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I always play on normal difficulty because I assume that devs optimize for that setting the most
- Thread starter Z-oo31
- Start date
normal is pretty much my default unless everything I hear before playing it suggests that the game is exceptionally easy
I judge it based on each game, but most of the time I just go for Normal.
There are some games, like The Last of Us, that I went straight for hard and disabled every assistance in the options, like seeing through walls. I just wanted the most real and gruesome experience, and I'll be doing the same when the sequel releases.
There are some games, like The Last of Us, that I went straight for hard and disabled every assistance in the options, like seeing through walls. I just wanted the most real and gruesome experience, and I'll be doing the same when the sequel releases.
I've been gaming for a long while now. Normal is usually too easy for me. I want to engage with the game's systems and see what I can wring out of it. In RPGs for example there's no need to use them Elixirs (or any full healing item) but if there's a hard mode (like Persona) you're thrown in more situations where you just might gotta use it.
Even still sometimes hard mode is too hard. Nier Automata is terrible in this regard. Hard mode was frustrating as you died far too quickly, especially in the beginning. Yet normal was way too braindead. I eventually went with normal cause hard was some old poppycock, I enjoyed the game less for it's unbalanced difficulty.
Even still sometimes hard mode is too hard. Nier Automata is terrible in this regard. Hard mode was frustrating as you died far too quickly, especially in the beginning. Yet normal was way too braindead. I eventually went with normal cause hard was some old poppycock, I enjoyed the game less for it's unbalanced difficulty.
I imagine they wouldn't release a game that wasn't still good or fun on all difficulties so I play the one that I want at the time. Usually normal but if it's a harder game and maybe requires some grinding and there's an easy mode I'll do it. Would have never finished P4G without the easy mode
I definitely play on normal on my first playthrough most of the time. I don't trust higher difficulties to be balanced or even particularly fun. Like with Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, lots of people were saying "Play on hard! Normal is way too easy!" when it came out. And maybe that was true for the ground combat in the game. But the ship combat was just utterly frustrating on hard. I'm not looking to be frustrated when I'm playing a game. Random difficulty spikes are the worst. And a lot of the time, "hard" translates to "spongey enemies and/or cheating AI". Maybe it's harder when enemies have twice the health and you do half the damage but it's not very immersive or fun. If the normal difficulty is too easy to the point where it ruins the experience, that's on the developers. But I'd rather breeze through a game than have to deal with frustrating difficulty spikes. When challenge is a part of a game's design, like with Souls games for example... I love it. And those kind of games usually don't need different difficulty modes because their challenge level is precisely tuned by the developers.
You're right to assume that. I mean, why would they call it normal if it isn't?
I know that's sometimes not true but it's the developers fault for mislabeling it. I wish more game were more honest like Alien Isolation that straight up says hard is the recommended difficulty.
I know that's sometimes not true but it's the developers fault for mislabeling it. I wish more game were more honest like Alien Isolation that straight up says hard is the recommended difficulty.
I wonder how testing is done at FROM.
How do they even decide something is hard enough? Lol
On topic
I play on normal because I am a default person on first use. That's everything in my life by the way. My first instinct is keep things the same. Then over time I make small changes that are so gradual that I don't even realize that I am competent enough at higher difficulties.
How do they even decide something is hard enough? Lol
On topic
I play on normal because I am a default person on first use. That's everything in my life by the way. My first instinct is keep things the same. Then over time I make small changes that are so gradual that I don't even realize that I am competent enough at higher difficulties.
When I know something is up like in Kingdom Hearts or Fire Emblem, I look it up. God of War would have been ruined if I played it on Normal, even hard mode was a bit of a cakewalk.
With big games the devs make the game they want ... somewhere between hard and normal, usually. Then the playtest data comes in, people freak out and water down normal difficulty so its "more accessible"
With big games the devs make the game they want ... somewhere between hard and normal, usually. Then the playtest data comes in, people freak out and water down normal difficulty so its "more accessible"
I do it most of the times, especially in some modern genres like cover-based TPS with autoregeneration, that are kind of boring in harder difficulties.
But in games from genres I'm good at or I have experience with, like strategy games or hack and slash games, I tend to start at the "Hard" setting, not the hardest one, but when it's available I like to choose the level that is above Normal.
