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Is there/should there be any shame in playing games on the easiest difficulty?

T

Tunavi

Banned
Play however you want. Thats why the difficulty options are there.

The more respawn checkpoints available, the harder I make the difficulty. Hence, I will roll through Halo on Legendary as it respawns me back to the beginning of the failed encounter. Fire Emblem I cannot play at the hardest difficulty because you have to restart the entireeee level.
 
O

Omadahl

Banned
Nope. I played The Last of Us on easy because I don't have much time to play games anymore and I wanted to experience the story. Play it however you like.
 
L

loddite

Neo Member
The Artisan said:
I was thinking about this today... back in the day a lot of the time, instead of even playing on normal/regular, I decided to just play the game on easy basically I guess because I wasn't looking for a challenge; I just wanted to play the game, and see the story unfold. Later on with certain games I decided to play on harder difficulties but nowadays it's mostly to unlock trophies. But as for playing games mostly on easy difficulty, should there be any shame in doing so? It is up to everyone to play the game how they feel of course, but...still. Wanna hear your thoughts.
Click to expand...

Yes. You should only play on the hardest difficulty because life is suffering.
 
V

vall03

Member
No shame. I will play any game on the easiest difficulty possible unless there's some sort of boost on higher difficulties (higher exp, drops, NG+ carry over etc) Another reason why I stopped NG+ on Witcher 3. So disappointed that everything scaled up, meh. I wanted to trash everything in the game especially the early areas. Was really surprised at the level scaling of enemies. Guess I won't be getting that Death March trophy.

A couple of things as well, I actually finished EOU2 earlier this month on Story Picnic mode. Then on my NG+ I'm on Classic Standard. Then, I actually have a list of games I wish had difficulty options. (I'm looking at you Darkest Dungeon!)
 
S

SephLuis

Member
Daingurse said:
The only thing that really matters is personal enjoyment IMO. If an easier difficulty makes a game more fun for a person, then cool. A lot of people get enjoyment from a challenge, also cool. I let my niece play 3D World and she frankly had a ball with that invincibility suit. I find that the suit to be something of an insult, tells me I died too much lol, but I had zero incentive to stop her from using it and having fun. Whatever personally makes the game funner is honestly the only thing that matters to me.
Click to expand...

My brother realized that the suit was available once he died a lot, so he was dying on purpose sometimes to get the suit. He eventually got much better.

PopcornMegaphone said:
You are a horrible person.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I guess =)

Lothar said:
Nah, he's just older, grew up with the NES, and appreciates difficulty. There's nothing wrong with that.
Click to expand...

I am not that old =P
I grew up with the N64 actually.

What I am trying to teach him, at least, is to not give up easily.
 
Berserking Guts

Berserking Guts

Member
I wouldn't feel shame for lowering the difficulty to easy, but I would feel as though I was cheapening the experience for myself by skipping the learning curve.
I'd sooner quit the game before dropping the difficulty. Which is becoming more and more common these days as other things take presidence.
 
M

MrDoctor

Member
No, the act is fine by itself. Play the game the way that is fun.

However, you fully deserve scorn for consistently doing it out of fear.
 
H

Herne

Member
Not at all, it's up to you to decide how you want to play.

I not only use the easiest setting, I also use trainers. For me it's about the experience, not the challenge. My friends laugh at me for it, but I don't mind. I never cheat in multiplayer - just in single-player, where I can immerse myself in the world and story and characters.
 
D

DrRussian

Member
It depends on the game really. My first play through of the last of us was on easy and when I picked it up for ps4 I beat it on survivor.
 
K

Kas

Member
Nope, options are meant to be used.

Darksiders 1 kicked my ass on the hardest difficulty level, yet I can normally run through games on their hardest.
 
B

bucyou55

Banned
working, going to school, being a husband and father means sometimes i dont have time to fuck around on hard mode, i see no shame on playing easy
 
Shpeshal Nick

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
Easy is the most fun. I only play on harder difficulties when its involved for a trophy/achievement. Its one of many reasons I adore Tomb Raider 2013. You get a completion achievement regardless of difficulty.
 
U

ugh_the_boot

Banned
Not at all, you should play whichever difficulty you have the most fun on.

Having said that though there are many benefits to playing on harder difficulties and I personally only play on the hardest difficulty available from the very begining of the game. It all started with Legendary difficulty on the original Halo. The AI was so much more advanced on Legendary mode....it actually felt like the covenant were fighting for their lives as opposed to just being cannon fodder (especially the elites who use to make battle cries and do kamikaze runs in extreme situations). Since then I have played all games on the hardest possible difficulty that is not one hit kill. I honestly cannot play a game if I have to put it on easy difficulty even if easy is actually very hard compared to most games...even then I just cannot do it as I feel like I have missed out on something.

I also love micro managing my stats, weapons and ammo and on harder difficulties these things become very important. You are usually required to perfect headshots or make every bullet count in some way which really elevates the enemy encouters and sometimes makes them quite nerve-racking and I get enjoyment out of this.

