You Should ALWAYS Play On HARD MODE...

[@F2t0ny]

The ideal difficulty is one that encourages you to engage with the game's systems (if they ARE fun to engage with).

[@HallyVee]

Ideal for those who enjoy them, of course. I definitely avoid whatever met a techniques or builds are suppressing the gameplay at any given moment, but even I play quite a few games very differently than the design intent.

[@TheRealCptObvious1]

Fun hard mode: enemies are smarter, have different attack patterns, do a bit more damage, have a bit more health Dumb hard mode: enemies have way more health and do way more damage

[@undrtakr900]

Exactly, most games just make enemies "bullet sponges" at higher difficulties, so I just stick to "normal" mode unless "hard" offers a unique experience besides "enemies have more health/damage".

[@Z3t487]

Ofc there is no fun in killing an idiot with huge health that takes you ages to kill and can kill you in one shot or two. I mean, sure, if it's a boss battle, the boss has to have way more health than you, but the boss must have a lot of different moves to learn to beat it, like in From software games. In general, if devs don't consider us idiots who can't learn game mechanics to beat a game, it's a good game.

[@jaycub4711]

I can tolerate more damage.

[@josefpdx]

Dumb hard mode: Enemies do one hit kills and you have to fight enemies for 10 minutes just to get to that one-hit-kill boss.

[@lucamayhem]

Terraria's Expert Mode and Master Mode respectively

[@ChrisOfTheDead]

I personally have more fun when the combat itself if fun and doesn't frustrate me too much. If you can overlevel and gear up for tougher difficulty options, great! But otherwise I stick to normal because most of my fun comes from engaging in the combat or exploration. I'm never concerned with how far my dollar stretches in terms of hours played. A fun game is always worth it for me, even if it's short.

[@raymondsierra209]

GG

[@adamb3455]

This boils down to "I spent $60...I need to get at least 60 hours gameplay"... which is really just an argument that it's better to buy your games well after release for reduced prices.

[@Z3t487]

Enjoy your movie where you are an invincible God during gameplay and don't need to think during action moments.

[@secondchance6603]

@@Z3t487 Allow others the luxury of playing their games how they want to and you do likewise and stop being a twat.

[@LeumazDnazor]

​@@Z3t487Thank you, I will!

[@MythicalxToast]

it's just boring on easy

[@BoredReaderWiththeheelys]

@@MythicalxToastit’s boring on hard too.

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

I don’t consider how long a game takes a measure of it’s value, if I had fun on normal mode for 4 hours, 10 hours of frustration isn’t worth the trade off. I hate this value of how much time it took to apply to game value. A game that is 15 hours of either boredom or frustration are both bad. I bought the game to have fun and 5 hours of fun are better then 10 hours of something I didn’t enjoy along the way. Though I will take 10 hours of fun as well, but as long as it was enjoyable along the way…

[@raymondsierra209]

Get good

[@codycartwright6998]

@@raymondsierra209 Ai spambot ahh response.

[@awmirj2414]

Your comment just changed my whole beliefs about game ❤

[@tomasalbuquerque6458]

I have a counterpoint. I'm a hardcore hard-moder, I love all the souls games, Roguelikes, Pokémon nuzlockes and other challenges however I can concede that some games just weren't made for harder difficulties. The Last of Us, the Uncharted series and other games that focus mainly on spectacle and story can be made a WORSE experience by having you think too much about gameplay. For example, in the bloated zombie boss fight in TLOU, he had so much health that kept running from him consistently and I hated that and in the Uncharted series, I spent so much time in cover tossing grenades back that I never felt like Indiana Jones, it felt like a boring, poorly balanced shooting gallery sim. Point is, without interesting combat systems, it's not worth it to play harder difficulties.

[@firepeaman2440]

You ain't seen anything until you've played Crushing or Brutal mode on Uncharted.

[@hogan4670]

The best way to play TLOU it's on grounded mode.

[@matics2808]

No no no, this idea is crazy. Playing Batman is supposed to be a power fantasy.

[@greekpestnyc3145]

I AM THE POWER FANTASY RRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH ⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️🗣🗣🔥🔥💯💯🔥💯🔥💯💯‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[@Eternally_Listless]

It's a power fantasy for you. Not everyone is like that. Having that feeling of a bunch of criminals you have to outsmart and outlast is cool for many people when it feels like they pose a threat to you. If everything is just easy, it's boring. Yet having you feel like you're taking down a massive threat as a one man army is satisfying when you feel like it's harder. IMO.

[@dexter._.7096]

@@Eternally_Listlesswooosh

[@MythicalxToast]

@@dexter._.7096what he said isn't even a joke or like satire people say whoosh when someone takes something that's obviously satire seriously

[@jokerxd9900]

Tbh batman is not that difficult even on hard mode

[@edwardjam9832]

I usually play games on Easy mode because I play all games as Persistent Death mode, if I die, I start over. Death has a meaning.

