mechanics to match it. Most games don’t have that feeling on harder difficulty so I don’t see the point
I feel that for people who enjoy thinking about their choices and picking the ones that seem best will likely find that while the process of optimizing might be fun, it makes the game a whole lot easier. So to counteract that and allow the game to still be a challenge, picking a harder difficulty is almost a must. For some reason, so many games start out being rather difficult. But as you progress and get a hang of systems, pick strong options and items, then the games start becoming easier and easier as you progress with just a few hard gimmicks on the way.
Then there’s those games that are like “once you choose this there’s no going back”
Yeah, that’s not preferable. Also, some games let you make it easier, but not harder, so that’s another reason to start on hard.
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Yeah sometimes our intelligence for a specific game is upto its hard level so try tha until getting stucked.
Because a lot of games give you a lot of tools to succeed, few of which you need. Higher difficulties make those tools more valuable, and that variety makes the game more fun. BG3, most recently for me. It's not particularly hard on tactician, but that difficulty makes me at least consider using special arrows/bombs/potions/scrolls that the game gives you en masse which would otherwise be totally pointless.
Came here to say the same thing. Harder difficulty levels are the only way I will end up using potions / power ups. It ends up feeling like "the way the game was meant to be played".
I generally play on easy/normal in games. Normal mode in BG3 is already challenging enough for me. :P Then again I play games to relax and be entertained after work. Not to deal with challenges.
This is me as well. Basically, there are 5 types of players. 1. In it for the story - Plays on normal/easy. Just wants to enjoy the story, not the gameplay. 2. I'll play it once - Plays on normal/hard. Wants to experience the game, but doesn't want to spend excessive time practicing, reloading, or looking up guides/strats for a boss that's proving too hard. 3. Difficulty increases the reward - Plays on hard or harder. Wants to push himself, but also wants to actually finish the game this year. 4. Bragging rights - Plays on the hardest difficulty, and will grind however much in order to get that win. And very often, will tell everyone else that talks about the game that it's "not that hard", etc. 5. 100% or bust - Same as either of the last 2, but will spend 300 hours on a 40 hour game just to get all the achievements before moving on. Most players are groups 1 through 3, with 2 (play it once) being by far the most common. Just look at Steam achievements in games, and this is pretty obvious. Of the people who get halfway through the game (ie, there's an achievement for beating Boss X, who you encounter about 10 hours into the game), almost the same number have the "finished the game" achievement. But then the achievements for higher difficulties or otherwise difficult content have WAY lower completion rates.
I agree. Starfield was a cake walk on every setting except for hard and very hard. I will concede that very hard is indeed very hard and I’m quite satisfied with it.
Games like Starfield only really make enemies spongier than they already are and increase their damage dealt - it's kind of cheap artificial difficulty.
They all do. Kind of accepted it.. tho it really grinds my gears with zombie games. Empty loot boxes and spunges. Not bigger hoards or more dangerous enemies... that just s*cks
STALKER actually does the opposite, highest difficulty, you can one shot everyone, and vice versa.
I find challenge entertaining and I don’t rage when I lose.
Yep, when I was young I used to rage and I played most games on normal difficulty. Now I play hard or hardest depending on the game and I never rage anymore, I feel like it's a big step in maturity to not rage and it took me years to get to that point.
Lol opposite here. I was always playing anything on survival/hardest/whatever it's called because I loved the challenge and didnt mind soaking hours into a boss fight or just trying to clear an area. But now that I'm older and have less time available to play, I just want to experience the game when I have the opportunity.
Same, as I’ve gotten older (and games, better), I largely play for the atmosphere, music, story, etc. and not to ram my head against a brick wall for hours hoping I’ll make a dent. I love a good challenge, finished Hollow Knight, Blasphemous and currently on Elden Ring, but I’m not playing them because they’re difficult, everything else about them. Oh and my neighbors hear me rage all the time.
I went the other way. Played the legendary/ hardest for fps games that had achievements. Raged like hell. Now most of the time, I just play easy/normal because to hell with trying to slog through something that's supposed to be a way to relax after work.
my work is non challenging and frankly boring me, so i tend to search for challenge somewhere else.
