You and Easy mode

[Kadoodle]

So I just started a new game in just cause 2, because I had been playing it on hardcore (in between normal and insanity). I realized that when I was taking about 9001 bullets up the ass, I couldn't do all the crazy stuff that the game was designed to let me do, and I was always forced to flee the panau military or fight them off by going shootshootshoot. I couldn't tie them to fighter jets, because I'd be dead in a few seconds trying to do so, call of duty style.

So now I'm playing on Casual mode, and I actually feel like a badasss, slaying soldiers with akimbo pistols.


So, Escapists, when was the last time you sacrificed challenge for fun? What game were you playing?

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I usually don't find a problem with Normal, I think the only time I ever switch to Easy is for the God of War bosses.

Man, fuck those guys.

 

[Arina Love]

i just don't care about challenge. i play for fun and overall experience of a game and story. in every game i play i choose easy mode.

 

[StBishop]

I played the Duke Nukem demo on pussy mode or some shit, because I didn't care about it, I just wanted to shoot something and I really didn't care what and, having no FPS games on PC, I needed something.

With that exception I don't think I've played a game on easy mode since.... well, honestly, ever.

EDIT: Also, I fucking hate how hard mode is now "AWESOME SAUCE MODE", "Pro mode", "HARDxCORE Mode" or "whateverthefuck-the-Dev-thought-would-sound-cool Mode" and Easy is now "Casual"

It should be like this:

"Very Easy"
"Easy"
"Normal"
"Hard"
"Very Hard/Insane/Hardcore/Nightmare"

Only the very last mode should have a special name, because I might not think that "Hardcore" is more difficult than "Insane" or "Professional". Difficulties should be obvious at first glance, especially when compared to the other modes.

Even halo's system is a little vague, Sure a Legend is > than a Hero but if there wasn't the visual representations to go with them I think it'd be much harder to tell at first glance.

 

[Mallefunction]

I always play on normal. Easy mode is usually just a cake-walk, but I don't have the reaction time needed for higher difficulty levels.

 

[DustyDrB]

The only games I play on easy are Oblivion (well...the slider is really far to the left) and New Vegas, but those are only on my current characters. I went easy on New Vegas because I made a character who focused on social skills (Science, Speech, Medicine, etc) and wanted to focus on trying things I haven't done yet (like siding with the Legion). But I could probably up the difficulty now that the character is level...42 or something.

And with Oblivion...I just turned down the difficulty way low because I'm doing parts of the game I don't like (example: the main story and its long dungeon fetch quests and Oblivion Gates). And I just don't think about tinkering with the slider.

Aside from those two, I usually stay on Hard difficulty on games. It's not just about the challenge. That satisfying feeling of progression is much stronger on harder difficulties. I'm playing Catherine on Normal, though. I'm not a masochist.

 

[James Crook]

The Deus Ex: Human Revolution beta leak. It's the hardest game I've ever played after the original Deus Ex. I was getting bum-raped by the DCPD guys in the Police Station. It went so hard on me I had to switch to easy mode.

What happened is that I was on some super-duper-cool ninja-style action, by hacking the electronic lock on a door, sneaking into the office, deactivating the lasers in the air vents, and sneaking through the aforementioned air vent into the armoury. I sneaked up behind the guard and Tasered him in the spine (clean shot). He fell down on the floor with a loud "bump", which got the camera to turn immediately towards him. I saw that, and leaped forward to close the door.
Then, iTunes popped up with a big fat Apple Software Update notification (even though I told it to never do that). I tried to close it as soon as possible but it was already too late: the camera saw the body, with me next to it, and every cop in the bloody station was after my ass.
Oh, and they found the office I sneaked in with its door open. They had time to turn the lasers back on before I could get back into the vent. And the other exit to the ventilation system was in a fucking interrogation room.

 

[Racecarlock]

What games do I play on easy? Every game. I like some challenge, but the problem is that the game will sometimes cheat on the higher difficulties. I like a challenge sometimes, but not if it's an unfair one that I can't easily restart.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Only remember DA2 playing on easy because the combat was such horseshit.

Otherwise I never play on easy because it takes a huge chunk of the gameplay experience away, it's like god-mode cheats, ya it's fun to dick around for a while but then you realize there is no reward in gameplay and you just get bored.

 

[Amos the famous]

Usually never. The only time i can think of was when i was over a mates and we wanted to complete God Of War 3 in one day. We did it on normal.

 

[Susan Arendt]

I played BioShock on easy the second time I played it, because I was just playing through to collect the few audio diaries I'd missed. Other than that, I generally play on Normal, but I have no qualms about switching to easy if I stop having fun.

 

[aba1]

I never really play easy I ussually play normal maybe hard mode after if I feel I enjoyed the gmae enough. However I played MW2 on hardest difficuly my first time. It was my first military shooter so I figured it be more emersive if I died really easy.

 

[Ooga600]

I usually play RPGs on easy or normal as long as the gameplay doesn't get boring or extremely easy, but in FPS games I play on the mode that's one below than the hardest one, so heroic in halo, hardened in COD, etc.

 

[Echopunk]

I like a challenge when I play games, but a reasonable one. I don't usually go for the highest tier difficulty setting at first (usually it isn't even unlocked yet) but I NEVER start a game on easy either.

When I play RPGs that let you control when you level, I always under-level my characters on purpose. KOTOR taught me this, because I found out that if I didn't level (aside from the one time it was required) until I got to Dantooine and received Jedi training, that I could have a level 18 Jedi at the end of the game, opposed to a level 6 soldier/rogue/scout level 14 jedi.

On one of my later Oblivion playthroughs, I discovered that the "sweet spot" for character strength vs enemy selection was right around level 10-15, and that after that it just got annoying, so I stopped leveling at 15 and played the rest of the game that way.

I think the last game I spent any time in easy mode was Tekken 5. With certain characters, and after a certain level, it felt like I could have knocked down a building with a pair of chopsticks easier than I could have beaten some of the ranking matches. Of course, when I stopped playing for a while and came back to it, and was getting beaten badly, I went to the difficulty option to downgrade it and found I was already on easy. Utterly disgusted, I ramped it up to hard and just had to soldier through.

 

[FrostyChick]

I generally play on easy for the first playthrough of anything. If I like the game then I ramp up the difficulty and play again, if not then I ignore it and move onto another game.

 

[TheDist]

I grew up with games that seemed as if they were built to punish me. Part of the fun for me is the difficulty, if I just wash through the game in no time flat it just feels as if I didn't get my moneys worth.

Though I suppose I can see why others wouldn't consider it fun and thats fine, as long as the option is there I see no reason to moan about it.

 

[Dalek Caan]

I usually don't find a problem with Normal, I think the only time I ever switch to Easy is for the God of War bosses.

Man, fuck those guys.

Which God of War? 1 or 2? The ones the the first one are pretty hard but the ones from the second are easy as pie. I switch to Easy when I have beaten the game on all other difficulties so I can enjoy myself.

 

[poppabaggins]

I can't have fun on easy mode. I feel that games without a challenge are pointless. It's the same reason why I find god mode boring beyond all belief and why I stopped playing Oblivion after I made 100% chameleon armor.

 

[Tharwen]

Crysis has exactly the same problem. You can't do the fun stuff in Delta because you die too quickly.

Of course, in every difficulty there's still the risk of getting physicsed on and dying because you ran into a twig at the wrong angle.