[@toadwine7654]

i try from time to time. but the bullet sponge shite is one mega good reason to play all games on the easiest. another is that all games i played are filled with nonsense bullshit. like its not immersive to die to a low level mob because the developers of the game arent able to make the camera track properly or the movements are so clunky you keep falling off ledges or whatever.

[@HallyVee]

Ugh you triggered my PTSD from Playstation 1 3D cameras.

[@AngelicImp8641]

I'd like to share my experience with game difficulties, if that's okay. I used to be the kind of gamer that only played on easier difficulties, I hated the idea of losing for the longest time and threw a fit when I did lose. I tried Dark Souls 3 and gave up after Vordt because it was "too hard" at the time. (Mind you, I wasn't aware of the Souls' reputation.) When the Covid pandemic rolled around, I loaded up a game on easy, and I found that I just wasn't having fun. I saw Bloodborne on sale, and wanted to try it. I was worried because a friend actually warned me this one was hard, but I liked gothic games so I bought it anyway. Took time to get used to, but I got good at it around the time I faced Shadows of Yharnam. It's only gone uphill for me since. I realized what makes harder experiences so great. If you have to work for something, you feel far more accomplished than you would on an easy mode. I still play Skyrim on Adept (at minimum) because I feel difficulty is done poorly in that, but my eyes had been opened. Fuck Give Me God of War mode though. Sure, I accomplished something and don't regret it, but my hands hurt for the next few days after. LMAO

[@TOONYBOY]

I'm glad you mentioned Skyrim, because difficulty in that is essentially "If you can't tank the hits, stunlock an enemy, one-shot it with a stealth attack or smite it with a max leveled enchanted sword, you've got to turn around and come back later". The only time I put the difficulty on Legendary is when I'm trying to boost skills from either attacking a horse or letting a giant hit me for the Heavy Armour boost

[@Z3t487]

​@@TOONYBOYSkyrim difficulty is just dumb. You die in one hit or almost one hit and they are enemies of steel.

[@TOONYBOY]

@@Z3t487 Yeah, the gameplay is too limited in Skyrim to allow for any skill-based circumventing of challenge. It's a similar problem (kind of, this'll sound silly) to Resident Evil 0, and maybe even the other tank-control RE games that I've yet to play. In Skyrim, there's no dodging enemy attacks (besides the odd ranged attack, like an arrow or spell), you HAVE to rely on your level and gear. You HAVE to rely on the strength of your armour to take the hits and the strength of your weapon to quickly beat the enemy. Bringing it back to Resident Evil 0, in a lot of rooms you're almost forced to kill at least one or two zombies. Either that, or reset your save again and again and again (which wouldn't even be that bad if it wasn't 20-30 seconds of unskippable cutscenes and menus EVERY time you die) trying to get through a room by tediously trying to lure a zombie around the room away from the zombies near him, except those other zombies huddle up to him. The problem with this is that for some reason in RE0, the difficulty is that of having way too many enemies in way too small environments. Even one or two zombies is too many to dodge around in some areas. You don't know how many times a single zombie in a hallway was impossible for me to pass because the hallway is simply too narrow to allow me to dodge around him. I dodge his attack, getting that 1 second of invulnerability as his cooldown wears off, but no matter if I move left or right, I cannot physically move past him. Also, Sting is one of the most questionably designed bosses I've ever seen in a game. The boss is so large that like the zombie before, it's literally not possible to avoid his attacks because he takes up so much space that there is literally nowhere in this very small room you can be that the range of his attacks will not cover. You also cannot physically move past him because of his size. The only way to avoid taking damage is to keep leaving the boss fight by going back through the door you entered in, then coming back in to get a few shots off. No idea what they were thinking with RE0 so far

[@lukky6648]

True , harder difficulties force you to engage and plan more instead of jumping the shark and walking out like nothing

[@SebastianHAndersen]

The great thing about playing the hardest difficulty is that it forces you to utilize the game mechanics as they were intended by developers. I remember playing the Witcher trilogy on easy mode and using only a handful of potions and never really interacting with the strategic combat, as different enemies have specific weaknesses that you can counter, if you learn them. It adds a completely new layer to the game that feels so much more rewarding and complex.

[@kratosgod-ci4tq]

Well there's normal difficulty mode also, to balance things?

[@Isaiah-ft5nx]

We need more games that encourage creative playing to get through challenging areas. For example, play dying light on the hardest difficulty, and the first couple hours are brutal. You will fear every engagement with each zombie because they are all life and death encounters. You have to identify and execute tactical advantages or avoid confrontation altogether in order to push forward.

