What difficulty do you play on?

Couldn't find a thread on this, but if there is one I might have missed then let me know.

When given the chance to choose a difficulty, during your first playthrough which do you usually pick? Some games have their own names for difficulties but there's generally the Easy, Normal, Hard and sometimes Expert modes.

If it's my first playthrough I usually go for Normal since it's between easy which might be boring and hard where I may get annihilated. For me Normal is just the ordinary 'normal' game, easy being a stripped down version and hard being a challenging version. It's just a balanced game mode at neither of the extremes.

If I replay a game I sometimes might go for a harder difficulty since I have experience already playing it and want a challenge to get even better at it. It can also be fun because it might make me rethink how I play the game, like needing to come up with different ways of approaching a situation or something.

I start with normal and do everything else later.

On most games, I start on normal, but for RPGs, I almost always start on the lowest difficulty so I can spend less time worrying about several things and simply experience the story first. For fighting games, I start on normal, but immediately adjust until I find the AI is close enough to my level of skill (which could be high or low, depending on the game, usually lower).

Hardest difficulty available. That way, later on if I'm having a difficult time, I don't have to tell myself, "hey could be worse, you could be playing on a harder difficulty".

Started doing this on Kingdom Hearts "Proud Mode" since lots of games back then didn't have a "New Game +" mode. Never regretted the decision when I got the secret cutscene after beating Sephiroth.

Games with the "Hardest" difficulty I've played with recently and actually had a difficult time are Resident Evil 6, because the controls and aiming system are shit, and the game itself was just horribly bad; and Max Payne 3, game is terribly UNFORGIVING, literally no heals most of the game, and you will probably die within 3-4 shots.

I usually start off on Normal or sometimes Hard depending on the genre, especially when they are trophies involved. Most of the games I play nowadays tend to have difficulty related trophies you need to beat them for obtaining them, if some of them are being able to stack if you beat it on the hardest difficulty once, then I go for broke and start on Hard, but for others, you need multiple playthroughs from Normal to the hardest difficulty it offers.

All in all, I'm starting to grow quite used to meeting expectations whenever I'm playing on the most hardest level nowadays on a specific game, it really adds to the enjoyment of achieving something you're putting your gamer skills to use after playing a game you really like and showing you want to get everything it has to offer.

Majority of the time, it will be normal. Its the first playthrough, so going causal and enjoying the story and gameplay. If I like the game to replay it, I will try to go on higher difficulties. Just for more challenge or in a special occasion, getting a achievment or trophy. Also, when you beat a boss that is known to be hard on a high difficulty, it will be satisfying.

depending on the games I guess.. normally going for hard so that I wont be unsatisfied if the games its too easy.. unless its hard games like ninja gaiden, bayonetta or devil may cry

Depends on the game/genre. I usually play on normal or hard but never easy.

Normal unless its a sequel game and I've played the previous recently. Then I go for Hard since I'm already familiar with the game play.

If the game doesn't give out any other incentive/bonuses than just being challenging, than it's all normal for me.

On RPGs I start out on Normal and then easy every time after
On Shooters I start out on hard and then any harder difficulty afterwards, then easy for anything else
On Hack and slash I start out on normal and then climb up and then drop to easy.
Everything else I rarely go above Normal at all.

Depending on the genre, and I'm mostly talking about shooters here, modern games have a skewed interpretation of "normal." It's a more apt term for the difficulty of older games, but modern casualfaggotry causes the difficulties to break down like so:


Easy = Why are you even playing a video game? Movies have the easiest difficulty.
Normal = It's fucking easy despite being called a balanced mode.
Hard = The way the game is meant to be played.
Very Hard = Welcome home, masochists.

Games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. have the best difficulty setting I've seen: the harder the setting, the easier it is to kill the player as well as the AI. Less bullet sponges means more realistic gameplay. Guns don't kill people; master difficulty kills people. I also love ArmA's difficulty settings, where it's possible to fine tune what a setting means by enabling or disabling a myriad of options, as well as determining the skill of the AI.

Edit: I heavily imply it, but that still doesn't answer the topic question. I play on hard, because that label reminds of my unreasonably huge dick.

Jump right into the hardest difficulty possible

I go normal then up the difficulty as I re-play the game.

Normal since I'm a casual gamer.

I play normal. But, sometimes, in easy (Dragon Age : Origins, geez, I can't win battles !) and in hard. But rarely.

I go with normal and work my way up from there. A few RPG and BioWare games are an exception where I hit easy first when it lets me.

Funny thing is most games I play don't have difficulty options.
But let's say I have the option. I'd first play the game on Normal or whatever the "middle" option is.
If I really liked the game, I'll to back and play again on the hardest difficulty.


On the topic of this: Does it anger anyone else when a game doesn't have an Easy option, and Normal is the first option?
Are they saying "we don't know- we can't make the game any easier", or are they renaming Easy difficulty to Normal?

I don't have many games with that has a option.

Normal. It gives me a standard whether the game is hard or not.
If i play on normal and dies/fails much(Dark Souls, Mirror's Edge) i will set my mind to serious mode when playing it.
If i die/fail averagely then it's normal.