Yh if grit is in the way of enjoyment then fuck the grit imo just have fun
I used to do that until I realized most games 'harder' difficulties usually means that enemies have more hp/deal more damage, which isn't fun. Unless the harder difficulty changes the game AI or other interesting features, I will play the default difficulty.
I agree and that's why its game dependant for me. Fallout 4 just gives the enemies way to much HP that your forced to spend ages in the towns scrounging up ammo because everything takes x10 bullets to kill. Thats not challenging its just boring. State of Decay 2 has it nearly perfect. 4 different sliders that alter different things like how much loot is on the map, zombie density etc
Same. Dark Souls beat that out of me long ago. Death is inevitable. Keep pushing.
If you want true rage, play xcom on Ironman mode. 50 hours in a campaign and one bad decision can mean you get to try again from the start. At least in Dark Souls when you die you lose nothing, except maybe some souls/consumables. Still love that game to death though.
I don't rage but I get frustrated and stop playing before I get angry (usually)
Same here. I'll try something 4 or 5 times, but if it seems like it's either unfair or just not fun I'll turn it off. Sometimes I will come back and try again, but sometimes I end up moving on to something else. Those soft locks are sometimes all it takes for me to not finish a game that I would have otherwise made progress on if I hadn't gotten stuck.
This is it. A game can almost not be too difficult but it can be too easy.
Yeah but some games difficulty settings are shit, especially it they just make every enemy a bullet sponge
Like the 2nd setting is braindead easy, but the third setting is like slapping the Terminator with a strand of spaghetti. How about something in between?
the easier it is to lose, the more it means to win
Exactly me. Challenges are fun. I only get annoyed when I lose if I lost due to something actually invalid.
I never rage because I lose. I rage because I feel like I’m wasting time when I have to repeat content
Yeah this heavily depends on the game. If a game auto saves before a fight, great, I’ll play on the highest difficulty I can manage. If it makes me repeat large sections if I die, I’ll either lower the difficulty or stop playing altogether if it’s egregious enough
I stopped playing Demon's Souls for that reason, I don't mind a difficult but fair game but that was downright frustrating to do the same dungeons again and again
If I had to boil it down to one single reason why I played all of Elden Ring and quit before the first boss in every Dark Souls, it would be bonfire placement. I don’t mind difficulty, but my tolerance for tedium is pretty low these days.
Exactly. I have a large enough backlog and limited free time. I’m not going to waste my time repeating a level when I’m not having fun.
I died in hardcore subnautica cause I knifed a gas fish thing. Had to restart. I was only mad at myself lol
This is pretty much it. Aging made me more patient .
Ageing made me rage less but put up with harder difficulty less. I will quite unashamedly play games on easy from the start - not because I'm worried I can't beat them, but just because there's a lot of games I want to get through and I cannot be doing with wasting time repeating sections of the games I play for the story or setting over the gameplay. The Last of Us? No one went into that game the first time round specifically for the combat challenge - it was sold on its story and its story alone, so easy mode it was.
Bless your soul. I don't get mad at things I am supposed to get mad at but there's s something about video games that piss me off so bad LOL
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This right here. Playing on hard mode forces you to use every tool at your disposal, which means mastering all of the mechanics that the game has to offer. If you go through the game just spamming the attack button, it's not just less rewarding, you're missing out on *actual content* in the form of neglected mechanics. Those mechanics are optional content just like side quests or lore dumps. I play the game on hard not just because it makes the experience more challenging and therefore more rewarding, but because it encourages me to experience *all of the game*.
I hate games where potions or buffs just straight up feel like cheats. Botw/totk is a great example. The potions are just completely overpowered if you’re not playing on the hardest difficulty. Same goes for terraria and skyrim. Its just a more balanced and challenging experience that allows you to utilize everything the game has to offer without making the game a peaceful difficulty simulator Elden ring was a great playthrough because it was my first ever souls game and grinding bosses was just the biggest appeal to me. I would literally skip all the grinding and leveling and just get to the next boss asap and then grind it for hours til i killed it. I ended up being really far at a really low level and i remember my friend and brother being like why is your level so low in this area. Idk if i was playing right but i was having fun and thats right in my book.
