Do you play games on hard, medium, or easy mode?

[Fang2]

Discuss

[OneLegSquats]

Most games have more than 3 difficulty settings, in that case I usually go with 1 below whatever the hardest is, because often the hardest has some unenjoyable restrictions like very limited saves or practically no loot to craft with making some trophies impossible in 1 playthrough.
If it only has easy/med/hard I always choose hard. Easy offers zero challenge and medium means you can beat it without ever getting stuck and not needing to concentrate. I hate replaying story games unless several years have passed so I'm not one of those guys who completes a game then immediately starts a new game plus mode, so I'd rather get the most play time out of a single playthrough and struggle on sections, more satisfying that way

[rocketfish]

Normal mode on first play through

if its an enjoyable game that warrants a 2nd play through thats when I will go with the harder setting

[ohiostate124]

Depends on the game and if I’m just playing for the story or not. Some games feel better on easy mode.

[MiamiLife305]

Depends

Something hard is just annoying and the AI is basically cheating

[JayJ350]

Depends entirely upon the game to be honest, but these days I find myself leaning towards easy modes simply becuase I want a more relaxed experience. Not a fan of sweaty gaming, it's always been a recreational activity for me. If I want to try hard at something I will go outside or hit the gym.

[JUSA]

Medium or Hard. Depends on the game and the hard mode. I like a challenge but not a frustrating one. Example, playing FE:Engage, picked hard/classic.

[Elvis.Costello]

I’ve long since opted out of the hardest difficulty by default. Go game by game now. I’m getting old and most of the time the devs just up the lifebars/do other uninteresting things.

I prefer when there are like 5 options and I’ll go for the 4th/second hardest.

[obmas]

I'm a dirty casual gamer. So almost always normal or easy mode. Depends on the game.

For Horizon Forbidden West, I put the enemy health on easy because they are way too spongy and aint no body got time to spam arrows for 20 minutes. The instant gratification immediately made the game more enjoyable for me.

I play games to have a good time. Not to get frustrated because a game is too grindy.

[Mulloway69]

Its depends, if there is an advantage to playing hard e.g. a trophy or an item you can unlock or + mode unlock then 100% everytime. If it's one of those games that you play that there is no incentive to play on hard then no, I usually thrash the game out and next it.

[Archangel_Lost]

normal or easy, depending on the game. i want to be able to progress through the narrative at a good clip, my vidya time is limited and I don't want to spend an entire game session, maybe my only one of the week, slamming my dick in the door on some boss.

[volleys]

hard mode because that's the real "normal" mode.

[LtGoose]

Hard mode on first playthrough always. If I'm going to dedicate my time to a game it better challenge me. I don't want a hand holding simulator

[mgftp]

Most games I start on normal, might adjust, or if I just really like the game and want to play it again will bump it up to hardest difficulty on the 2nd playthrough.

Exception is Sony games, they are way too easy and it ruins gamesplay, I start them on the hardest difficulty that is unlocked from the jump.

[leafs43]

Hard just means enemies are damage sponges in most cases.

[MajorTendonitis]

Played Crysis on med , but once I got threw it I did all the campaigns again on hard . Loved that dam game back in the day

[Austanian]

Usually aim for 4/5.

Legendary or what ever often gets stupid hard. Though beating Halo 2 on Legendary was nice.

[WHChampion]

Usually medium. Most hard modes are lazily designed where the only differences are more time shooting bullet sponge enemies or waiting behind cover to regen.

[David275]

Usually medium, because I figure that's probably going to be what the creators are expecting most people to choose.

I might play on harder difficulty for some first-person shooters but that's about it.

[DASBUNKER]

When there's very hard I usually did hard, but lately just sticking to medium, don't feel like spending time stuck at parts at average games unless its a souls/like game.

[Ramoneb87]

First playthrough is always default. If I find it neccesary and have the ability to do so mid playthrough I will lower it. If the game is worthy of a 2nd playthrough I'll play on the hardest difficulty on the 2nd go around

[gbullock32]

Depends but usually normal, games that would need a lot of grinding I put on easy to save on wasted time and tactics games usually hard. I play games to relax and enjoy some challenge but when I'm just getting one shotted for any mistake a game loses the fun, arbitrary difficulty can ruin a game for me.

[LishiLish]

Depends on the game. Normally starts with easy mode. Then step by step increase the level.

[MustardTiger17]

Hard mode because it forces you to actually use all the game mechanics

[neilsabo]

Medium always on the first playthrough... It's the difficulty setting that they use as the basis for their balancing and design and is constantly tested throughout development

All the other difficult levels are just them somewhat arbitrarily adjusting sliders with maybe 1 QA guy testing that the hardest mode can actually be beaten by a human

[EagleOfWar]

Always start with whatever is below hardest. If I do more than one play through I crank it all the way up the second time.

[bemyguest]

FPS's and 3rd Person games - Hard mode all the way. First person shooters are too easy even on hard mode most of the time IMO.

CRPGs & strategy games - Usually medium or sometimes they have also "above medium" so I choose that then.

Never play on easy cuz I am not a casual newb & never play on legendary/one save modes as it is just frustrating at that point.

[maori-rap]

I will usually play through on a medium difficulty, then play on easy to mop up any achievements worth getting. I MAY play on hardest diff if there is an achievement at the end and I enjoyed the game and didn't find it challenging on medium. Ultimately I don't care for hard games anymore, I just like to chill with video games and have a bit of an adventure. Games aren't worth stressing over anymore, I am 40 now.

For Skyrim I found myself playing on Legendary once I got to level 40 as I was so powerful and enemies were barely touching me.

[bananastand11]

Mostly I'll play on normal - and if I love the game then I'll play on a harder difficulty for a second run through.

Games like God of War where I'm meant to be ridiculously powerful - I play that first on easy so I can wreck c*nts.

[broseidon]

Almost always on the hardest, I have difficulty sticking with overly easy games