Another perk to playing on higher difficulties is you usually get all the lower level achievements amongst other things e.g proper endings etc.

I do struggle with games sometimes (extremely rare) but never regret choosing the hardest option unless I start to encouter really cheap crap (like in Call of Duty/Killzone games), even then I would much rather quit the game for good than lower the difficulty as I feel like cheap crap doesn't deserve my time anyways lol. My advice would be to try the hardest difficulty and persevere as you may end up enjoying your games even more than you do now (I know this from personal experience and other gamer friends I have gotten to switch to harder difficulties who are having much more fun with their games now). Fun is always paramount for most people but I personally have more fun knowing I am overcoming challenges.
 
A

Atomski

Member
Game stories are mostly horrible so I never really understood the idea of "I'll just play on easy to experience the story". If your not there for the game play why not read a book or watch a movie. 90% of the time your bound to experience a better story there.

But whatever... no shame. :p
 
F

farisr

Member
Nope. And the full story of a game should not be locked away behind a higher difficulty either. It's fine if it's like a little teaser for the next game, or a gag hidden behind the highest difficulty something (like the Halo games), but if it's a significant part of the story, that's just wrong.

Possible MGSV and MGSPW spoilers (no plotpoints)
If MGSV's "true ending" is on the same level as PW's true ending, ugh! I'm already dreading trying to unlock it, I just wanted to play through the game on normal (I had a hard enough time in GZ doing that as it is)
 
V

vaibhavp

Member
no need to feel ashamed over such trivial things. i did this a lot last gen especially when I used to buy hyped games on launch day. i always wanted to play it as fast as possible.

however these days i mostly play retro games so no hurry anymore. so i mostly play on normal.

also my tastes have changed and i no longer wish to see story unfold but rather make most out of game and have fun. so normal is best setting for me.
 
Mr Nash

Mr Nash

square pies = communism
People can play at whatever difficulty they want, if others don't like it that's their problem.
 
jobrro

jobrro

Member
I usually pick normal but it depends on the game. Sometimes hard if I feel like getting the platinum.

For example a grindy RPG I will play on easy, a genre I am unfamiliar in that doesn't allow difficulty changes mid-game I might also play on easy.

Also if I am getting through a 3+ part game series I'm largely playing for story I might opt for easy mode until the more recent titles.
 
T

TokiDoki

Member
No , but some games are really meant to be played on at least normal so that you can appreciate it . Kamiya's games especially (DMC , Bayonetta)
 
A

Auto-Reply

Member
No, but maybe a disclaimer if the game is not supposed to be played on the easiest difficulty because it makes certain gameplay mechanics redundant. This is obviously not the case for every game but some people think that playing a game on easy is the same as playing on hard, just without the headaches of retries/reloads, they are wrong. In some games they have a competely different experience, worse!
 
Northeastmonk

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I'd say last gen brought on the 7 to 8 hour long game, so you basically skip an hour or so if the game had any sort of difficulty. Thinking back I played mostly on Normal and Hard. I remember finishing Dante's Inferno on Zealot, finishing Dark Sector in a week, and then playing games like The Darkness 1 and 2 on normal too.

Normal is like a walk in the park. You aren't getting that bullet sponge last boss anymore. You get a good experience without having to worry about repeating a level because checkpoints set you right back up to where you were. I guess now a days not a lot of players want to do an extreme difficulty because dying too often is frowned upon.

If you're just barely catching their interest in the game then why do you want to crank up the difficulty?

I always played RE and Silent Hill on Normal. I don't mind dying. Progress was an enjoyment. Now a days you just want to finish that game or get all those achievements.

Aren't achievements and trophies making gamers play anyway or an initiative? I never cared about them because I kept what my enjoyment I had was, at heart. Now a days, you probably have people comparing left and right. I guess I still haven't caught on in 10 or so years. I played games for my own amusement, like a lot of people have for many years.
 
I

impact

Banned
Yea there is, because someone who plays The Last of Us on easy is just running through like "LOL SAME SHIT AS UNCHARTED DUM SHOOTER" but when you play on a proper difficulty it's a finely craft stealth/action/horror. Obviously not the cure for cancer like some believe, but it's still a very nice game.

I don't care who plays on easy, but if you tell me you played something on easy I'm not listening to anything you say about it. Game mechanics pretty much don't matter in 99% of easy modes these days.
 
J

JustAnotherOtaku

Member
Absolutely not. Whatever gives you the most enjoyment. Never seen the appeal in playing something on the highest difficulty just to end up really frustrated and hating the game.
 
C

Cave Johnson

Member
It would be more accurate to say "tolerability" options than difficulty. Higher difficulties should encourage mastery of game mechanics not test your patience for the sake of.

Every game developer should emulate the Thief difficulty settings as it is both consistent to the theme and encourages you to use the game mechanics expertly.
 