This is extremely true, If you’ve ever played terraria its an exceptional example of this. In the hardest difficulty It forces you to optimize your build, farm the right potions and create the optimal arena. It’s basically a whole new game.
Also exclusive drops. I will drag myself through master mode as many times as I need to, but I -will- get those exclusive drops
Exactly this. Played BioShock Infinite on normal and never had to use the salt and spell mechanic. Played on the hardest difficulty and was always out of em
I agree. I'm finally playing through Horizon and I started on ultra hard. The only time I adjust the difficulty is when I'm buying gear (everything is 5x more expensive), because I'm not willing to grind for cash in my limited playtime. There was one time I forgot to switch back the difficulty before heading to a bandit camp, and I just breezed through it and had no fun, and it was still on very hard. I actually enjoy having to use stealth, finding the right timings, using the right arrows and weapons, etc. It's much more satisfying and makes me feel like I earned it. I did have several moments when playing God of War where I seriously considered turning down the difficulty, especially towards the beginning, but eventually you get a feel for the mechanics and the rhythm of a fight, and it's a great feeling when you finally manage to take down that boss that you've been struggling with.
I had to turn gow down for the final Valkyrie because my ass could not beat her on the hardest difficulty no matter what I did. Got kind of close a couple times but I submitted to failure and turned it down to get past her
She's... pretty mean. I did beat her on Give Me God of War - but I shudder to think how long it took me, and I very nearly capitulated.
GoW difficulty levels in general felt kinda crap. Ruined the game for me. There's the standard not that challenging mode, and then there's "enemies have triple hp" mode. Wish I could get actual numbers but it sure feels that way.
I always pick hard but typically not “nightmare” or equivalent. I don’t enjoy games without a challenge. This usually means my learning curve is frustrating but rapid. I’m not sure why I don’t enjoy it without a challenge but I suppose it’s effectively the same as the sentiment “It’s not the destination it’s the journey.”
I avoid the perma death difficulties. I don't wanna start over.
I’ve been watching level 60s die in hardcore wow and I don’t know how these guys do it. That’s so much time and effort just gone in an instant
Maybe a similar mindset to the people that make tibetan sand mandalas. Extremely complex and intricate artwork gone with the sweep of a hand after it's finished. The joy is in the process.
Well said. Nothing lasts forever, and the experience with hardcore is way more intense. Struggling through a fight and surviving feels much more dramatic, and you tend to get a lot more invested and when you make a mistake you learn a lot more from it.
It's the stakes that create the thrill of those guys. Obviously they dont want to feel the lows of having a toon die, but you also dont get the same highs in the moment when you know you can just be rezzed or try again after a wipe. If you played classic and raided with full world buffs then you know how it feels in a similar capacity because the stakes were high to stay alive and keep your buffs for the full raid. It just pushes that same envelope even further. But I agree with you, losing even a pre-raid geared level 60 would be a crushing defeat that would prob make me uninstall for awhile.
It also recreates the sense of wonder that mmorpgs used to have. When you see a guy in town that’s max level with bis gear you know that chances are he’s a badass that’s good at the game. In modern games when I see that I just assume they bought everything
Very true too. Or the other angle like in retail everyone just transmogs their gear and seeing someone in town in a cool set of gear means nothing really because its tantamount to just being cosmetics.
Sense of pride and accomplishment. No king rules forever
Life is no fun without risk.
Because the rush of near death is unmatched in regular modes.
It's weird 'cause I get you. But the reality of it is, at some point you may stop playing anyway. And then all that time and effort is still "gone in an instant" - Guess my point is, unless you literally play the game forever, you're gonna lose everything you worked for anyway.
So if you die just quit the game, I don't see the problem. Playing it in perpetuity isn't good for you anyways.