[@kyleareyouserious]

i used to be a normal and easy difficulty guy until the last of us and hogwarts legacy opened my eyes to not only the fun of collecting and crafting but the absolute necessity of putting yourself in the best position both offensively and defensively before heading into battle …. don’t think i’ll ever go back to square square square square L1 square square

[@TOONYBOY]

I also like that it adds to that feeling of strength and advancement when you get better and stronger gear as the game progresses. Like in some games where you start off with standard-issue armour and weapons and you're up against an enemy with designs on galactic extinction who would look at you and take away HP, but by the time you get to the end, you're armour's got very powerful shields and health and your weapons are top-of-the-line and aren't even commercially available or even accessible to most militaries. There's a great deal of satisfaction in building yourself up to be a threat to the villains and enemies, in making yourself their equal, their adversary, so when you show up to save someone or fight them, they all turn to you and want to put you down right there and then as opposed to you just being another random soldier near the beginning of the game.

[@VoidPaul97]

Persona 3: Easy mode (hard) Persona 4: Normal mode (also hard) Persona 5: Actually hard mode.

[@placekpie]

wasn't P5 the easiest one tho (played only P5,P1 and P2 IS)

[@REAPERGAMINGGR]

After hitting my teens, more than 10 years ago, i have never played a game for the first time at least at a lower than hard difficulty. The only reason i would play lower is either a second platinum playthrough OR if I'm not enjoying the game overall and just want to see it through to the end.

[@mxvrdahegaouwu7577]

Since Halo 1 had a " secret " ending by completing legendary I try to play only on hard mode

[@EmberCenturion]

I wish more games did stuff like that

[@codycartwright6998]

​@EmberCenturion Ah, yes, let's punish players who aren't good enough for hardmode by gatekeeping items and even story related content like "True Endings". F any game that does this. Less games should do it. You want a reward so badly, personal satisfaction is good enough.

[@Winddragon_85]

I always play hard mode cause i view it as me getting better when i go through it the first time and its easier when i do another play through. Plus being a completionist i get 4-5 trophies in one playthrough for playing easy or above trophies

[@Deyv1d]

I agree

[@pokedude104]

I don't understand why people enjoy games that make you retry the same thing over and over for hours until you've mastered all the mechanics required to get past some obstacle. I thought video games were meant to be relaxing. That shit just makes me want to rip my hair out and the last thing I want after spending all day at work is to come home and do something that makes me want to rip my hair out.

[@AntiRiku]

Some of us just like to overcome challenges. That's mostly what it boils down to.

[@Eternally_Listless]

Because people like having a mountain to conquer. Yeah, they may retry it over and over. Yet they like being able to push through and get to the top. Honestly, if you never push yourself further and keep yourself in the mindset of "I'm not good enough," it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. I may be bad at first, yet eventually, if I practice and learn, I'll get better. Now you don't always have to conquer a mountain, of course. Yet I feel that people should at least push themselves a bit further than they thought they were capable of. Even if it's just a bit up a hill and not a mountain. Yet one day you'll be able to climb that mountain and enjoy the view.

[@zeroxcrusher]

The last thing I want after spending all day at work is coming home and watching a game play itself because its ridiculously easy by default

[@KingKnowledge245]

Yeah I like a challenge but some of these games difficulty levels are absolutely obnoxious and unfair and a waste of time.

[@AlbertoMonroy-lq2vw]

This is a real problem with modern gamers, dumbing down games for other gamers who grew up on the older consoles. You should try games on the sega genesis or super nintendo to see how games were really hard. They're not supposed to be relaxing, you have lofi or animal documentaries for that. Gameplay is linked to skill growth and the art of gaming itself truly develops with improvement. If you want visual novel type games that are relaxing, I would locate that into a genre of its own more akin to a series or tv show.

[@that80ssongyoulove84]

Most games have terrible implementation of hard mode. The games you mention are exceptions.

[@madremix224]

Playing on easy is like a drug

[@snapdiddly8]

Love the video! I've been playing Bloodborne on my Playstation for the past few days, which made me realize how much fun I was missing out on by playing other games on lower difficulties.

[@parallax8207]

Normal difficult is pathetic in most games.

[@Z3t487]

​@@parallax8207Death march in the Witcher 3 is hard till you learn how to play.

[@Bojan12]

@@吗4啊16It is because your skill are beyond that lvl

[@DexterUmbar]

I have a problem with difficulty and it's painful. On the one hand I want to progress enough to feel like my time is worth it on the other hand I don't want to get stuck on an area either. Hard mode forces me to go out of my way to get extra collectables however I also feel like my backlog of games is too big for me to spend too much time on stuff like this and fuckkkkk I can never pick. Let's take fallout 4 for example. I want to spend the time to collect materials and upgrades weapons and make a good settlement however I don't see the reason too. On normal I can easily play the game and why would I do something if all its going to do is make it even easier and even boring. On hard mode however I have to spend the time gathering materials, making sure I upgrade my stats and weapons. So i can progress the game and I find that satisfying but fuck me the frustration and back log I end up getting is insane. The entire time my head like "I could of finished this by now and be playing another game" I want completely conflicting things and I can't decide which to pick because I will hate each choice.