D

dimasok

Member
Why should there be shame? Are you competing or something in a national championship? In fact, even if you use trainer on every single game (assuming you play on PC) it also shouldn't matter.

Its like asking whether you should feel shame for playing less games than someone or watching less movies or whatever.

Its silly.
 
V

Vitten

Member
Do whatever you want, couldn't care less.

But realise that you probably screw yourself over by playing in retard mode as most of the games' intricacies and carefully crafted challenges will completely fly over your head giving you a very bland vanilla experience.

The Last of Us for instance is just a mindless shooter on easy with nothing of the gripping tension you get from playing on harder settings.
 
T

tinders

Member
I failed roughly 20 times to beat Frankenstein in Mad World (on the easiest difficulty). I was enjoying the game up until that stage - despite it controlling like a hot piece of garbage.

I turned on Ocarina codes for invincibility and played through the rest of the game that way. No regrets.

Thankfully all the P* games I've played since have been much better in terms of controls, mission structure and forgiving deaths.
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
No, but you're robbing yourself of the rewarding experience of beating a challenging game. I used to do initial playthroughs on medium or hard, depending on what I'd heard about the general difficulty, but since beating a few Souls games and realizing how rewarding it is I've started playing most games on the highest difficulty right away (if possible). Feels good. Of course, this is only relevant if the gameplay is any good. If it's crap and you just want to see the story, go right ahead and play on whatever difficulty you wish.
 
M

matrix-cat

Member
I don't think there's any shame at all in playing on Easy, but I do love the little jabs certain developers throw in:
projectk2013081214014901_thumb.jpg


tinders said:
I turned on Ocarina codes for invincibility and played through the rest of the game that way. No regrets.
Click to expand...

That game's some hot bullshit when it comes to checkpointing. I absolutely adore Platinum, but I quit Madworld the moment I found out I'd have to repeat the entire level every time I died at a boss. That's not the kind of difficulty I'd ever find enjoyable; who's got time for that shit?
 
R

Rather Dashing

Neo Member
For me, personally?

Yes, definitely. Lowering the difficulty is admitting defeat.

But I'm not going to shame anybody else for using their free time differently than me. That option is there for a reason, and if beating that challenge isn't fun for you, then why should you force yourself to do it? I don't understand what you're getting out of the game at that point, but I don't have to. It's your game, it's your time, do whatever you want.
 
K

kiuo

Member
Nope i could care less about the challenge. Im all about the story and my greatest satisfaction is getting higher stats to overpower things.
 
Bl@de

Bl@de

Member
The first games with difficultiy options I played where id Software games. I think it factors into that I never played on easy. NEVER! No way I'm that uncool.

264558-wolfenstein-3d-dos-screenshot-the-wimpy-difficulty.png


doom3.jpg
 
Z

ZombiePlatypus

Member
OP, play your games whichever way you'd enjoy them. I love the Uncharted series, but in every entry, I switched the difficulty from normal to easy whenever the supernatural stuff kicked in towards the last chunk of the game. I don't feel the slightest bit bad or cheap about it. It kept the experience flowing at a good pace without being frustrating or demanding more of my time.

People should just play what they want, how they want. Others' opinions couldn't matter less here.
Unless you're a mobile gamer. Then you need to curl up in a fetal ball of shame for contributing to the growing cancer.

P.S.

I'm kidding. Of course everyone has equal merit regardless of platform choice. (Mostly.)
 
Soodanim

Soodanim

Gold Member
I play Red Faction Guerilla in Easy because playing on anything else makes staying alive the focus of the game instead of having fun.
 
K

KHlover

Banned
No, in some (many) games the gameplay just doesn't justify playing on a high difficulty. If all a game does is change health and damage values you won't ever see me play it on higher difficulties.

A good example of higher difficulties done great is Monster Hunter. While of course the health and damage of each monster increases going from Low Rank to High Rank to G Rank each monster also gets an enhanced moveset with new attacks that will fuck your shit up if you're not on your toes. The increase in health and damage is also counteracted by the new weapons and armor you can craft on each rank. In the end the time to kill for most monsters doesn't drastically increase with each new rank, but the battles still are a lot harder. The game really forces you to get better instead of just throwing OP weapons at your feet, I really like that.
 
D

Daingurse

Member
SixFourMike said:
I play Red Faction Guerilla in Easy because playing on anything else makes staying alive the focus of the game instead of having fun.
Click to expand...

I turned the difficulty down to the lowest setting on Planescape: Torment, after having the idea recommended to me by some Gaffers. Combat is the weakest part of the game, and not where the meat is anyway. Lowering the difficulty greatly improved my enjoyment of the game, as I was able to focus on the games strengths. Ended up loving the game.
 
S

Shin Kojima

Banned
I wouldn't mind how people played so much if it didn't mean new games kept getting less challenging to cater to these people.
Challenge used to be the main draw of games, now it's being presented as an exclusive feature.


Edit: hey isn't that screenshot from Loaded?
 
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