What difficulty do you play your games at?

[The Great Purtabo]

I always play Fallout 3 on Very hard difficulty, No exceptions.

 

[Mimi Knoll]

Depends on if i plan on playing the game more than once. If its something i dont plan on playing again, i will usually do hard, but avoid "hardest" in games that offer it. In games that i expect to play more than once, i usually start on normal, and then go immediately to whatever the hardest setting is.

 

[Jimbo Slice]

I accept nothing less, than total carnage.

Bring on Insanity!




...Unless it's a racing game...

EDIT: ...Or if *everyone* will survive certain death, like a shot to the head.
(I'm looking at you, Fallout.)

 

[Sleekgiant]

Casual or normal, I play games to relax, not rip my hair out over

 

[Fat4all]

When it comes to games I buy, I always start playing the game at whatever the 'normal' difficulty is. Then i adjust to either easier or harder depending on how it plays.

When it comes to games I rent or borrow, I usually go for the hardest difficulty. I figure that if I'm only gonna have a game for a week or so, I might as well try and get what I can out of it.

When I just want to relax and mess around in a game, I either make it the easiest mode, or "god mode". It's relaxing to mess around in a game and listen to music to unwind.

 

[Simon Pettersson]

Normal the first time and goes for the harder dificulties if I play it again.

 

[MPerce]

The hardest it will let me put it at. I'm a glutton for punishment.

The only exception I'll make is if there's a major emphasis on story. Then I don't want the flow of the game to be interrupted by my ass getting kicked so much.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I generally play at whatever difficulty offers a good challenge without being stupid. I used to always start games at normal and work from there but recently, I've had to start at hard. Since what used to be normal has mostly moved onto hard.

 

[FollowUp]

Usually normal, except RPGs. Story based games I ALWAYS play on the easiest difficulty, since I really just want the story.

 

[deserteagleeye]

Ill always start on normal but if I miss some content on the first playthrough Ill switch over to the hardest difficulty the next time. Unless it's like that freakin Dead space 2 Impossible dif.

 

[ecoho]

I always start with the normal or default difficulty. I like to have a challenge, but not something overly frustrating. Maybe if I replay the game I might try a harder difficulty since I will have had a feel for the game.

There are a few recent exceptions. I played Kingdoms of Amalur on normal, but wish I had played it on hard. I do however think I'm going to replay it with a different build on hard as I really enjoyed the game despite it being on the easy side.

The other exception is Catherine. I was getting destroyed on normal so eventually I had to swallow my pride and put it on easy. But many will agree that easy = normal, normal = hard, hard = insane.

i play games at what ever level is need for me to have fun. i like a challenge but some games tend to give enimies cheap moves to make it look harder then it is(looking at you ninja gaidin and your kitty solders from hell)but i try to always finish a game on all difficulty levels.......well except demon souls as i will never play that game again unless i feel like being a masicast...........

 

[Olas]

If it's my first time, whatever the second hardest option is. I want a challenge, but not endless frustration my first time playing through.
If it's my second time through, MAX difficulty ftw.
There are some games that you really haven't played until you've played it on hard mode.

 

[Ignatz_Zwakh]

For the most part the hardest difficulty available. I'm a bit of an achievement whore, so I might as well usually. Makes me feel like I've really earned victory to boot.

 

[SecretAlienMan]

I usually play on normal for most games, but I set the difficulty to Easy for modern-day-shooters... I suck at those; I still have the old Doom mentality so I charge head in and say "Screw you cover I don't need you!"... then my character suffers a horrible death.

 

[2fish]

Usual level is normal, but games like Bayonetta or Ninja Gaiden Black I push up to the top difficulty.

Some FPS games that have a hard difficulty that makes the guns do more damage to everyone rather than enemies into bullet sponges can also be played on harder difficulties.

 

[Evil Smurf]

easy, because I am super weak

 

[The_Echo]

As a general rule, I pick easy or normal. It depends on how quickly I want to finish the game and how much I want to challenge myself, but the first playthrough is always my "enjoy the game" playthrough.

On subsequent playthroughs of any given game, I'll bring the hardness up a notch if I feel like it.

I usually don't, though, and wind up playing stupidly difficult and punishing games to balance it out. I still haven't beaten Crash Bandicoot without cheat-coding to the final boss...

The other exception is Catherine. I was getting destroyed on normal so eventually I had to swallow my pride and put it on easy. But many will agree that easy = normal, normal = hard, hard = insane.

I disagree. I think that the 'super easy' mode Atlus had to patch in due to Japanese gamer complaints of difficulty (I personally think the Japanese are much more skilled than western gamers) is normal, easy mode is hard, normal mode is "fuck you," and hard mode is "eat shit and die."

I had to use walkthroughs for the entire final night, and I rarely use walkthroughs. I'm more than a little afraid of that game.