[@Heysahs007]

Same, my friend

[@Z3t487]

So you don't play on hard because you have to finish the games in a short period of time having other games too? Those other games have an expiring date like food so you need to play them before are removed from your backlog?

[@DexterUmbar]

​@@Z3t487it's kinda the opposite. It's not the removal of games it's the adding of one. 3 games come out I wanna play before I finish the one I'm currently playing.

[@dokutah7374]

I’ve never chose easy because it makes me feel like I’m bad at them Though I don’t usually do hard mode unless the “normal” mode is too easy Also always doing hard difficulty keeps your skill level high imo

[@bebdergame]

all i have to say is this video has really convinced me on how i should play games from now on. thank you!

[@rasenganknight]

I don't think that playtime really correlates to quality, so I do feel that focus on it is a bit arbitrary.

[@wowwar2]

A lot of RPGs don't have well designed hard modes, all they do is make enemies hit harder and have more health That doesn't make the game harder, it just makes everything take longer

[@wowwar2]

The Ideal difficulty is which ever difficulty the developers actually balanced the game for (usually normal) as it the intended experience All the other difficulties are just number adjustments that make the game longer or brainless

[@K1181-r4o]

It depends on if it's good difficulty. Mechanical difficulty yes. If hard mode is just bullet/damage sponge with insane hyper armor then no thanks.

[@densereaper]

Some games like Doom or Prototype are more fun to play on Easy Mode because of how overpowered you are. Hard Mode doesn’t automatically make a game better. It just depends on the game.

[@dowhatyouregoodat]

Agreed. Especially with a busy plate and just no little to no time in the day.

[@HallyVee]

Obviously unless you don't like being overpowered.

[@johnr1308]

My dude never heard of replaying a game

[@SurferKroky]

It's never the same though . That first playthrough is special

[@brushed5252]

Whenever I get a new game I always start on the easiest difficulty and then I restart it on a harder difficulty every time until I beat it on the hardest difficulty I’ve been doing this for probably 10 years

[@deepster8731]

If i was still 15 maybe

[@mattallred]

Games should be built from the ground up with difficulty in mind. Even if it's something as simple as spawn 3x enemies & half as much health/ammo and add a stronger elite tier enemy. If some rules are set and followed throughout development, then it's acceptable. In many games, it's just simple HP and effect/damage buffs and I've never had more fun fighting one stronger enemy than 3 weaker ones. If the combat in the game (whatever genre) is good, then the fun (not necessarily challenge) comes from the experience of engaging in combat. If a dev can't figure out alternate item placement and level routes, or something basic to increase difficulty, then it is preferable if the enemies numbers are increased rather than just see the same enemies buffed. Mirror's Edge was great because the hard difficulty had obvious visual changes. Halo is an obvious example as well with different tiers of covenant. Half-Life 1 seems it should be a horrible offender, with spongier enemies, but the limited pickups lead to much more strategic gameplay than run and gun. With big modern AAA games you can usually assume the difficulty won't change gameplay, just pad playtime with spongier enemies. I do enjoy the occasional AAA game, but unless I've heard otherwise, I don't feel bad about putting it on Normal. I disable auto-aim on console when I can and play m&kb on PC more often nowadays, but that's preference. Generally I just think devs intend their game to be played on Normal - except in games like you mentioned, where difficulty progression is a core element of the game. People shouldn't no-life a game on Very Hard when it's the same game but enemies take 5x shots and the reward is just an achievement/trophy. It's not worth it. Only dedicate that kind of time to games that respect your time and accomplishment.

[@FeniksGaming]

You are confusing time for enjoyment. I would rather play the game that doesn't frustrate me for 3 hours than game that frustrates me for 30 hours. I find that the harder the difficulty the less varies your strategies can be. You can do fun runs and you need to constantly overoptimize your build. Playing on normal is usually the best for me but I would choose Easy over the Hard any time of a day. Dark Souls doesn't have difficulty there can be adjusted by your build. You can literally complete a game without much fighting with just summons doing all work for you. You can call other players to help you fight difficult boss. There is difficulty setting in a game just not via menu option.

[@tempestshadow5152]

With a username that has “Gaming” in it, you sure outed yourself as someone who sucks at games. Everything you said shows how you don’t challenge yourself and stay stuck in a lower skill level and in your own words how you “would choose Easy over Hard any time”. And that’s why you still suck. Maybe change your username to “FeniksLoser” since it’s a lie to call yourself a gamer.

