"normal? pfft i start my games on hard"

[underthedeep]

Naturally, like sports, video games get people pretty competitive.

thus also like sports, some people are better than others.

lastly, like sports, everyone has to start somewhere before they can ever get better.


what is your gaming aptitude?

i like to start on hard, and then go to the "harder" option after (Extreme, Insane, etc.).
I like a good challenge, i tend to enjoy games more when they are harder.


this can be anonymous of you prefer, since i'm not exactly looking to start a gloat thread

[Blorx]

I play on normal or easy to get a feel of the game, and then move up to hard if I feel the game was good enough for a second playthrough, or if it wasn't, I just leave it. Often, I don't even finish the first playthrough, honestly.

[Sandurz]

I start on normal at first so I can get the feel for the controls, but once I get the hang of them I go up to hard, and eventually insane/harder/whatever it's called.

[Renegade_Turner]

I play on normal or easy to get a feel of the game, and then move up to hard if I feel the game was good enough for a second playthrough, or if it wasn't, I just leave it. Often, I don't even finish the first playthrough, honestly.

I need not supply my own opinion because Blorx's opinion encapsulates my own.

[Zhukov]

Usually start on normal, but it depends on the game.

Some games stop being fun on harder difficulties (e.g. Red Faction Guerilla) while some are so easy that anything less then hard is a cakewalk (e.g. the Bioshock games).

[Renegade_Turner]

Some games stop being fun on harder difficulties (e.g. Red Faction Guerilla) while some are so easy that anything less then hard is a cakewalk (e.g. the Bioshock games).

Why does Red Faction Guerrilla stop being fun?

But yeah, Bioshock was horrendously easy on normal. I always had too much ammo. I found myself using up all my ammo in empty rooms just so the game would be more of a challenge because I wouldn't have full ammo, eve and health packs.

In hindsight it's kind of dumb that I didn't just switch to Hard since there's an option to do that in-game.

[Grayswandir]

I always try to beat a game on Normal first and then up the difficulty from there.

[Zhukov]

Why does Red Faction Guerrilla stop being fun?

Because the only difference between difficulty levels (so far as I could tell) is health. That is to say, the player has less health and enemy troops have more. But since you can regenerate and your enemies cannot, the adjustments don't really make the game harder. Instead it just makes the firefights tedious because you have to stand there pumping an entire magazine of ammo into a guy to bring him down.

Since the game was already a bit dull and the firefights were already a bit tedious, playing on hard was just asking for it.

But yeah, Bioshock was horrendously easy on normal. I always had too much ammo. I found myself using up all my ammo in empty rooms just so the game would be more of a challenge because I wouldn't have full ammo, eve and health packs.

Yup. Same here. Ended up having to handicap myself with the various genetic upgrades as well.

In hindsight it's kind of dumb that I didn't just switch to Hard since there's an option to do that in-game.

Sadly, switching to hard doesn't really help with the ammo oversupply. You'll still spend most of the game maxed out on everything.
The sequel is even worse in that regard. The player is constantly at risk of being crushed under the veritable avalanche of cash that the game throws at you.

[zoidberg rules]

i play on normal or easy, get through the game, then play again on hard, just to get used to the game when it's actually a real challenge (skipping through the cutscenes i think are crap from playthrough 1). then go for the hardest difficulty, whatever that may be called, the first two plays should have gotten me used to the best places to hide/go, and where the best equipment/items/whatever else spawns.

of course i usually get bored of the game during the second playthrough, but games like mass effect 1&2 im on like my fourth playthroughs of both. that is also why i like games which have strong/changing storylines.

[Aspen]

I use Easy Mode for the initial test play through (usually the first couple of levels and the tutorial). If satisfactory, I play the rest of the game on Normal, if not, not. If the game was good enough to have another play through, I ramp it up to the hardest difficulty and play it for the final round. And then, on to multi-player (if any).

However, on Lugaru, my entire first play through was on easy mode. Anything above was near impossible at the time of my starting.

On Overgrowth I expect to play through on easy.

[Renegade_Turner]

In hindsight it's kind of dumb that I didn't just switch to Hard since there's an option to do that in-game.

Sadly, switching to hard doesn't really help with the ammo oversupply. You'll still spend most of the game maxed out on everything.
The sequel is even worse in that regard. The player is constantly at risk of being crushed under the veritable avalanche of cash that the game throws at you.

Oh NO. I was constantly trying to find ways to spend my money but at the same time not just buying loads of ammo. I fixed this by just using automatic hack tools on everything and using all my money on them at vending machines.

Does anyone else have a frenetic attitude towards any time there's loot in a game that he can't pick up? I think it may be a symptom of OCD, but any time there's loot on an enemy and my inventory is maxed out for that loot, I get extremely agitated. In fact, sometimes I just end up using my loot in silly situations just so I won't have so much of it.

[invertin]

Depends. Normally, I'm on normal, but when it comes to some genres I'm a pussy and too scared to play on anything higher than easy. Hard mode is for when I feel like awesome badass kickyourass mgee the third.

I don't normally do second playthroughs unless the game is A- awesome, or B- has a reason for me to play again (different story choices, character customization, secrets that actually interest me, etc.) and if I do I usually move up on the difficulty.

I've noticed that some games don't know how to handle difficulty. Some games can be quite difficult and still very, very fun no matter how many times I die. But whenever I play say... Halo, on a difficult level with the difficulty up, I just get pissed off. I have no idea what is wrong there, but something is.

[Blorx]

Yeah, I have to agree with Invertin. Platformers are a good example of that. Not a whole lot of them handle difficulty too well.

[Renegade_Turner]

But he was talking about Halo. Halo isn't a platformer...

[Blorx]

But he was talking about Halo. Halo isn't a platformer...

I never said it was...I was following up his statement...