How hard do you like it?

[BRIK]

I usually play the older games on normal and the newer ones on hard. Lets face it, newer games are no way as hard as the oldies. Developers have softened them up so a more casual audience can play them and make them more money.

[Inazuma]

Come on. No one finds the title of this thread to be hilarious? I can't be the only immature one here.

I thought the same thing and was very close to making a joke about it.

[Xeogred]

Its true that some games do it better than others though. Recent example for me was Mass Effect 2. I played that first on Normal, then again on Insanity, the hardest level. The Insanity run was a blast, all kinds of fun, and after playing it on that level I simply can't go back to Normal.

When I'm in the mood for it though, I really appreciate a hard game when its done well. I love the sense of accomplishment it gives.

Nice. It's funny that I actually started the game on Veteran but had to tone it down, because... Vanguard sucked for me. But I cleared Insanity with Sentinel, after some stuff in the middle of the game it honestly became a breeze after awhile.

I think some of my best "difficulty accomplishments" might be:
- Beat Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) on Very Hard. Could not finish the second Tournament though, the one that replaced all the enemies. I'm 99% sure the first stage (when you're in your average ninja outfit) had black ninja's already. Does anyone know if this mode can be unlocked in Sigma, or anything like that? I'd love to play it like this again someday, as brutal as it was (damn those cat enemies!)...
- Beat FEAR on Extreme, including the Instant Action stages. Seriously, I dare you!
- Some other random stuff for newer games, like CoD4 on Veteran or whatever, Halo/Reach on Legendary, etc. I think I beat DMC4 on the hardest mode as well along with that insane survival mode thing, can't remember the name, but it was crazy.

For a game that doesn't even have a difficulty setting... I'd say clearing the original version of Tactics Ogre was one heck of an accomplishment. You want a brutal SRPG, there you go. The story was incredibly good but I honestly did like to keep going for the challenge as well... I mean the whole first half of the game was so hectic every battle was a race to finish as quickly as possible so I wouldn't lose units or anything (though I did lose up to 10). The further I got in the game the more determined I was to finish it and I haven't felt that kind of urgency in awhile (just beat this about two months ago or so).

[Anapan]

Depends how good it is. I play it on normal until I beat it, and then ramp up the difficulty if it's good enough for the second play-through. Fact is despite how much I love videogames, I'm not actually that good at them(!). I'll never turn down the difficulty from normal (unless it's a default like US Megaman 2 which I play roughly 3 times a year on normal mode and occasionally play through it on hard). Normally if I can't beat it how it's intended I shelf it until I'm feeling more skilled.

[WrathOskvro]

..mind in the gutter @ the title. Anyway.

Depends for me too. If it's a fighting game, don't care how hard it is. If it's a shmup, I usually don't care how hard it is but I tend to lean a little more towards the ridiculously hard bullet hell type ones just because I like seeing how long I can go without getting my ass handed to me. If it's an RPG or something, if it's hard to the point of being BS I won't even bother with it. Same with platformers. To me, most of the Mega Man games aren't all that hard while everyone else thinks they're insanely difficult. However, I never have beaten any of the Mega Man Zero games. I get totally raped by the bosses on those.

It also depends on your definition of hard as well. By hard do you mean..challenging, or do you mean how unfair do you like it? By that I mean, look at the original Castlevania, especially when you get to the fight with Death or Dracula. Now that's tough.

[Erik_Twice]

I'm not completely certain that it was unintentional.

Sure it was, don't you trust me?

Yeah, but to me it's hard to make a game for Mr Hardcore and Mr Weak. I think you should pick an audience and stick with it.

Nah, I just think that as long as you put work in it, most games can easily have several difficulty levels. That said, it's easier to do that in Doom than in a racer.

By hard do you mean..challenging, or do you mean how unfair do you like it?

I don't think unfariness makes a good difficulty level so yeah, challenging. Just vote considering the difficulty levels are "well-made", whatever you think that is.

[Evildeadmanwalking77]

I usually play the older games on normal and the newer ones on hard. Lets face it, newer games are no way as hard as the oldies. Developers have softened them up so a more casual audience can play them and make them more money.

Enough said.

@Burningdoom:
No dude you were not the only one I'm sure. I laughed even though I knew right away what it was really about before opening the thread. I'm surprised no one has actually answered it in that mindset as a joke yet!

[Xeogred]

To me, most of the Mega Man games aren't all that hard while everyone else thinks they're insanely difficult. However, I never have beaten any of the Mega Man Zero games. I get totally raped by the bosses on those.

I'm with you on that, I got every achievement in MM9-10... that includes Mr. Perfect in 10. Haha.

I played these games religiously when I was 3-4ish. My mom and I lived with my grandparents for awhile then and my grandparents kind of spoiled me by renting out a game all the time, 90% of the time I just picked up the Mega Man games... 20 years later and I still go back and play them all the time, hehe.

[MrPopo]

It really depends on what a higher difficulty gets you. If higher difficulty just means you die easier and monsters die harder it's usually not worth pumping up, as it becomes an exercise in frustration.

[final fight cd]

i like my games how i like my ice...HARD!!

well, it depends. if it is a game with unlimited continues, like ninja gaiden or ghost n goblins, than bring it on. with patience, luck, and time i will eventually get through it.

a game with LIMITED continues i don't like too hard. nothing is more frustrating then getting to a hard boss with only 1 free man left. it makes "learning" him very difficult and frustrating. even more frustrating when it is a final boss and i spent 40 minutes getting to him; to have another shot at him i have to waste another 40 minutes.