[@dwanrobinson]

Now if i want to make a game hard i just set my limits. Like again with Mafia 2 i play on normal and limit myself to only certain items, guns

[@Eternally_Listless]

I've been planning on switching to hard for a long time now, specifically because i feel like I'm always doubting my own abilities. Yet I'll always be "bad" if I never try to get better. I know that if I never push myself, I'll always be at the bottom. Not just in games but also in many aspects of my life. I understand people like easy. Yet you'll always be bad at games if you never challenge yourself. Even just the slightest bit of challenge can help you improve. I feel bad for people who constantly say they won't do something because they think they'll suck at it. Because I am one of those same people.Yet You'll always suck at something if you never try to get better.

[@brianhill7715]

Is this why there's so many toxic players because after dieing 10 times that numb feeling isn't a good feeling especially when the character literally has powers or is physically stronger like on harder it shouldn't take me more hits to take a enemy down great example is in Batman the harder the difficulty the more the enemies but they all still take the same amount of hits as easy or normal

[@brianhill7715]

Why not call it perfection not hard because how do you not die haha let be realistic with ourselves the best games are the games a experienced player can play on very hard and not die and feel like the hero. For example I've done the call of duty modern warfare campaigns on the hardest difficulty and felt good playing i felt like I was actually getting better idk

[@ErosXCaos]

I vividly recall starting Arkham Asylum on hard. It was a slog at first. It was my first time with that style of combat, which had been replicated in numerous games since then. It was one of my most satisfying experiences jumping straight into the deep end. But not all games benefit from playing on hard. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen made staggering and knocking down the bigger enemies very tough to do. There were only a few moved that could. So, instead of chaotic free for alls, you have to keep setting up the same moves over and over. With Warrior, already gimped with a 3 move array, you’re basically doing one move for knockdown and stagger. Unfortunate design.

[@badreedinedjellali1328]

When I played games on hard It felt more satisfying

[@imsentinelprime9279]

I have to agree. That dopamine hit when you beat a game on its most challenge is always the best.

[@CantaLoupeTheMelon]

idk if this is a hot take or not. i prefer when games dont have difficulty selectors at all. all most all of my favorite games are ones that crafted the experience around a singular non selectable difficulty

[@WhiteoDead-]

Im happy now 99% of games in the 2000s and up with the hard modes when u die there is a check points or not has long some items that carrys through out the game but with the older games u have too manual saves and KEEP ON SAVE SCUMING

[@JayIceColdD]

You should play a game on whatever difficulty gives you the best experience. Some people relish the challenge games can provide. Go hard mode. Some people love to play games for escapism and to unwind without having to either grind or master mechanics (or exploits) to gain an advantage. Play on easy mode. Personally, I usually start games on normal (or semi-easy, game dependent). For me, the true mark of a game I love is a game I will play again while eventually raising the difficulty.

[@ruffalo1643]

Thanks but no thanks, I do need to pop a blood vessel, may be considering it though.

[@Subjectivius]

This is such a senseless take. Lenght of gameplay almost never corresponding to how fun the game actually is.

[@tempestshadow5152]

You just watched the first minute of the video then came here to cry didn’t you without watching the rest of what he said. Why don’t you watch the other 5 minutes and listen to everything else that was talked about such as better learning the mechanics of the game and appreciating the game more before giving a senseless take.

[@danieladamczyk4024]

If experince is intended to be hard, then yes.

[@fnatiks701]

I subscribed as soon as I heard Christopher Larkin music.

[@lorddontay7565]

You pick easy I just leave it on normal

[@unknownuser6940]

I strongly disagree. If I am going to get frustrated on something, it better be something actually worth that anger instead of making me feel like a pathetic man-child. I can explore and get 100% on easier difficulties. Minecraft, for examples, emphasizes creativity without the need for being unbelievably punishing. This creativity promotes more gameplay and enjoyment, inviting more players to participate. The fact there's a degree of intimidation when considering to play a hard game just pushes people away when life is hard enough as is. Beyond this, games are often an escape from reality's hardships. While acquiring skills in managing under pressure does help, there are better and healthier ways of doing so. I can see hard games being a great personsal training exercise, but so is weight lifting, studying, and painting. All of the require patience to get all the best enjoyment of the rewards, but it far more tangible and applicable; because of this, these are superior to difficult games in terms of handling life's challenges. It actually fairly rewards you, unlike hard videogames which has a far higher likelihood of leaving people thinking at the end of it "How much time did I waste stressing myself out over some pixels? Was it truly worth it?" The obvious and most frequent answer is no, it wasn't worth the trouble.

