Difficulty settings are funny little things, aren’t they? Tagged with a variety of zesty, sometimes comical, buzzwords, games use them to turn up the heat or tone down, depending on player preference. In sports titles like FIFA, they determine the mobility and positioning of footballers on the field, while dictating the competitiveness of AI drivers in games like Forza and Need for Speed. These parameters change from genre to genre with many action games, shooters, and RPGs using difficulty to tweak key stats such as damage mitigation.
It’s strange to think too too long ago that difficulty settings were hardly ever featured in video games. Casting my mind back to the glory days of the Super Nintendo and original Game Boy, there were no such affordances, whether playing Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Pokémon or Earthworm Jim among many others.
It’s more commonplace nowadays, to the point where games like Dark Souls are the notable exception to the rule, albeit on the more difficult end of the spectrum. Having the option there, however, is nothing but a good thing if you ask me. As someone who likes to play with friends of various skill levels, I don’t understand the hardcore mentality some gamers have, occasionally lashing out at studio who fit their products with difficulty settings. The less barriers there are, the better. I recently wanted to play The Evil Within, but found its frantic combat encounters and stiff gunplay made it a slog. After dialing down the difficulty, it became much more enjoyable and better suited for the leisurely mood I was in.
When selecting which level to play at, I vary between games and genres. In general I like to give myself a challenge though other factors, such as difficulty-related trophies, having their part to play. Therefore, when approaching a Call of Duty campaign, I’ve always gone for Veteran no matter what, knowing that a gold trophy is waiting on the other side.
I’ve also started to take this approach with roleplaying games but for a different reason. Although I’ve slightly fallen out of love with Dragon Age: Inquisition, part of the reason why I enjoyed it so much was the challenge of playing through on Nightmare. This forced me to make use of the game’s advanced mechanics way more than I would have otherwise. Similarly, I beat The Witcher III on Death March and firmly believe that in doing so helped to extend its lifespan considerably.
For Dave, it all depends on the nature of the game itself as well as the conditions in which he’s playing. As other writers would agree, reviewing games can often force us to blitz through on normal or maybe go one step lower for the sake of timeliness. That said, when it comes to Halo, you can find him bumping things up to Legendary.
Miguel is another Halo Legendary player, though elsewhere you’ll find him playing games on normal. His quest to finish Halo: Reach even had him leaving his console on overnight to save progress where checkpoints weren’t enough.
Like many, Aran often finds himself nursing quite the backlog of games. His choice to opt for the “normal” setting is therefore backed up with some logical thinking. Although it affords a mild challenge, it enables him to quickly play through game after game, spreading what time he has across numerous unfinished titles. Dom’s largely the same, steering clear of any mode with that has challenging connotations. Normal is his regular go-to, though he’s not too stubborn to tone things down when the going gets tough.
Tef seems employ a universal tactic as well, mostly opting for one difficulty setting below the top. He likes a challenge from the get go, but appreciates how some developers lock the highest tier until you’ve completed an initial runthrough. Using Uncharted as an example, he explains that gun fights can be particularly perilous on Crushing and may well dampen someone’s experience with the game first time around.
And with that we pass it over to you, the readers? Do you find yourself adopting one difficulty setting in every game? Is this almost a subconscious reaction? Does the prospect of bragging rights, trophies, and achievements mean you’ll go out of your way to bump up the challenge?
JR.
I never play a game without first looking at the trophy list and depending on how difficult or time consuming it is can affect the difficulty level I choose to play. That sounds really bad but it does affect my decision sometimes.
If I know I’m never going to get the platinum trophy I’ll choose easy/medium and just enjoy the game for what it is. If the platinum looks attainable (ei no multiplayer trophies) I’ll play the game on whichever difficulty is required.
Sometimes (most times even) the harder difficulties are the most enjoyable because they force you to use the game mechanics in a way you wouldn’t have to on an easier playthrough. You have to think fast and use your head if you want to survive and there’s an extra sense of accomplishment when you clear a particularly tough area or beat the game.
hazelam
i’ll often start on easy.
oh no, does that mean i’m not a real gamer? O_O
i play for fun, or for the story, in either case, easy is usually my first option.
i’ll go to medium if the game is too easy, making it boring.
sometimes i’ll even jack it up to hard, if i think the challenge might be fun, but if it means repeatedly dying, fuck it, i aint got the patience for that.
what i really don’t like about this issue, is how so many gamers seem morally opposed to games even having the option to change difficulty levels.
and i repeat, the OPTION.
nobody would be forced to play on easy.
take a game like Dark Souls, git gud is the tired refrain.
some people can’t get that good.
how would giving the game an easy option ruin it?
or is there an element of ego stroking there?
or just a form of elitism.
kind of devalues the game if you think the only selling point is how hard it is.
if the difficulty’s all that appeals to you, learn klingon, run 27 marathons in 27 days, try to get a coherent sentence out of sarah palin.
i’m sure they’d prove harder than Dark Souls.
or you could play bayou billy, if you’re really masochistic.
letting people not as skilled, for whatever reason, have fun with the game would not ruin it.
if they really loved the game, they’d want as many people to enjoy it as possible.
but then, maybe that’s where the elitism comes in.
or are they actually afraid they might use the option if it was there?
i know my gaming level, and i have no shame in playing on easier modes.
personally i think that’s a much healthier attitude than measuring my, or others, self worth based on gaming skills.
