What difficulty do you start with?

[DrunkenMonkey]

I normally go for the hardest difficulty available, it it turns out to be very very hard like Persona 4 I play through on the second hardest and then play through with the mastered understanding of the mechanics to destroy the hardest mode. It doesn't feel like I actually finished a good game if I didn't survive everything it could throw at me.

The only difficulty to date that I couldn't get through is witcher 2's dark mode the stupid quicktime events always kill me. (no I won't turn them off because that would mean surrendering to QTEs)

 

[Feraswondervahnn]

I find the best way to learn a game is to go straight in on the hardest available difficulty.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Normal (or whatever the default difficulty setting is called). I'll only play on a Hard-er difficulty setting on a replay or a New Game Plus, if the game allows for it. I have nothing to prove to anyone except myself. And I'm all about my kind of fun and my kind of challenge.

 

[DanteLives]

If I'm unfamiliar with the game, I'd normally choose the easiest difficulty so I can learn the ropes without much difficulty.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Normal or one above normal.

 

[Nazulu]

Usually normal, unless I heard from many people that it's super easy. I don't have any talent when it comes to playing so I hope normal would be the middle ground so the game would mainly be designed around that difficulty first.

 

[xshadowscreamx]

if its an FPS, 'veteran'.
everything else on 'normal' first.

 

[Magicman10893]

I used to start with Easy, because I have an extremely limited patience for repeated failure and I derive no enjoyment from surpassing challenges. But lately I've been starting with Normal to see what I was missing. Turns out it wasn't that much. In some games, I've upped the difficulty to make fights last long enough to use all my abilities/spells/etc.

That's the full extent of my relationship with difficulty levels.

This is basically my philosophy. On games where I play online competitively with other people I will play on Normal/Hard so I don't get rusty. In the case of Mass Effect 3, I had to play on Insanity just to mimic playing Silver online.

Other than that, I only go for higher difficulties if (A) the game actually has a good reward for doing so, or (B) I want all of the achievements and I realistically think I can beat it. The only time I beat something really difficult for bragging rights and/or the challenge was the Mile High Club from Call of Duty 4 so I could beat my friend in an achievement race.

 

[theSteamSupported]

With the exception of rhythm games, I always choose the easiest difficulty. Failure is not an option.

 

[Tdoodle]

I don't play games as much as I used to so now I go for normal, I used to put everything on hard but can't be bothered with that anymore. If I've played the crap out of something I'll start putting it on hard, though.

 

[thejackyl]

Normal unless it starts feeling too easy. Than I'll crank it up.
If it's a type of game I'm not familiar with I'll start on easy.

I hardly ever play games on Hard unless it has no challenge(for me) on normal (Like Kingdoms of Amalur, or Uncharted 2)

 

[Ashadowpie]

now i've been playing games since i was 4, and as a gamer who likes fun un challenging things, i always play on easy. i dunno, i just like to happily glide through a game without fault or rage, even if im good at the game and could up the difficulty if i wanted. im just not a person who likes challenges. i wanna kick butt damnit, not get My butt kicked. whats the fun in that?

for me, if im a good way through the game and purposely have to get game over just to see what it looks like. thats the perfect game for me!

 

[aguspal]

95% of the times in the hardest setting. The other 5% is one or two difficulties lower than the highest one, VERY rarely the default one (Applies mainly to genres that I am not that expericed with, such as RTS´S and fighting games, the rare time I play those). Also if playing in the highest difficulty is requiered to 100% the game, I have even more reasons to play in the hardest one.

Me loves challenges. I dont like the games going easy on me, if they are difficult enough to kick my ass until I kick it´s, then so be it (The exception is in RPGS. You know, that one moment where you are level 100 and the enemy is level 20 or something that like and you kill them by looking at them LOL). I also refuse to ever, EVER, E V E R play in a difficulty thats below the default one.


E V E R.

 

[Gabanuka]

Normal is how they want you to play without any artificial difficulty

If the designers wanted the game to be hard then normal would be the difficultly they wanted.
Normally hard mode means bullet sponge enemies and other such crap.

 

[TheScientificIssole]

hardest or second hardest. I like a good Challenge

This, I never play normal. I feel as if really fighting through a game is the best way to play it; it makes the plot mean more, when you're really into the games encounters.

 

[uchytjes]

I used to start on the easiest difficulty, but now that i've stated to hunt achievements I start on the highest difficulty possible. Case and point: Dishonored. If I'm gonna go for a completely stealth no-kill playthrough, I want to feel like I actually accomplished something. If I want to kill stuff, however, I want to be almost invincible. I want to just walk in to a room and have everyone die almost instantaneously.

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

Normal. I'm not overly skilled, or challenge seeking, but I have been gaming since I was 5 and get bored of anything that poses no challenge. It's very rare that I play above or below normal, even on repeat playthroughs of games I really liked.

I think this thread would have been better with a poll, by the way.

 

[Lieju]

Depends on the type of game and why I'm playing it for. If it's for the story, and I suck at the types of games it is, normal or easy. Also depends on how the difficulty ramps up. If playing on harder would just mean I'd have to grind more, I don't think that adds value to the experience.

 

[Dree]

If i have played a lot of games in that genre then the hardest but if not then one down from the hardest.

 

[Hemlet]

I'll generally play on Normal or Easy first, so I can fuck about and learn things about the game at my leisure. Then if I think the game's worth playing through another time or two then I'll put the difficulty up a couple of notches and work my way through dealing with the changes the extra difficulty brings and learning from them.