[@cristiancortes9]

Yeah I'm a hard mode player. But sometimes games are not balanced. Like when you pick hard but that only means taking more damage. A proper harder mode needs to change the ai... At the bare minimum. Then we can talk about cost of items, etc

[@andresfurious8302]

Thanks for the heads up i bought the Batman games and it’s fun to have difficult games in Skyrim for my first playtrough I had for some periods easy and then slowly having it harder and harder until I reached level 30-40 that I put it in master and legendary because it would be to boring otherwise after that the bosses where so fun yet hard I’m doing the same in my second playtrough mainly for trophies but for the 3rd I will probably start with the hardest and in survival difficulty

[@ksea6565]

I've been playing Diablo at normal I think and it's SOOO BORING. everything is pretty much done for me, the game tells me where everything is going to be im really bored with it but I didn't realize my gaming skills had improved enough to try hard

[@tempestshadow5152]

Not discounting what you said, but I think the problem is more with Diablo itself. The series has such a monotonous gameplay loop that playing either on the easiest or hardest difficulty boils down to: go from point A to point B, kill hundreds of enemies along the way, get better gear, level up and get better skills, go from point B to point C, kill hundreds of enemies along the way, get better gear, level up and get better skills, and repeat the for whole game. Some people find that incremental raise in power level fun, but for me the series in general just felt repetitive.

[@gold4668]

how the heck 7 hours is a small amount of time

[@cantthinkofausername7015]

good points , but it feels pointless as upping the games difficulty just makes your enemies stronger and you weaker. if the AI gets smart and stuff then its totally worth it , but if a game just gives more health to your enemies , it just doesnt feel worth it to take up the challenge

[@SeanTheOriginal]

I'd love to play more games on it's hardest difficulty if most games were actually BALANCED on their hardest difficulty. I'm currently playing through Cyberpunk on Very Hard and it's clean the game just isn't balanced for it. Enemies JUST do more damage, take more damage, and have attached sniper scopes to every fucking gun including shotguns. Very Hard on Cyberpunk just ISN'T fun. It's just quickhacks and hiding. As opposed to the fun shit you see people do on Normal.

[@Isaiah-ft5nx]

Some games are best on hard, some are abusive on hard. The hard experience should be rewarding; not punishing for the sake of difficulty.

[@honeymakerminecraftplays5174]

Yea like for games like hollow knight I spent like 16 hours beating the game and then now I’ve spent 10 hours trying to get DREAM NO MORE

[@TOONYBOY]

I don't really have the time to watch the video at the moment, but I partially agree so I'm just gonna use it to springboard by bit here. I would always suggest that someone gives the hardest settings a go, at least after playing games for some time. When a game's hardest settings are carefully constructed to compliment the mechanics and the expected playstyle, those hardest settings really do sell everything about the game better than the other settings. Like when I fight the Contingency on 25X difficulty on the earliest arrival settings in Stellaris. Nothing exemplifies the power, threat and damn near omnipotence of this endless fleet of machine warships than having them effortlessly exterminate scores of the galaxy's most powerful ships with no losses. As I bit by bit whittle down that enemy by striking at their Sterilization Hubs (you need to destroy all 4 of them, then the secret 5th one to deactivate all the Contingency), nothing gives that feeling of showing that an impossibly powerful force is not in fact unbeatable than playing at the hardest settings and actually managing to take out one of their worlds. Nothing gives you that cathartic silence and peace and sense of impossible victory than when you manage to take out that heavily defended final world while dozens and dozens of Contingency fleets and armies swarm over all the planets in the galaxy, with their red territory covering most of the galaxy map, then seeing all the fleets, armies, planets and all of that red territory disappear in an instant when you detonate that final planet and you realize you won. You beat them, you survived, you defeated them and now it's over. Now it is I that shall exterminate all life in the galaxy for I am the Reapers from Mass Effect. Even with all of that however, I do understand that as much as the story of a game is made so much better when the enemies and villains are as powerful as we're supposed to believe them to be (encountering THAT enemy type at the worst moment, but you don't let it beat you because you're GOING to beat this motherfucker to the ground), I do understand that a lot of people simply aren't good at managing the frustration necessary to reach the point where those settings are fun. Overcoming a powerful threat and challenge is fun because you eventually beat them, but it took a lot of your ability and knowledge and perseverance to do it. Some people just don't want to invest themselves to that degree to get that "high" of beating a powerful enemy.

[@TOONYBOY]

I absolutely loved playing Mass Effect Legendary Edition on Insanity, because these are the REAPERS I'm fighting. I have to fight my ass off in order to defeat them. I have to scour the galaxy for every resource I can get my hands on, be they weapons, armour upgrades, ship upgrades (get those in Mass Effect 2. Do them as soon as possible, that is all) or just going across the galaxy saving people, helping them out against slaver/pirate gangs or mercenaries trying to strongarm protection money from people. Even those Merc gangs are threatening enough, there's a reason that they haven't been taken out by a couple of police forces or a passing Alliance patrol. I have to assemble the best fucking team in the galaxy to save as many people as possible in every location we visit, and anything and everything related to the Reapers is going to be taken head on, and by the time we do fight them, we will be armed to all the way down to a Krogan's testicles. You really don't get the same display of power and impossible odds from the Reapers and the other enemies on lower difficulties. Playing on Insanity really sells to you how powerful and threatening and evil these motherfuckers are. That they can create these creatures who take so much to take down really shows you what the entire galaxy is going to be up against. I really do understand that some people simply can't be arsed putting up with getting sniped or having a Krogan Battlemaster or Geth Prime charge up to them and beat them over the head, I do get that, but you really ARE missing out on anything lower than Insanity.