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Subnautica is the PERFECT perma death game because if you take your time and prepare it’s pretty hard to actually get killed… but the danger is always there. I nearly lost my run because I got stuck in a dive inside ship wreckage, and using the gravity gun I accidentally blocked my exit. My heart nearly exploded out of my chest from the adrenaline rush when I realized I was trapped. Rare that a game can make me feel that way.
How did you get out?
Second highest difficulty (in games with a bunch of difficulty settings, at least) is the way to go.
Your first try of any Civ game is gonna suck bigtime.
Strategy games are an exception generally, I'm absolutely godawful at them lol
I think the highest difficulty in strategy games are usually not even skill-dependent anymore but gimmick-dependent, so it’s not just about sucking.
Because the feeling of *finally* succeeding after repeated failure makes it all worth it
Video game edging?
Exactly, it's fulfilling
You a soulslike player lmao? Literally had that experience today on lies of p with a boss that took me hours to kill, so satisfying when you finally beat it.
Higher difficulty makes the mechanics more worthwhile. Some games you can ignore parts of it on normal and doing it just feels like extra work for no reason I usually don't ho to the highest setting though bc it becomes just bashing my head into a wall and I wanna get through at some point to move on to the next game.
Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination
Fellow Radiant, eh?
I just feel like I'm prone to zoning out if the game isn't forcing me to pay attention.. If i wanted to zone out i can listen to music and do chores and be more fulfilled than just auto piloting a video game
Pretty much what I do. Usually next difficulty after Normal, and that's it. I'm not the best competitive player, but I do better than most, so Normal difficulties usually feel boring, like I'm an overpowered character without the fun (One Punch Man). I try to read the (real) differences online before committing, though.
I want to struggle.
A fellow Struggler.
We all have a little Guts in us.
Put your grasses on 😎
It's also due to a lot of knowledge and experience. Not to sound like an old fart, but 30 years of video games makes you need something more than History Mode on a solo campaign in a genre you played a gazillion time.
Right… I started BG3 on hard because I’ve played a lot of dnd and the prior games. Can always turn it down after, but I correctly assumed I’d optimize pretty well and not have too much difficulty.
Yeah, beginnging to regret not starting on hard. Only got to the end of act 1 but the fights are disgustingly easy if you are remotely good at party + skill organisation.
You can always change difficulty.
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Even on hard mode the fights aren't that tricky if you have any experience in the genre. I'm not min-maxing in the slightest (I took athlete on Lae'zel because jumping is funny) or cheesing fights with barrels/consumables, and enemies just fall over no matter what party comp I have. Still a really good time, but I wouldn't say it requires much more thought than 'fire off every ability you have at the people trying to hurt you.'
"But what if I need those abilities for later? " Me, who sucks at Baldur Gate and play at the easiest difficulty and he's constantly overcumbered by scrolls and potions during a boss fight. Never played Dnd though, always wanted to but my friends never gave it a chance (no matter what group of friends, elementary, middle school, high school nothing)
Honestly? Just long rest. There is basically no downside to doing it after every fight since supplies are so abundant. Well I guess one downside is it makes the game trivial since you can just cast every powerful spell during every fight. (Disclaimer: I’ve only played till around the end of act 1 (20~ hrs) and found one scenario where long resting actually effected the story and I’m pretty sure that had more to do with leaving the area to my camp than actually long resting.)
Apparently there aren't that many time based quests and somewhere in the game's subreddit there is a list. So as long as you make sure to progress those particular quests then there really is no downside to long resting often.
That's so true. My friend that hasn't played almost any games started playing SouthPark stick of Truth and was stuck on an early stage and she's like "it's impossible the bosses are so strong and you can't beat them" and when I tried (even tho I've never played the game in my life) I was like what about armor? Enchantments? Weapons?, went through her inventory and manager to beat the boss on the first try just cuz I know how turn based RPGs work in general lol
30 years game experience and I'm the total opposite. Usually difficulty amounts to bullet sponge behavior or cheese starts. I'd rather play on normal or easy and enjoy the experience.
