Do you care about game difficulty options?

[J-Roderton]

Do you care about difficulty modes in games? I've gotten to the point that I start stories on easy to be able to get through the game quicker and enjoy the story without dedicating too much time to it. I'm kinda past trying to be really good at games and kill it on higher difficulties.

When I was younger, sure I'd go for achievements and try to get high scores, but these days I don't care. I just want to enjoy the story more than anything else then maybe bump it up a little to go for some challenge on the next playthrough.

This is not thread to shit on games that are hard like Dark Souls or whatever, (i love that series) but recently I'm visiting older franchises for the first time and I just want to experience the gameplay and story in an easy way.

 

[HE1NZ]

I just finish the game on normal and then delete it

 

[Arc]

Only when the game is too easy, too unsatisfying, or the systems of the game don't really coalesce because you're steamrolling through everything. I really appreciate the option to dial it up in those scenarios.

I really dislike when I'm playing something that's really good, that if it just had a little bit of extra spice with the difficulty, it'd be perfect, but there's no option.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Depends on the game. Typically I play the default difficulty, but for games I really like I'd challenge myself to the higher difficulties if they're available. There have been cases where I dropped the game's difficulty to Easy from Normal because I couldn't progress and did that to progress further in the game

 

[Explosive Zombie]

Any game where I can shoot things, especially in first person, I want difficult. Anything else I don't want difficult because I might become annoyed. Though, the Dark Souls games are partially so perfect because the difficulty is one size fits all I'm not sure all devs are good enough to handle that.

 

[Rock And Roll]

I usually start games on hard now because hard is basically normal 20 years ago. If I really enjoy the game I might try to beat it on the hardest difficulty possible (or if it's a series I'm familiar with I might start on the hardest difficulty).

I have no problems with easy games or devs helping out new gamers by making things easier however. There's nothing wrong with it as far as I'm concerned.

 

[J-Roderton]

I usually start games on hard now because hard is basically normal 20 years ago. If I really enjoy the game I might try to beat it on the hardest difficulty possible (or if it's a series I'm familiar with I might start on the hardest difficulty).

I have no problems with easy games or devs helping out new gamers by making things easier however. There's nothing wrong with it as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah I agree. Hard doesn't really equal normal compared to games of the past. Hell, playing most games on SEGA growing up I've learned default doesn't always mean easy. If we ever really had the option.

 

[HE1NZ]

I usually start games on hard now because hard is basically normal 20 years ago. If I really enjoy the game I might try to beat it on the hardest difficulty possible (or if it's a series I'm familiar with I might start on the hardest difficulty).

I have no problems with easy games or devs helping out new gamers by making things easier however. There's nothing wrong with it as far as I'm concerned.

Sometimes game appears easy at first, but then some boss battle will have disproportional difficulty spike and will ruin the experience, force you to save scum or seek game design loopholes to pass forward. I stopped bothering with high difficulties a while ago because of that. Only for select few games on replay. Like Doom 3. That game should only be played on hard, because they made normal a walk in the park for some reason.

 

[Damage inc]

I prefer games like Dark Souls with a more firm baked in difficulty as the default with no other options. But most games I'll play on normal and then go harder from there.

 

[Zefah]

I prefer games like Dark Souls with a more firm baked in difficulty as the default with no other options. But most games I'll play on normal and then go harder from there.

Yeah, I definitely prefer it when there aren't any options. I always want to go with whatever the intended experience was.

 

[Rock And Roll]

Sometimes game appears easy at first, but then some boss battle will have disproportional difficulty spike and will ruin the experience, force you to save scum or seek game design loopholes to pass forward. I stopped bothering with high difficulties a while ago because of that. Only for select few games on replay. Like Doom 3. That game should only be played on hard, because they made normal a walk in the park for some reason.

This is true but I feel like it is less common place now. Very rarely do I play a game which has an insane difficulty spike out of nowhere. I think game design has become more conscious of these things.

In any case, if it's a modern game, they usually let you adjust the difficulty on the fly. I was playing assassins creed odyssey (first AC game since the original, I heard good things about it and origins so I checked it out) and it wasn't hard, just grindy as shit. I started it on hard but found out you had to grind levels to advance (or purchase XP packs to level up because modern gaming), so I just went down to easy and coasted through the rest of it.

 

[Hostile_18]

I want every game to have an easy mode (not for me).

I usually play on standard but I do replay my favorite games and playing on the hardest difficulty on them is a great extra.

I've got the Plat on every Naughty Dog game, which includes hardest difficulties ❤

 

[Stilton Disco]

I usually go with normal and adjust up or down depending on how much fun the challenge is, but because I'm a busy git these days, if I'm more interested in the plot than the gameplay, I'll whack it down to easy and breeze through the game like it's an interactive movie.

 

[mcz117chief]

Sometimes game appears easy at first, but then some boss battle will have disproportional difficulty spike and will ruin the experience, force you to save scum or seek game design loopholes to pass forward. I stopped bothering with high difficulties a while ago because of that. Only for select few games on replay. Like Doom 3. That game should only be played on hard, because they made normal a walk in the park for some reason.

By the time I finished my first run of Diablo 3 I was on Torment 7 I think. The game is stupidly easy.

 

[regawdless]

I usually play at hard. But not because I'm a pro gaming gangster.