But in games from genres I'm good at or I have experience with, like strategy games or hack and slash games, I tend to start at the "Hard" setting, not the hardest one, but when it's available I like to choose the level that is above Normal.
Designers generally make their games difficult by default, then when focus tests say the game is too hard, they make it easier. This is really obvious when you look at how many systems and mechanics are redundant on normal difficulty. For example, on Witcher 3's normal difficulty, you don't really need to use potions, bombs, oils or signs. Why would developers spend so much time and resources on these things if they weren't meant to be used? The same is true for any RPG that has consumables. They're only necessary when you play on the highest difficulty.
Josh Sawyer even created a mod for New Vegas that made the game harder and brought it more in line with his original vision.
Honestly, if it's a western AAA game, I just play on the highest difficulty by default because I know normal difficulty is going to be too easy. Indie games are less focus-tested so I'm more likely to start with normal difficulty on those.
Josh Sawyer even created a mod for New Vegas that made the game harder and brought it more in line with his original vision.
Honestly, if it's a western AAA game, I just play on the highest difficulty by default because I know normal difficulty is going to be too easy. Indie games are less focus-tested so I'm more likely to start with normal difficulty on those.
Yeah I do this too. Most games with a 'hard' setting just have it be enemies with ridiculous HP, so it's not harder tactics wise, just they take longer to kill, which makes the game far more boring if anything.
Only game I play on hard (max intensity) from the start is Smash.
Only game I play on hard (max intensity) from the start is Smash.
Yeah, this definitely true in mainstream RPGs. Normal is usually designed so that people can muddle through without paying much attention to the systems.
But for games that are more about the spectacle or experience than the mechanics, harder difficulties often expose the weakness of those mechanics. For instance, in the new Wolfenstein games the harder difficulties force you to play it like a cover shooter it was never designed to be. Or to go back a ways, in the original God of War trilogy (can't speak to the reboot) higher difficulties made it clear that the optimal solution to every problem was square-square-triangle and blocking.
I'm always conflicted but I generally go for normal or whatever difficulty includes balanced in the title or whatever. Like right now I'm playing GoW on give me a balanced experience but in all honesty it's pretty easy unless I encounter the 2/3 levels up from me dudes which I need to kite around for like half an hour throwing axes at them. But I've also died quite a few times because I enjoy experimenting with the skills and don't feel like being in try-hard mode the entire time and I think while I wouldn't struggle at the harder difficulties I'd have less fun due to the lack of experimentation with the combos.
I also think that's the big issue with playing on harder difficulties, you become so focused on performing the optimal strategy for most encounters that 90% of the gameplay possibilities become irrelevant and the developers may as well have pruned the skill tree down to the 3 or 4 you're actually using.
I honestly ruined uncharted 4 for myself by playing it on the hardest difficulty which basically makes all of the acrobatics and melee fighting a death sentence. It literally devolves the game into the most bulletspongy of covershooters. I replayed a bit on lower difficulties and it's much more fun running and gunning around while leaping off of shit onto a wireswinging vine thing and finishing with a brutal melee combo. By contrast 90% of my time on the hardest difficulty was spent behind cover.
I also think that's the big issue with playing on harder difficulties, you become so focused on performing the optimal strategy for most encounters that 90% of the gameplay possibilities become irrelevant and the developers may as well have pruned the skill tree down to the 3 or 4 you're actually using.
I honestly ruined uncharted 4 for myself by playing it on the hardest difficulty which basically makes all of the acrobatics and melee fighting a death sentence. It literally devolves the game into the most bulletspongy of covershooters. I replayed a bit on lower difficulties and it's much more fun running and gunning around while leaping off of shit onto a wireswinging vine thing and finishing with a brutal melee combo. By contrast 90% of my time on the hardest difficulty was spent behind cover.
Yeah. If I feel this is the case when playing a game it definitely starts to ruin hard mode for me and I'll switch it back to normal.
Same.
It's even worse when a game penalizes you for playing higher difficulties.
"What's that? You chose Hard difficulty? Ok, then you get only 75% of the exp you would get on Normal"
In my case, I barely play on Hard difficulty anymore. Normal is my way to go unless is a game that I can manage.
It really sucks that you never know what the developer was going for. Some games are way too easy on normal, some are way too challenging and not designed for a first playthrough on hard.