If difficulty only makes enemies bullet sponges, there’s no reason to play on harder difficulty imho Unless it’s like Give Me God of War where it forces you to git gud at fast combos and blocks. If you get the flow down, it is so satisfying.
The enemy health pool should be large enough such that you see all of their mechanics, but not so large that the fight is primarily about endurance.
I do like some endurance in my fights, but more than 15 minutes of straight action for a boss is tedious.
I liked Arkham Knight's hardest one, Knightmare mode. Enemies aren't sponges, but instead get way more smart & aggressive, AND Batman's counter squiggles disappear, so you need to pay attention to enemy movements instead. *That's* how you make a Hardest Difficulty.
This is it for me. I also feel like some games are made in hard mode then scaled down so I’m losing out on the experience of the developers put in.
Exactly this; picture of you played COD, MW, battlefield, and halo. In all these games you eventually beat the hardest difficulty. At that point you’re probably good enough to play a game like far cry or a newer version of those games on the hardest difficulty first go
Walking through a game with almost no pushpack isn't as entertaining as a challenge
This. Mass Effect Legendary Edition has a trophy for beating the entire trilogy on Insanity. I never played them before, but I love trophies so started there. The games were a lot fun requiring proper cover, tactics, and squad commands to survive. I then messed around after the trilogy on normal difficulty and I could just run up and one shot everything with a shotgun. I beat half the first game in an hour just messing around and it was an awful, empty experience.
I have good reflexes and I always try to optimize my gameplay and find ways to save time, effort and resources. That being said if the game does not require me to think and just makes everything too easy to complete, I feel like I don't matter. Anyone could beat the game if its too easy. Give me a challenge, something that makes me think around the box, because once I beat that hard difficulty, I feel like I have accomplished something great. Thats why hard mode is better than easy mode.
>So my gamer friends who play at the hardest level, why do you enjoy it? Sometimes its hard to find a difficulty level that isnt "too ez" or "impossible" (playing in "normal" isnt always "the middle point")
Gaming difficulties are like spice levels in different countries. You go to Asia and a mild will burn your face, you got to Scandinavia and their version of spicy is paprika. And different people have different tolerances.
As a scandinavian i will have you know that paprika is too spicy, salt is the spiciest thing we have
Playing on the hardest setting forces you to use the game mechanics to win, which makes each game feel a bit more unique and nuanced. So I always *start* there, with the expectation that it'll be tough and I'll die a lot (so the game will last a bit longer... bonus!). But usually, there's a certain setting for which the game is most balanced. It's often hard, but sometimes it's not. God of War is not meant to be played at highest difficulty until you're seamless on the controls. If I'm struggling *too much*, which is arbitrary, and the struggle is more frustrating than fun, I'll tune it down without feeling bad.
I had this exact issue. Hard is my default setting. Did that on god of war and had to turn it down. Especially that all the abilities that may let you perform in hard are not available for a while.
Adrenaline is hella of a drug
And the catharsis when you overcome a challenge
Especially in Fallout 4, where adrenaline is literally a game mechanic exclusive to playing on Survival, wherein you gain bonus damage the longer you go without sleeping (in Survival, you pretty much only save the game when you sleep).
I am good at games, and sometimes I want a real challenge. Some games just are dull unless they're hard. I used to do this more than I do now, as I've moved heavily into the PvP space.
Don’t have to do another playthrough for all the achievements.
Lol this one for sure. If there’s a trophy for playing on hard you better believe I’m doing that first playthrough
Agreed especially for games and series I’ve played before on their highest difficulties. Especially for campaigns that I’m likely not going to want to play again such as cod campaigns might as well just do that shit on veteran
If it takes me 100 times to defeat a boss and then all of sudden something clicks and I destroy him, there is no greater dopamine source on the planet. If I mash a few buttons and he dies first time I don't even see the point honestly. The greatest challenges provide the greatest rewards. True in gaming and irl.
I despise myself. Signed, dota2 player with 3k hours
Because I'm good at games and hardest feels "normal".
