You and Easy mode

[InsomniJack]

That said, the last time I sacrificed challenge for fun was in Catherine.

Damn, Atlus. I like to think I have a mind for puzzles, but damn.

I don't think you can use the phrase, "sacrificing challenge for fun" with regards to Atlus games on easy. More like trading brain bustingly, bone crushingly impossible for something challenging AND fun.

Heh, fair enough. Although, I do have to agree. I made the "smart" decision of attempting to play the game (which had the warning that it was hard enough on Easy) on Normal mode as soon as I came home with it. After having played the demo only twice.

I made it to the third night before I realized that I had to switch difficulties.


Although, that does remind me: I've only ever actively played a game on its hardest difficulty twice: first was for Mass Effect 2 (couldn't get past Freedom's Progress, even while using a character that had already beaten the game) and Alan Wake (which I beat, and am rather proud of).

I also had the incredibly ingenious idea to go for the Gunless Wonder achievement while on Alan Wake's hardest difficulty level. Because I'm smart like that. >_>

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

If the battles aren't allowing you to use the flashiest of methods of play in the hardest setting then the game is broken and bad.

 

[novixz]

Farcry 2. Those enemies will take 13 bullets to the chest before dying.

 

[Bebus]

It depends what I am playing the game for.

If I just want to, say, experience the story line or feel like a hero I have no problems with Easy mode.

But if I really want to invest, for example my lead DA:O character, I download the Nighmare Plus mod and put on the battle armour. I felt like a god after beating the Archdemon with my nighmare plus character...

 

[krazykidd]

I never play on easy mode , ever , i play games for challenge , and for me challenge is fun , i understand that some people play for fun and not for challenge and i have nothing against that. In all due honesty i used to play games on easy when i was a kid and i stoped because of my dad . I remember the last game i played on easy what contra 3 and my dad walked in the room ( i must have been like 7 years old ) the verbal exchange whent a little like this:

Dad : what are you playing
Me : contra ( 3 was the only one we had so i didnt need to specify)
Dad: you have alot of lives what difficulty are you playing on?
Me: easy
Dad : haha amature ( this is the equivalent of being called a casual )
Me: but normal is hard and hard is very hard
Dad: can't deal with a challenge huh?
Me: well..
Dad : yeah yeah son
Me : (sad face , reset console restar on normal)


Never again have i played a game on easy , i'm actually happy my dad did that makes me enjoy hard games and i can persevere through almost any game as long as it doesn't bore me.Back on topic , i always play on normal for the first playthrough , sometimes on fps and action games like CoD or Nier i will do my first playthrough on hard. Especially when i feel like a gaming masochist and want a game to bust ma balls.

 

[Ninonybox_v1legacy]

This is how I play a game (will be using Halo as a reference).

Easy = Replaying levels

Normal = First time playing

Hard = Never played on hard

Legendary = Achivments and so on.

So I have no problems with easy mode because it allowes for some ass kicking without much of a threat.

 

[Akihiko]

To be honest, I generally don't turn the difficulty down because it's too hard, I tend to always play on Normal, and just persevere.

If I do swap it down to easy, it tends to be more because I'm bored of the game and just want to see the rest of the story. Which was pretty much the case with Dragon Age 2. I was just so sick and tired of all the waves in it. I just said fuck it by the middle of the 3rd chapter, and played the rest of it on easy so I could rush through just to see how the story unfolded.

 

[Spacewolf]

Havent played a game on less than hard in a while actually, except for the dragon age thug leader in a paragon of her kind second playthough i just breezed it on hard so not sure how i was going so wrong

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

I used to play on Easy during the first play through.

But now-a-days... Normal is the new Easy and Easy is Casual.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I rarely switch to easy mode as the challenge is often a large part of the fun in games that I play. That said, the last time I remember doing so was in the game Red Faction Guerrilla as harder modes simply enforced a style of play that was contrary to the presumed draw of the game.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I always start on Normal and sometimes move up to hard. Seems like a pretty natural thing.

 

[Miggiwoo]

I play RPGs on normal mode usually. I play God of War style games (although DMC games are more my style) on the hardest difficulty, because I think that forces you to play the game properly (i.e. utilize evasion, counters, and powerful combos instead of just launch/shoot).

But yeah, it should be all about the fun in a sandbox, the only point of those games is to create chaos. While I never played JC2, I would play it on a mode that let me exploit the absurdity of the game.

 

[ecoho]

normal for games that have no real story (its really not that hard) for those with story i prefer to play on the easiest mode so i can enjoy the story without becoming frustrated that the fucking geth four legged son of a ***** just killed me and i have to redo that fight all over again and.....were was i? yes ahem what i mean to say is i dont want to break my controllers while trying to enjoy the story.

 

[Kadoodle]

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.

lLmao, Just cause 2 wins the award for "Highest chances of twig related death at any given moment."

 

[Ando85]

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?

I almost always go for whatever the default difficulty setting is, at least for the first time through. I find that most of the time this is a good balance. I like my games challenging enough to not be boring or a walk in the park, but not so hard that I want to break my controller.

One exception finally happened recently. After I started playing Catherine on normal I had to swallow my pride and put it down to easy. But, that game is much harder than average. It was more like easy = normal, normal = hard, hard = insane.

 

[Dethenger]

The last time I played Easy Mode was when I was grinding for ODST Firefight Achievements. I was more interested in watching House during, so I dropped down to easy to ensure that my lack of focus didn't cost me too much. Other than that, I don't usually have much fun on Easy difficulty, for the same reason Fable always gets boring after a while; you're too powerful for anything to feel like something other than a chore.

 

[mental_looney]

usually normal or hard but if it's something I just want to finsih for the story i'll play it on easy to get through it faster, I no longer have the time to spend on massive challenges that take lots of replay to beat, plus funsies aren't about getting ym ass handed to me by games again and again sometimes

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Usually I play on Normal or Hard (by that I mean whatever is just above Normal), but the only time I played Easy was Dragon Age 2, mainly because of the change of pace in combat, it didn't have the same satisfaction for me. Even though I played DA:O on Normal.

Other than that, probably a select few Sega or Nintendo games when I was a kid, damn those games were brutally hard, especially ninja games.