Do you ever lower the difficulty?

[Crankafoo]

Truly depends on the game, some games I totally blow at and I still like to enjoy from time to time, those I play on Normal or lower.
Those of which I'm alright-good at, I take a leap of faith and jump straight into max difficulty.

 

[Hman121]

I did the same with Morrowind, set it on Easy after the first few tries on Regular,but I had a lot of fun being a lvl.44 kick-ass spellsword in an easy world that I still play it on Easy.

 

[parasyteFMA]

I always go with the default setting unless I play though the game again, then I raise it.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

I almost never ever play on Hard. Only exception I can think of like ever is Mafia 2, but only because 98% of that game was so unbelievably easy that it didn't matter.

I used to play mostly on the easiest settings, but nowadays I just default to "Normal".

I don't play for challenge, so I can handily beat every game I play. If even "Normal" is giving me trouble, I'll waste no time in dropping the difficulty.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Sure. If I'm seriously stuck and the game stops being fun, I lower it. I'd rather continue playing on a lower diffculty than drop the game altogether.

 

[scorptatious]

The only time I ever lowered the difficulty mid-game was in Mass Effect 1. I was a soldier on normal mode and was fighting Matriarch Benezia. I kept getting killed over and over so eventually, I just lowered the difficulty to easy for that one fight. It was most likely because I had no tech abilities in my party as I had Wrex an Liara in the party. Which made things a lot harder.

I recently found the battle to be MUCH easier playing as an infiltrator. Especially since I had Tali instead of Liara in the party.

 

[Jacob Haggarty]

im almost the living breathing rendition of "casual gamer" (here many will spit in disgust xD)

I play almost everything on easy difficulty. Partly because usually, i suck at gaming, partly because i prefer to play story driven games more so than action sorts. A likely excuse, but ive already admitted i have a tendancy to suck. I usually get better over a period of time, and then suddenly lose the ability to play properly.

Besides, on easy i can be the bad-ass the game wants me to be. You wont catch me doing anything above hard... and if hard is the last option, then i will play easy. Simply because in games like crysis, or halo, or crackdown, im set up to be this unstopable killing machine, hell bent on destroying anything that so much as BREATHES on me.
The effect of being this demi-god of doom is sort of ruined by having my arse handed back to me more times than i care to mention.

So, easy all the way for me

 

[sageoftruth]

Really depends on what adjusting the difficulty does. In Tenchu: Shadow Assassins, it only affects a wii-mote reliant mini game, and since I play it for the stealth, I keep the difficulty low.

Meanwhile, in the God of War games I at least don't play on the highest difficulty, because bosses aren't nearly as fun when they take twice as many hits to defeat. I'm looking at you, Theseus.

 

[Guthixflare7]

I do it when I don't want to play a game for the challenge.
Prime example: Red Faction: Guerilla. Fuck, I just want to demolish shit.

I think games that are all about outrageous destruction should be played on the lowest difficulty for maximum obliteration as a rule. It's just more fun and gives you that warm fuzzy maniacal feeling.

I very much agree...I even smash the EDF in Red Faction.

 

[loc978]

Nope, I'm from the old school of hardcore. "Normal" is as low as I ever go, and I will often raise a game up to its hardest setting.
Now, there's nothing wrong with going easy to experience the story, I'm just a relic from the age of Battletoads and (later) Earthworm Jim.

 

[GeorgW]

I always start a game on the hardest difficulty, and keep at it even when it gets tough. But if the game is bad, and this happens without me realizing that it's bad, I don't lower the difficulty, I stop playing. But only when it gets hard. I just realized this, thanks!