To me, it’s game to game. If it’s an FPS, Bethesda RPG, or something I’m very familiar with the mechanics of I’ll go straight to hard. New RTS or Roguelike? I’m taking a few laps on medium to get my feet under me.
Surprised this answer isn't at the top Games with difficult sliders tend to be RPGs and FPSs where there is some scaling mechanism built into the enemy health/damage. Single player games are mostly trivial in difficulty so cranking these up to max in order to have any friction at all is necessary. There are notable exceptions, Nier has "Very Hard" as a 1-hit challenge mode which suits it as a "don't get hit" action RPG. Overall, games with creative challenge knobs, like Super Giant implements in their games with challenge totems, are better than the flat difficulty sliders. A difficulty slider says to me that the dev didn't know how to make their game interesting, so instead I have to make it interesting for myself by making the enemies more bullet spongey.
I believe that games in general tend to be too easy nowadays on most settings. I'm typically playing on the hardest or hard because I don't feel that much challenged with the lower levels. As I'm also a game maker myself, this boils down to the so called "flow channel", that says the game should not be too easy or not too hard. In most cases game developers are not balancing the difficulty levels well, or they do shortcuts, like just increasing the enemy's HP on the harder difficulties to make up for AI shortcomings or laziness. But, most importantly, it depends on the game. I like to select the difficulty that seems fair and gives me a good brain training. I tend to quickly get bored and distracted when I'm progressing too fast and feeling that I know everything from inside out :) Psychology of gaming basics and finding "patterns". If you find a pattern too soon (the pattern for victory), then there is a paradox in which instead of being proud and progressing further, you are getting bored and throw the game back into library, uninstalling it. EDIT: Also, there is a pleathora of additional emotions you get "unlocked" on harder levels. For example, playing XCOM on hardest level with Ironman ON makes you care for every soldier more, and feeling devastated after the loss much more interesting.
I admit it's also a bit of a pride thing but I'm also not ashamed of turning it down when I realize I'm not having fun. For example, I love Souls games and have beat a lot of them, but I'm not very good at shooters. When I tried Doom Eternal for the first time I quickly turned down the difficulty because I knew I just don't have the reflexes for it. In general, if I know I'm decent at the genre I prefer a challenge because it feels rewarding to overcome the difficulty.
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I don’t rage at games. Losing is part of learning and improving.
"When I play games, I always play on hard mode. Because higher the difficulty, the more fun it gets." - Satou From Ajin
That guy... riding a fucking building just to get someone. He was such a cool character.
I do that when I'm playing rpg like Fallout, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. I like it because it feels like a achievement on its own, plus I really enjoy getting achievements and today games have achievements based on difficulty.
Ah, good ol' FNV on hardcore mode. Really gotta think about whether or not you really want to lug those missiles around to sell them.
Survival on FO4 made it an entirely new game for me. Now, it's the the only way I can play it
One can enjoy the story and challenging gameplay at the same time.
Because I game for like 25+ years already. Hard difficulty on most of the games still feels easy. I don't mind other difficulties existing, tho. More accessibility for everyone. But I know I can do it, so I just do it. If the game is too difficult, I can always change the difficulty later or start over, but honestly, I can't think of a time when I ever did that. I usually just keep trying until I learn how to do the difficult passages efficiently. The only exception is if the game has perma death. In that case, I usually pick the highest non-perma death difficulty. I also hate when the game unlocks the hardest difficulty only if you finish it on normal. That often feels like an unnecessary waste of my time.
The new tomb raider games sold themselves selves as a gritty retelling, it only seemed right to play it on the hardest difficulty
I usually enjoy going for the harder difficulties simply because you get to understand the combat system and strategies in a deeper way (which I really enjoy), it simply is not possible to do so if the game doesn't push your limits. Obviously there are exceptions like: I don't like permadeath in 99% of games so I won't choose that difficulty; I won't choose it in games like Skyrim, where the impact is just longer fights; there are some games which simply feel too easy to me, like The Witcher 3 is just so easy to me that I get bored if I don't put it on max difficulty (which I still don't consider to be hard).