On lower difficulties, oftentimes, the game doesn't encourage you to learn it's gameplay mechanics. I can run through most games on normal difficulty without needing to know how most of the mechanics actually work.

I enjoy it to learn and master what mechanics the devs created. Due to not having much gaming time, I don't want games to be frustrating and can't afford to bang my head against a wall all the time. So it also depends on the game. Wolfenstein 2 for example, I played it on easy because I thought that it fits the game better and combat on harder difficulties just wasn't.... Fun.

 

[GymWolf]

Having the hardest difficulty being locked behind some bullshit requisites piss me off a lot, and it always happen with cakewalk piss easy games...

No, i'm not gonna replay your 50-100 hours game again, exactly like the remaining 95% of the population, gimme the fucking super hard right away, let me decide how much swearing i want to do.

 

[Grinchy]

Some games massively benefit from their harder difficulties. In fact, I'd argue that sometimes those harder difficulties were supposed to be the default, but some focus testing corporate shit said, "oh god little Jimmy and aunt Allison won't buy this and post about it on social media if it presents a challenge to them, so tone this down!"

One example is Fallout 4. The Survival mode should have been the game's default mode.

 

[Mista]

Yes I do. I always start my games normal and if I found it too easy, I like to crank it up a bit.

I used to go everything hard but now no. I no longer have the patience that I used to have

 

[AV]

Just stick it on normal and go.

If a game becomes ridiculously easy on normal (looking at you, Witcher 3) then crank it up.

 

[Ferdinand the Cowfish]

The poll doesn't really have an option that fits my opinion.

If I'm given the choice, I always play on "normal" because I assume that's the baseline for the game. Every other choice is either made artificially easier or harder. I also rarely play story-based games more than once so I'm not going to start easy and work my way up to hard, etc...

Playing Xenoblade Chronicles DE on Switch and I really appreciate what they did with their "casual" mode. You can turn it on and off at will and it does nothing but change the difficulty of the game slightly - no penalties for using it. I haven't used it much - maybe 2-3 times, but there have been occasions when I've been under-leveled for a boss fight, and being able to turn on "casual" for a fight has been a godsend. Sometimes you just want to progress the story, not spend an hour or two grinding quests to beat a boss.

 

[Elektro Demon]

I play everything on normal and once I beat it I delete the game.

 

[teezzy]

I'm the most normal person on the planet so I play my games on standard difficulty and move on with my life

 

[Mirabilis]

Add me as another one who generally plays on Normal. I kind of view it that devs know their game best so normal is the optimal experience and I'm OK with that. That's not to say that I haven't played (or replayed) a few games on hard, but it's the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Arc]

This thread brings to mind something else; I can't remember the last time I replayed a game on a harder difficulty setting. When you're a child, and you only have one game for months and months, sure. As an adult, and when so many interesting experiences are awaiting you, it's really hard to justify spending that time replaying a game.

It's something I want to do more, though.

 

[DESTROYA]

I like having options to ramp up difficulty but usually start on normal , I will admit playing through some of my backlog I switch to easy on games I want to just power though and get over with

 

[ExpandKong]

I don't care about anything anymore.

Nah I usually play games on normal and then never play them again.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Depends on the game but I think constraining the conversation to broad-brush difficulty options (not poking fun at the OP, just commenting) is missing the target. I'd prefer games that let me tweak enemy damage / health / squad size, as well as adjust other parameters.

The batch of "survival roguelites" comprehend this idea. A game like Don't Starve puts every last little feature and tweak at the player's fingertips. You can turn enemies off entirely, or increase their number. You can adjust the length of the day, and the ratio of day/night. Minecraft is another, though not quite to the same degree. Dishonored 2 is the only recent-ish AAA game I can think of that included stuff like that.

I'll play on whatever difficulty seems fun. I don't feel any draw to the hardest difficulty unless I genuinely believe it'll extend my enjoyment of the game. With that said, I tend to start a file and then crank it up 1-2 notches out of boredom because Easy and Normal nowadays are completely braindead.

 

[Arkam]

In most games I start with "normal". Though on occasion the game will have something absurd like 6 options and the descriptions all sound the same so I just pick something in the middle.

On occasion (like if the controls just are not clicking with me) I will lower the difficulty to Easy so that the game remains fun. I care very little about "accomplishing" anything and think people who brag about crazy difficulties are just flexing their muscle (memory). If a game is too hard I will drop it like a bad penny and move on.

Its about ME having as much FUN as I can in my finite gaming time.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

On occasion (like if the controls just are not clicking with me) I will lower the difficulty to Easy so that the game remains fun. I care very little about "accomplishing" anything

Strangely, this is my same rationale for sticking to the harder difficulties.

I care very little about the story, about the trophies, about moving on to the next game, about keeping up w new releases, about beating the game. I'd prefer that a game lasts me awhile, and I wanna know if the mechanics are fine-tuned enough / exploitable enough to overcome harder enemies. I drop a lot of games within the first 5 hours. I guess it's a sort of personal filter so that I don't waste time on too many slogs.

 

[Sejan]

I love difficultly options. Its especially great when the options are granular.

Kid Icarus Uprising had an amazing system with 100 difficulty levels.

Super Smash Bros stole this system outright which is only a good thing.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider has one of the best difficulty options that I've ever seen. Letting the player make individual difficulty choices by category is something that every game should do.