I generally tend to prefer games with no difficulty setting from the start or with ingame mechanics to make a game harder or easier. Also, adaptable difficulty as in RE4 is great.
I generally tend to prefer games with no difficulty setting from the start or with ingame mechanics to make a game harder or easier. Also, adaptable difficulty as in RE4 is great.
I imagine a lot of people play on normal for that same reason, which is why I'd say it probably isn't usually the devs "ideal" difficulty.
I like to try to look at peoples impressions as to what the best difficulty option is. Sometimes normal is just too easy.
I still can't believe they thought Proud mode in KH3 was at all hard in any way. I died twice, and only from offscreen bullshit the game likes to throw at you.
I love to play harder modes when I crave for challenge but I might even choose easy ones when I'm not in the mood
I'll start on normal and drop it down to easy if I face too much of a roadblock. I don't have the time for fighting through hard sections or difficulty spikes these days.
I'm usually the same and pick normal. I will say I just finished Mass Effect 2 & 3 on insanity and it wasn't that bad. I had more fun than I thought as it forces you to pay attention to the different powers and when to use them. I honestly would recommend playing those on higher difficulty than normal. Mass Effect 1 on the other hand... I'm playing that right now on normal so I can play a second time on Insanity and I'm not sure how that is going to go...
always hard, i like a challenge in my games.
besides that, normal is more like easymode these days
besides that, normal is more like easymode these days
I am curious, on which part in Persona 5 you thought you better switch to easy. The game is made in a way with so many days for completing the palaces, I just don't see where the game becomes hard.
Very last dungeon, I dunno it became really hard to me all of a sudden.
When I was younger I used to get a certain amount of pride at beating games on hardest, but as I've gotten older I generally only want to finish the story and don't care about the difficulty. I still find it super aggravating games that should be easy platinums except they have that one trophy that is tied to difficulty completion. End of the day I know it doesn't matter but there is still that 2 minutes of "why did you do this".
This is the main reason I play on normal by default, even if it tends to be too easy in general. I hate being punished for experimenting with "suboptimal" moves in a characters toolset.
Uncharted 4 as you mention, and the original God of War games as someone else mentioned are great examples of a game being worse on harder difficulties because all it does is gate you into using the safest (boring) method of winning fights.
Depends on the game really.
Shooters usually only up the AI's reaction times into terminator levels so I always play them on normal (aside from Doom).
Resident Evil 2 remake or Days Gone I played on hard.
There are also times when I just want to blast through a game without much frustrations so I just play on normal.
Shooters usually only up the AI's reaction times into terminator levels so I always play them on normal (aside from Doom).
Resident Evil 2 remake or Days Gone I played on hard.
There are also times when I just want to blast through a game without much frustrations so I just play on normal.
I play on hard sometimes, but not for a "challenge". I do it for two reasons (1) to force myself to play the game using all the mechanics the devs implemented in the game and when that doesn't work (2) to use my brain to figure out ways to break the AI and game system so i can progress
Though I generally keep the assistance features on, The Last of Us certainly felt like a game more apt to the Hard setting. The scarcity of weapons and items feel more true to the survival nature of the game.
Maybe on consoles. On PC, I played TNO/TOB/TNC on the highest difficulty and was still able to run and gun. The key is to keep moving (to avoid getting flanked) and dual wield everything. The only level where that was less viable was the courthouse in TNC but that's the only level where you can constantly get flanked like that.
I think one thing that makes AAA games so easy is the ubiquity of progression systems. Pretty much every AAA game has one now and it basically makes the early game/mid game/late game difficulty curve this:
Normal difficulty: easy/really easy/braindead easy
Highest difficulty: hard/normal/easy
No.
Tales of series meant to be played at highest difficulty as possible.
It's more fun, more challenge, addictive, chaotic, hectic, etc.
I tend to play on normal, the difficulty set helps me to utilizie all skills comfortably, while hard always gets me on toe
I actually play on one harder than that assuming the same thing. There's usually a hardest mode after that too so I don't feel like I'm spoiling anything.
Unless you're The Last Of Us, the game should be designed for the harder difficulty levels.
(TLOU is broken on the highest difficulties)
Unless you're The Last Of Us, the game should be designed for the harder difficulty levels.
(TLOU is broken on the highest difficulties)