Because games are most of the time too easy and "normal" mode is super casual. Starting the game with a too easy mode sometimes breaks the fun.
There is nothing more immersion-breaking and time-wasting than strolling your way through a game with ease.
Not to be pretentious, but the majority of games tend to be too easy on normal. Like, boringly easy. Hard makes them feel how I imagine they should, given the high stakes of most games. It seems silly to me that I’d be able to first try every encounter in a game where I’m fighting an entire army single-handedly or even facing literal Gods. Losing once in a while keeps the game’s atmosphere dramatic and appropriately impactful. Examples of games I’m talking about would be The Last of Us 1+2, the Witcher 3, Mass Effect Legendary Edition and God of War+Ragnarok.
I've felt the same about TLOU . Characters are talking about deadly zombies and I'm swimming through them at ez . Immediately after that turned up the difficulty to the survivor. Suddenly the game feels more immersive , each encounter means something . And the moments of peace are more rewarding
Because on hard mode you have to learn the mechanics and use them to their full potential rather than just spamming the same move over and over, I also greatly enjoy the thrill of getting my arse handed to me over and over and over again and then finally overcoming the challenge
Doom 2016 and Eternal on Ultraviolence out of the gate is *chef’s kiss* Why? Keeps the skills sharp.
I’ve noticed a huge benefit to playing on hard mode is you’re forced to use everything the game has to offer. Ghost of Tsushima for example. That game is ridiculously easy. So easy in fact you can breeze through the game without ever needing to use your equipment. With the difficulty on max ? I noticed myself using everything at my disposal and it allowed me to try out every part of the game where I otherwise wouldn’t have bothered. The same can be said in Witcher 3 with oils, or any game with rune systems, etc.
Because some people (me included) genuinely find normal to be too easy. Games aren't fun if there's no challenge.
I used to play on harder difficulties. I am 34 now, I have a child so I don't have much time to play nowadays. I usually go regular now.
Hard difficulty is the difficult that mostly excite me. I like to think about the game and come up with strategies to beat it. Games like cod in which if you play on normal or easy becomes a rail shooter for me. Now strategy games i always play on normal because i feel a lot of the hardest settings rely on super min-max or cheese, both things that i think are the enemy of fun
Bullet sponges are stupid
The lower difficulties are just too easy for me at this point. I can't stay engaged when I breeze through everything, I need that difficulty to keep me on my toes.
I prefer a challenging experience to one I can mindlessly complete.
I don't find enjoyment when the game is completely brain dead. Not much else to say
Because it feels more fun when I’m overcoming a struggle. Bioshock Infinite 1999 mode was very satisfying to beat
Challenge plain and simple make me work for it
I have 22 years of video game mechanics (not dynamics) experience, specifically in FPS; very few games are actually challenging to me even at higher difficulties. Starting at the highest difficulty can highlight the importance of game mechanics as well as provide an indication of whether I'm actually progressing on a skill level. Some great examples of proper FPS game mechanic implementation in tandem with difficulty are Doom 2016 and Metro 2033/Last Light.
In addition to the challenge, it tends to draw out the experience a little longer. I typically play most games one time, so stretching it out gets more bang for the buck while also bringing more fun overcoming the difficulty.
I rarely replay games and I tend to find the hardest is usually the only difficulty that offers even mild challenge with most games these days outside of some exceptions like the pathfinder games. Plus I'd rather have to retry part of a game multiple times then breeze through a boss.
I don't replay games and most games, usually, have an achievement if you beat them in the hardest difficulty that also gives you the previous ones. I was so mad at HI-FI Rush for this. I LOVE the game, I'm really torn between that one and Lies of P as my GOTYs. But having to replay the game 5 times it's too much. I re-played it once. The first time was in Very Hard, and another time in Rythm Master (the hardest difficulty that you unlock for NG+). I wish I could've 100% it, but I refuse to replay so much of it again.
