What Difficulty Do You Play Your Video Games On Average Without Cheats

[jeffmandm]

I normally play games either on Easy or Normal, depending on the game. The only real exception that I do is for a game that doesn't give you the good ending unless you're on the highest difficulty, in which case I give it a fair shot first, but then if I get to the point where I'm pissed off at the game or have been spending too much time on it I will use cheats, but ONLY infinite lives, because anything else would not be fair in general. I usually also crank the lives up to max if the game lets you change that.

As an example I'm playing Danganronpa on Gentle difficulty (Easy), but I also consult the DR Wiki if I need any hints on free-time events or class trials.

[marvelvscapcom2]

As a teenager I was ultra competitive and always played on the hardest difficulty the game offered in attempts for achievements and things.  But now that i've gotten a bit older, I focus more on trying to keep it hard enough to challenge me lightly, but not enough to make the game unfun.   Almost always normal difficulty but hard at times if it's a game i'm really good.   I'm currently at legendary difficulty on UFC 3 and it's still easy because i've gotten good at it.

[kashell]

I almost always begin a game on the default difficulty. A few exceptions are for games where I'm intent on getting as many trophies as possible in the least amount of playthroughs.

[armani]

Easy to Medium. I usually don't like challenges, I'm a casual.

[Cartagia]

Typically play everything on the default setting - I’ve adjusted down to Easy once or twice.  However, out of tradition, I’ve never played a Halo on anything less than Legendary.

[oldgamerz]

Easy to Medium. I usually don't like challenges, I'm a casual.

I just don't like to sweat my way through a video game either anymore. but I know longer use any cheats which is why I stick to the Sims series on PC. I used to literally have sweat pouring down when I used to play NHL 2002 on PC mastering that game is tough. but I only mastered NHL 2002 on Beginner and Easy and maybe sometimes on Medium But I also did not have an AC in my room in summer.

Typically play everything on the default setting - I’ve adjusted down to Easy once or twice.  However, out of tradition, I’ve never played a Halo on anything less than Legendary.

Geez you must like to play your Halo games hardcore, have you ever had an xbox controller soaked in sweat? I know the first Halo game is vary intense even on the lowest setting, In the flood levels the enemies can come constantly and without a break to recover even on the lowest setting and I also assume on Legendary. But I'm pretty sure you are or were into online competition at one point right?

[hoshichiri]

Typically play everything on the default setting - I’ve adjusted down to Easy once or twice.  However, out of tradition, I’ve never played a Halo on anything less than Legendary.

I've actually beaten Halo 3 on Legendary... sort of.

My fiancé & his brother had me join them when they went through. My job was to stand just out of combat range & be a convenient spawn point as they cleared out the baddies. I'm pretty sure that means we cheated like crazy- good thing the achievements didn't care!

[Cartagia]

I did all of my playthroughs solo, except for ODST which I played with my girlfriend.  Oldgamerz, you are close - I didn't play competitively, but most of my friends did - so in order for it to even be a little bit fun I had to get relatively good at the game.  I was usually bottom of the heap when playing with them, but would mop the floor playing with other friends.

[betelgeuse]

When I was big on achievements, I would do the hardest setting. I just play on normal these days. If I really like the game, I may do another round on a harder setting.

[PaleManInBlack]

Pretty much the same as everyone else here. Start the game on normal and if I enjoyed the game enough, I'll play through it again on a higher difficulty. Although the last few shooters I've played I've put them on hard and I'm not really sure why.

[pzeke]

I think there's a similar topic buried somewhere around here...

Nonetheless, the first time I usually play on normal, and after that, if I liked the game and crave a challenge, I'll mess around with other difficulties; this is usually true for games like Devil May Cry and God of War. There are some games that I’ll play on the hardest difficulty from the get-go, though, like Kingdom Hearts, for example. I would definitely love it if Pokémon had a difficulty setting, like a built-in Nuzlocke for example—I'd play the ever-living snot out of it.

[oldgamerz]

I was wild in my Zandronum days. In case you don't know and weren't following me on that. I used to run 1 server off the master often and play with other players in Coop and deathmatch, and a lot more different types of styles including CTF "capture the flag" the game was fun when it was popular. Nobody plays it anymore I don't think, but I mastered the keyboard on it, some touch hacker was really impressed with my keystrokes on the arrow keys, people would often think I was cheating on my servers because I didn't really like to use the mouse and keyboard much, because I loved playing the old fashion way. In deathmatch I was not the best of the best on the servers,
but I was good to say the least especially for only using the keyboard and nothing else, oh yea I did try using a gamepad but then had my USB drivers revoked on windows 7 and the darn thing would not respond correctly for a long time.

[telekill]

I almost always used to just keep it at the normal setting. Now-a-days, I will generally lower it to easy so enemies aren't insane bullet sponges or to keep the story moving. Games like the Uncharted series and RE5, I would go for the platinum, which required beating the hardest difficiulties. I only tortured myself at that level on favorite games.

Replays now are generally set to easy to just enjoy the game causally.

[randomstranger]

Even I don't know. But I play everything without cheats for the first time.

I tend to lean towards the hardest available difficulty, because/when it makes you be more engaged with the mechanics, unless I know the game is unfair.