[@baki484]

Or just jump in on the hardest game settings before even pressing the start button and adapt in your first playthrough by your second or 3rd playthrough you would've acclimated to the game and if you dial it down it'll feel like the enemies are slow or are just waiting for your to beat them. I tried it with starwars jedi Fallen order and Spiderman 2018

[@TOONYBOY]

@@baki484 That's what I usually do, but that only really works when the difficulties are designed appropriately. Even on the hardest difficulties, the level/enemy design should be made to scale as the player learns more about the game. For example, you don't throw 20 high-level enemies with thousands of HP in one room before you've taught the player the controls or their weaknesses. Once the player has had enough time as the game progressively gets more difficult to actually predict and react to enemy movements and attacks as well as their weaknesses, then you can dial up the stronger enemies in each room. With the exception of a couple of bosses, Fallen Order is relatively trivial even on the hardest difficulty, and the first couple of levels only have you fighting a couple of enemies at a time with mostly predictable movesets. In Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the difficulty doesn't so much scale as it does flip from the player having to be attentive and understanding of their team's abilities to then getting the HMWAR and icing any enemy that pops his head out of cover, bosses included. Put on Overkill and you'll almost never even need to take cover

[@TOONYBOY]

Mass Effect 2 is the *most* balanced of the 3 in terms of difficulty, the only exception being the immensely frustrating mechanic of being stun-locked by the slightest tap, coupled with the auto-aim functioning as the exact opposite of auto-aim. The only time where Mass Effect 2's difficulty and enemy design is blatantly shit even ignoring the stun-lock and anti-aim is the Scions and Praetorians. Luckily there's only 2 Praetorians in the entire game (thankfully none in the final mission) and Scions are so stupid you literally just sit still behind cover where you're immune to their attack and they stand completely still allowing you to shoot them. These enemies have so much health that the game literally has to spawn infinite ammo clips on the ground for you to pick up. One time I was fighting a Scion and completely ran out of ammo and was forced to spend 5+ minutes sat behind cover throwing an absolutely useless thermite grenade at it. That's another thing in Mass Effect 2, most of the abilities are absolutely useless. The only ones that are useful are Adrenaline Rush, Concussion Shot, the occasional Geth Shield, Barrier or Armour boost and your ammo type swap. Your grenades do absolutely nothing and you'll never use them. Then you have the opposite problem in Mass Effect 3 with the weight system. The less weapons you bring with you into a mission, the more often you can use your abilities. So I just brought my Sniper and my pistol for the appropriate ranges, and I could literally spam my Concussion Shot around every 2 seconds. So I'd fire a CS, then fire my Sniper Rifle, then fire another CS while I reload, and that was the combat for most of the game. It's also clear that the mechanics of Mass Effect 3 were not considered with Insanity in mind, because you have the newly introduced Grapple mechanic which is basically just a mini-cinematic action that plays whenever certain enemies get too close. A Cerberus Assassin with a sword gets too close? Well Shepard grabs the sword mid-strike like he's Batman or something and that's your little Grapple cutscene. The problem is that you still take some damage from this Grapple, and on Insanity, that damage is a 1-shot kill. So it's incredibly jarring and hilarious (and annoying) when Shepard clearly resists the strike and wins the grapple, but then just flatlines on the spot and you get a game-over screen. The only exceptions to this where the death-grapple shows a fatality cutscene are the Banshees (that teleport to you and soak up SO MUCH damage) and Kai Leng. Kai Leng is the worst offender for this because it ties into what I said earlier about the Concussion Shot spam. Kai Leng just runs up to you all the time (faster than you) and does the 1-shot fatality. The only possible way to slow him down and damage him (unless you play as a different class and spam a different ability) is to bring so few weapons that you can spam Concussion Shot every second or so and just fire a sniper in his face (that does almost nothing because bullet-sponge bosses are great). In summary, Mass Effect 3 is the shoddiest designed game of the 3 in terms of difficulty

[@tempestshadow5152]

With the time it took you to write that long ass novel you wrote, which I didn’t bother reading, you could have just finished watching the video.

[@themessagist]

I must admit, locking hard mode until after you’ve beaten the game is why I did not buy Final Fantasy 16. I’m just not the sort to do a second play through.