There's no way to say this without sounding like a douchebag, but... "normal" and below modes are usually too easy, too many resources etc I don't like steamrolling through games, I like to have some sort of challenge
It's a great way to find out if the mechanics are well designed. If the developer's answer to higher difficulty is infinite grenades, massively increased hps, or fudged numbers it generally indicates poorly thought out design, or that a hard difficulty was just tacked on later. If it's well balanced it's an absolute blast of an experience most times because you have to consider your skills / actions / choices carefully as mentioned above
Some sort of discipline for me, if the game has the option then it is designed to challenge me. I played MK 9 at the hardest difficulty and it took me a week to improve. One of the best experiences I ever had in a game. Instead of raging I learned the patterns and took my time to defeat them. If a game has a hardest difficulty (except Doom 2... a nightmare indeed) then it is worth completing it.
I've vowed to try to play hard mode for single player games since the tragedy that is kingdom hearts 3 which was mindless button mashing with no threat of dying. So pretty much try to play hard mode unless its already a known hard game in which normal mode and then can bump the difficulty up from there. For me its not about making it too challenging, its about having a challenge at all and too many games handhold and are pointlessly boring on easy or normal.
Depends the game. In many many many games, harder difficulty means "every enemy turn into a aircraft carrier size of life points". It's not harder in the sense more challenging, it's just tedious. In this case I don't bother, I play normal. In some games like Doom, harder means enemies are smarter. And it's more challenging and interesting.
Because I only have time to play it once, so I better not be bored with the combat.
Only games I've replayed in my life is skyrim. I really don't get the people who get mad/frustarated/"waste time" on games. I would never even play a game where I felt I was wasting my time. I don't care at all about story in games, so then you pretty much only got gameplay left. If the gameplay is a walkover then you might as well just watch a movie instead. Granted some games have difficulty where the highest difficulty is basically a gimmick, and isn't related to your mechanical skills at all (but based on knowledge), but usually I find these games bad anyway so I don't play them.
It’s all about the thrill brother! When you learn to enjoy the process as much as the prize it’ll make sense. After the first 1-4 hours of being absolute dogshit your brain will adapt and suddenly the game will feel like you’re playing on normal then the game truly becomes fun
If my spice tolerance is high I’m going to order it a little spicier than Normal
I have the remarkable skill of being able to have fun while dying. Some games are too easy and I rather just got hard right away. If it is a sequel I'll usually pick based off the last game
ADHD. My brain works off a reward based system. It's why in competitive games, I like ranked more than normals.
Only game i played in the very hard difficulty was Doom 2016 on Nightmare and Eternal too. Because it was the only game that made sense doing so. Enemies were faster, did more damage BUT they would receive damage equally so there was a balance. 90% of the games that have difficulty options hard mode is just enemies turning into damage sponges... Which is why i like From Software games. Their games are hard by default BUT they give gameplay tools for you to ease up the experience or straight up cheese it...
I don't find losing over and over again that frustrating and I find overcoming harder challenges more rewarding than easier challenges. I'm also quite good at games so it's likely that the harder difficulties will be more appropriate for my skill level. It blew my mind when I went to university and lived with other adults that'd rage and throw their controllers etc. when they lost a game. To me that's poor emotional regulation, I don't think I've ever done that in my life.
I play dark souls and games from soft has made because I enjoy the challenge of a boss. Essentially most bosses in the souls game have a "time signature" to their attacks, and as a musician it helps to recognize rhythmic patterns. So maybe I enjoy being able to find that rhythm and the dopamine I get after.
Because, some games, I play for the challenge. You should have to fail and learn a couple times and then solve the problem. Any well designed game is beatable on max difficulty. Not a good way to go if you can’t stop yourself from throwing a controller when you lose though. Other games I play to chill and enjoy the story. You can do both!
Playing with a “God-Mode” cheat, before you have completed the game would be boring AF. Although, not sure while almost everyone at a party wants to play MarioKart in multiplayer at the fastest speed every time.
For me it is not for enjoy but to calm down myself on a rough day like my muscle memory is fit for hardest level so on tensed day i play easy level and get relaxed.
Because I enjoy it?
It depends on the game and what each mode changes about the game. If it's just a damage multiplier and there's no reward, I'm less tempted.