Poll: Which difficulty do you usually play on?

[dunxy]

I always start of on MAX, nothing worse than playing a game through on normal, then feeling it's not worth replaying on the hardest difficulty.With max normally taking a bit longer to finish, playing through on any easier difficulty is like cheating yourself out of game time imo.

Very rarely I may find a game that's too hard to finish on max difficulty, but this is like %1 of the time for a seasoned gamer like myself.

 

[neoontime]

Easiest, I suck at every game.

 

[HT_Black]

I usually start at the "hard" difficulty; I've gotten to the point where I can play Uncharted on normal in one go, and I actually finished the new Prince of Persia game on hard without dying once. It's the only way I can get a decent challenge out of whatever I'm playing, more often than not.

 

[drunksniper999]

The way i see it, the game is no fun unless there is a challenge that makes makes you want to punch the game designers. Not surprising, my favorite game is Ninja Gaiden

 

[MasterWhatever]

Tend to start with normal or easy to enjoy the game and then work for achievements/trophies after words.

 

[Penguinness]

Normal. When playing a game through the first time I want to play it on what it considers normal then if I fall, it's my bad.. hit continue and go again. If I slap a game on the hardest, then I can fall too much and it'll ruin the game for me. There's the saying "learn to walk before you run". To me normal is designed for someone who's started the game.. and if i'm falling a lot it's the games fault, not mine.. and I can say that every game has been fine except one level on Ninety Nine Nights.

For things like Halo 3 and COD 4, I went back on the hardest difficulties the second time round. Other games I don't have much incentive to play the campaign again, no matter what the difficulty... I guess if you can beat a game faster than you can cook a frozen lasange, you mightaswell play it again.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I tend to go for normal, because that's the way the game is usually meant to be played. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called "normal." Maybe I'm going about it the wrong way, but I always thought the options above normal were for people who wanted a challenge above and beyond the level that the game was tooled for, while the ones below it were for people who couldn't handle normal. I'd rather play a game the way the devs intended it to be played than make it harder on myself just because I can. Am I just being confused by the wording here?

 

[SextusMaximus]

Normal. Beat the game. Hardest.

 

[lacktheknack]

First time? Normal. If it's too easy in the first hour, I restart and go hard.

 

[socialtangent]

I usually stick to Normal for the first playthrough for most games. After I beat it, I'll play again on a higher difficulty.

 

[rockingnic]

FPSs and RPGs, usually the hardest until I come to a part I can't beat after 20 or 30 tries then I lower it a level if I can. RTSs I play on the easiest or second easiest because I have the strategy just not the speed or multitasking for it. Fighting and action adventure games (like God of War, Devil May Cry, etc.) usually around the middle except for Ninja Gaiden 2, I can't beat it lol.

 

[child of lileth]

Normal on my first time through. Anything higher the next time, and so on.

 

[Caligulove]

Normal. Then gauge how well I can play the game, and whether its challenging or not.

Usually change to a harder difficulty once I beat it- sometimes will increase it during my first run through if I think its just too easy

 

[crudus]

I start on easy or normal to learn the system and get the story done. After that I speed run it and throw the difficulty up to normal then hard.

 

[AMMO Kid]

Depends on the game. I've never played anything but Realistic on Conviction, but I play Very Easy on Fallout 3 because it's most fun for me that way.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

First playthrough, I always go normal. It's usually slightly challenging while allowing me to experience the game the way it was meant to be experienced. Hard usually brings about frustration, and ruins my impression of the game if it's the first playthrough.

If I like the game, I'll always replay it on the hardest difficulty the second time through.

Pretty much what I was gonna say, word for word.

Although, I will play fighting games on their hardest setting from the get-go, to boost my training time. ^_^

 

[Duck Sandwich]

Often normal. Though, sometimes Hard. Normal difficulty, for me, is often a "find out what works/get used to the game mechanics" playthrough, while in Hard mode, I improve upon what I've learned in Normal difficulty.

In Devil May Cry 4, I spent much of Normal difficulty trying to get used to the game, and avoid making such mistakes as jumping instead of rolling out of the way of an attack. I never played any DMC or Ninja Gaiden games beforehand. I died a few times at the final boss on Normal difficulty, but on the hardest difficulty, I won the fight on my first try.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I tend to do hard, but so many games these days you have to unlock hard >.<

 

[sinsfire]

i usually just leave it on the default (medium/normal) for the first play through. after that i may go for "hard" if there is an achievement/trophy, that is assuming i actually liked playing the game.

 

[Doctor VonSexMachine]

Normal, and then up it if it gets boring.