Difficulty Options

[Zeostar]

I'm pretty new to JRPG's (I only started a couple years ago). Before that I just played Pokemon and some of the Mario ones.

I recently purchased Xenoblade: Definitive Edition and this is tough. Even after doing side quests, and being above boss levels I still get stomped. Earlier this year I finished Final Fantasy 13 which isn't a super easy game, so that boosted my confidence.

Then I figured out Xenoblade offers "Casual Mode", but there's some guilt I felt for turning this on. Almost like cheating when I obliterated the boss I was stuck on for an hour. But I admit, I've struggled to grasp many of these games mechanics, and I just want to enjoy the party members I like. (But I'm stuck with the same 3 because it's the only way I'm winning fights). I love the game though, it's even one of my favorite JRPG's so far. I'm rarely someone who enjoys side quests, but this game has been the exception.

Has anybody used an easy mode? Or maybe there's someone who prefers making games as challenging as possible.

I'm a fan of the WWE 2K games and the first thing I do is max out the AI difficulty settings as much as possible.

Do you typically mess with difficulty options or keep a default?

 

[Hermione Granger]

I always play on the easiest difficulty settings and I've done that all my life. I get more out of a game that way since I play mainly for the story of a game and I would get agitated if I played on a higher difficulty even normal. I don't touch games that are intentionally made to be difficult like the Dark Souls series.

 

[Fleurdelis]

1st run is on Normal mode, future runs on the hardest mode, unless those are literally unfair, ergo Remastered Tiberian Dawn.

 

[moon]

I always play on the easiest difficulty settings and I've done that all my life. I get more out of a game that way since I play mainly for the story of a game and I would get agitated if I played on a higher difficulty even normal. I don't touch games that are intentionally made to be difficult like the Dark Souls series.

essentially this!

I seldom play games because I want a mechanical challenge d: I play them for fun and for story, so the easiest or next or nextnext easiest setting (depending on how many there are) is plenty enough for me. Sometimes low settings really make enemies dull or downright remove features though, and then I'd rather take a slightly harder/normal mode to be able to fully enjoy the game.

 

[Lunar]

I'm usually a fan of playing through games on normal the first time around, like everyone else I enjoy games for the story, and don't wanna be constantly stressing about dying or taking ages to complete a certain part, but at the same time I don't want to just breeze through it without any opposition, so normal is always a good starting point for me personally. Then, once I've played the game enough and done as much as I can on a save, I'll go back and play again on a harder difficulty, which is what I'm planning to do on BOTW soon!

 

[The Mega Champion]

I tend to just play on 'normal' difficulties. I've only played a few games on any sort of 'easy' difficulty when normal was too hard or the game was too hard in general.

I don't play on Hard difficulties. Ever.

 

[Nah]

Most games in my experience don't do difficulty well in the slightest, so I usually don't bother playing on the harder difficulty levels. Second lowest is usually (but not always) where I like to be.

But I also like Souls games (though they're not exactly hard per se, just not casual-friendly)

 

[Lumina]

Souls games also do have adjustable difficulty, but not in the way people are accustomed to. If you want an easy mode, play a sorcery-focused character. Trivialises the entire game, all three of them.

 

[gimmepie]

I'll play on Normal usually, but sometimes I'll do easy instead if I really just don't feel like dealing with mechanics and just want to experience the story.

 

[pkmin3033]

It really does depend on the game, but very few video games actually get difficulty right. Turning an enemy into a damage sponge with twice the strength it would have otherwise doesn't really constitute making something more difficult, just more time-consuming, because it just takes longer to get to a stage where you're strong enough to win. The need to grind more doesn't mean a game is harder. Harder means more intelligent and/or aggressive AI, more natural restrictions on the player (having less ammunition in some Resi games, for example) and a requirement for strategy, rather than just the "you gotta grind longer if you want to do this comfortably" attitude most developers seem to take. I've found that there is often very little difference between Normal and Hard difficulties other than time spent preparing, and preparation being longer for the same strategy is not harder.

Where games will actually challenge me in a meaningful way, I will happily play on higher difficulties. But honestly I don't have the patience to grind longer to achieve the same results I would get on a lower difficulty, and I have a massive backlog, so it's VERY rare I will play on anything above Normal because I just don't have the time to waste. I tend to play around with games that let you change difficulty at any time though, just to see if there is any noticeable difference in my gameplay experience.

I am definitely planning on a Hard difficulty playthrough of Ghost of Tsushima when it comes out, though. Sounds like the developers actually know what they're doing with it. Speaking of Xenoblade...I wish it'd stop reminding me casual mode exists if I die a few too many times to Unique Monsters I'm not strong enough to challenge yet but just can't leave alone because I am like that >.>

Rhythm games are the exception to this. I play on Easy until I can get a good rank, then I go to Normal, then I might go to Hard if I know the song, then I stop because I am only human and higher difficulties in rhythm games are not designed for mere mortals such as myself. xD

 

[Lunar]

It really does depend on the game, but very few video games actually get difficulty right.

Tbf Dawn, your explanations of difficulty in video games are spot on and have really made me re-think my perception of the concept of 'difficulty'. And that's a great point about Ghost of Tsushima as well, that game seems like it will make the player really think about approaches, especially on harder difficulties! :)

 

[Venonat in Space]

When I was a child, it was always easy mode, but as I got older, I realized it was the journey, not the destination, so I put games on medium now.

 

[Nymphadora]

I normally pick "normal" difficulty. If I make a aecond run-through, I'll do Easy to pick up whatever I missed

 

[Sheep]

always easy mode. only exception would be if Pokémon had difficulty options, then I'd always go for the 'hardest' difficulty (which probably still wouldn't be very hard if challenge mode in BW2 is anything to go off of). i'm generally bad at games and don't enjoy constant losses. especially in JRPGs, since those already tend to be tough for me!

 

[Fairy]

I play normal difficulty during the first play through. Then, if I do a replay, I'll crank up the difficulty. Skyrim and DeadSpace for example, I play on Legendary. If the story is heavily narrative driven, I'll play on easy to make sure I don't miss any lore, but with other games like Hallow Knight I'll (attempt lol) Steel Soul mode. Still other games like Monster Hunter don't have difficulty levels as much as they have higher level progression for the player. G-Rank Deviant X is some of the hardest fights you have have in that game and I couldn't imagine playing any other way if I want a real challenge! ψ(｀∇´)ψ

 

[Hermione Granger]

I decided to actually try out a souls type game that being Code Vein, but it hasn't been to difficult so far maybe because I'm early on. If it gets to difficult I'll probably stop playing when I get to that point.

 

[Soaring Sid]

I always prefer normal mode on the first run. Xenoblade wasn't that difficult for me, but Trails in the Sky on hard mode was devastating. I immediately went for normal mode after the Hard Mode reminded me of SMT: Nocturne. The tutorial enemies and boss were too difficult for me, so I just went back to normal.

But yes, going down in difficulty does make me feel guilty. It's not as if I cheated though, just that I'm not up to the challenge; I'm not skilled...that feeling.

 

[Emilia]

i usually pick easy/normal, sometimes after completing the game i'll replay on hard...

 

[Pyrax]

I always go with Normal since it's usually the most balanced - I'll bump up the difficulty if a game feels too easy. If it's a JRPG or a second playthrough then I usually start with Hard mode to challenge myself. Easy mode is reserved for when I'm really struggling with a boss.