Lyts1985
First thing I do is check the trophy list – if it requires completing the game on a certain difficulty and the trophies stack I’ll go for the hardest straight off the bat.
If the trophy list doesn’t demand a certain setting I’ll normally play on normal/medium and up it if it’s too easy.
I don’t like playing on too easy a difficulty as there’s just no challenge there but, similarly, I don’t want to be frustrated to the point of quitting or breaking the controller by something I’m supposed to be doing to relax/have fun.
Kennykazey
It depends on my mood, the type of game, and what I want from the experience.
If it’s a game I’m not familiar with, I usually go with Normal. At least for the first playthrough.
But games and genres I like to think I’ve got a reasonable grip on, sees me upping it to Hard, though rarely the most difficult option. One exception being Halo on co-op.
This is because I usually find the ways difficulty is added (less health/ deal less damage) can be annoying and almost work against the gameplay at times. Especially on the highest difficulty settings.
I also play games more for enjoyment than challenge, but like a good balance. And I’ve got a massive backlog, so I can’t afford to artificially make games multiple times longer.
That said, I never select Easy, because it’s often so forgiving it feels wrong and make you play in stupid, sometimes duller ways as there’s nothing to fear.
cam_manutd
I like a challenge but these days time is short and it looks as though I’m going to have to tone down the difficulty in order to get through my games. That said, cover shooters and most fps games I can do without dying too much on the highest difficulty. But hack and slash games are just pure frustration when trying to do it on a harder difficulty.
JR.
Something I forgot to mention earlier, I think games in general are much easier now than say PS1/PS2 days. Not just in terms of combat but having to figure out where/what you are supposed to do next without the help of waypoints and markers. Running back and forth between previously explored areas trying to figure out the next step and the eureka moment when it clicks and you realise what you need to do to progress to the next area. You don’t get that in a lot of modern games. You just follow the line on the ground or a dot on your mini map. I’d say that’s a bigger difficulty related issue than having difficulty settings which really only affect combat and puzzles (if there are any).
Andrewww
I usually play on normal. If I like a game a lot, I used to replay it at a higher difficulty level, or play for very difficult trophies, but as time becomes more precious the older you get, I rather rarely do so nowadays.
With a sequel of a beloved series, I may start off with hard (e.g. Uncharted).
What I dislike very much are difficulty spikes that break the game for me. This can be so frustrating I could throw my controller at the wall.
I’ve enjoyed Demon’s Souls a lot and played through that, and I didn’t find it overly difficult. But the first Dark Souls had game breaking bosses for me, so I gave up on the series altogether, even though I’d actually like that kind of game. Artificially causing pain to gamers, e.g. by not putting a pause in, is in my view just plain stupid. I game in an environment, in which I have to use pause sometimes, as e.g. a little one walks in, etc.
Make the ‘normal’ as difficult as you want, but always offer an easy option, somewhere.
Not making a game accessible to everyone is as stupid as building a huge set of stairs at the entrance of a building, while leaving wheelchair access out for design reasons, and claiming that to be a good idea.
duff_em_up_dave
I prefer playing games on hard mode because I find easy….. too easy. However, there’s hard mode and then there’s “get touched by a baddie and die horribly, shouting & screaming at the telly” mode. Much like The Evil Within. I like to platinum my games but playing TEW on “Akuma” mode is crazy hard. Literally, one touch and you die. I got about halfway through the game, to a point where you are bombarded with baddies. I have plenty of guns & ammo, yet the protagonist just can’t reload fast enough. I have died in that room so many times, literally shouting & swearing at my TV like a loony, and have even smashed up a DS3. And I mean smashed it to bits. After I did that I finally turned my back on it.
duff_em_up_dave
And now I’m pee’ed off just thinking about it. And that’s putting it mildy.
Crazy_Del
Don’t give up! I too died so many times on Chapter 6 for 2hrs believe it or not. Even made a certain playthrough chapters, Akuma difficulty in my YouTube channel
TSBonyman
I usually rely on ‘Normal’ for my first playthrough as it gives me the option of a higher challenge should i wish to replay a particular game. Nothing about Bloodborne is ‘normal’ though.