[@peaceandloveusa6656]

No way. You should always play on Normal to see how you feel about the game, and how enjoyable it is at the intended difficulty. That mode is (almost) always optimized for the best experience. That is why it is the "normal" experience. If the game mechanics are fun but a bit too easy, switch to hard mode to really push the game mechanics to their limits. If the game's story is great, but the mechanics are annoying, switch to easy to experience the story with minimal annoyance. Always start on normal to vibe check the game in it's purest form, unless you have the mindset of "harder is always better even if the game sucks or hard just means bullet sponge opponents and lots of grinding." If you fall into the latter camp, then yes, hard should be your default. That said, I *did* complete Death's Door with the umbrella on my first play-through, but that was only because I had watched my girlfriend play it normally and, while she struggled a bit, I thought it looked too easy for me (it was). Umbrella run was the sweet spot for me, but I would have gotten more hours out of the game if I had beaten it normally, then sought out the umbrella run for more time with the game I loved. So, even going in prepared, I still made a mistake by choosing to play on hard first in the end, which only further's my point.

[@サミュエル先生です]

Great vid, just discovered your channel

[@paulistastars]

I learned this back in the late 2000 when I got guitar hero, KZbin was starting and I found this guy who played on expert and I asked him how he jumped from hard to expert, at that time videomakers would read and answer comments cuz those ware not that toxic, and he answered, "I never played in hard mode" funny thing is that I read that and clicked, if u start on hardmode there is one learning curve, u dont need to learn the same game twice

[@senprum92]

Well “Normal” or default difficulty is usually balanced well enough for most of the players with decent challenge, and from there the extra options are there to accommodate people with less skills or that want an extra challenge. Also in most cases the normal difficulty is the mode the game is originally designed for, I have found some games where it was obvious hard mode was not even properly tested. But I agree that no one should choose Easy difficulty, unless you have some accessibility problem or not a gamer at all of course.

[@imsentinelprime9279]

Nah normal is too damn easy. The least Balanced it is. The better experience.

[@Yami-mugoni613]

@@imsentinelprime9279 what about the player here for the story?

[@imsentinelprime9279]

@@Yami-mugoni613 sucks to suck. I care more about actual gameplay then story. Story is secondary.

[@HallyVee]

Lol yeah we're wrong because he prefers something else. That's not batshit stupid. My problem nowadays is devs have started making Normal difficulty suitable for... window lickers, let's call then. Grandmas and girlfriends, rather than standard gamers. MMOs for example are almost impossible to die in, you literally have to manufacture your own gameplay by violating the combat system mechanics. It'd be thesame as when every game was Nintendo hard, it just excludes so many of the baseline gamers.

[@bpizarrov99]

@@HallyVee I think thats were the problem resides in, you dont necesarily know what they mean when they say "normal", is it "casual gamer normal" or "regular gamer normal"

[@zcnaipowered7407]

If you have a day job getting even 2 hours to play a game feels like a privelage

[@tomislavtomic7184]

I newer understand what kinda a wimps play on easy. But tbh I am not that crazy about Dark souls type of games

[@17thknight]

Garbage argument for a try hard to feel smug

[@JonBlack413]

Nah I’m good

[@Earthpenguin123]

I cant play on normal i never die then the game gets boring

[@AntiRiku]

Absolutely. I used to only play on standard but once I got into trophy hunting I realized how much more fun it was to play on the harder difficulties. Different strokes for different folks of course but I haven't looked back once.

[@NickVandenberg98]

l play a game first in normal but my second Playtime l play it in hard

[@brianhill7715]

Just to make it clear it's not hard for the hero until it needs to be but we make it for no reason i promise only play online games on the hard difficulty do not play story based games on hard difficulty it's a waste of your time just go play warzone if you want to play a game on hard 😂😂😅😅 there's only one reason to play a game on hard and that is for the platinum trophy idk I will also make it very clear that games can be very clanky for example Arkham asylum was the first of its series and was just beginning with its combat I noticed a lot of problems with the combat after playing again after 10 years and ive 100% asylum and city just to hold my point idk like hits weren't connecting weird you think the game might be easier on a newer console but its the same combat as when i 100% The level system is Superior where regions of the game will be leveled and you can still play on the hardest difficulty great example was assassin's Creed origins another game of 100% ancient writing from the Old Kingdom if you know what i mean 😂 ggs true gamers

[@youtubeaccountserio2633]

I have always played games on easy mode

[@HugoBenoit]

Great Video !

[@kawanblackston5901]

I’m really not that good at gaming but I wouldn’t say I totally suck at it. I like to play on normal modes. I have played Ghost of Tsushima on normal for most of the game and I hate admitting this but on the last two boss fights I’ve played on easy because I just couldn’t beat them.

[@Bojan12]

That is okay completely. Everyone play games which are on their lvl or above enough for them to have great time. Trust me that what you have now are the best years once you step on really harder difficulties and surpass them you will not find it easily anymore to enjoy any games only really challenging ones. I was not good games before as well but in time I passed them even of insanity so do not pay much to destination but enjoy the process because that is what games truly are about ❤️

[@TheRexTera]

Not if it’s Damage Spunch Mode…

[@tempestshadow5152]

I see your brain chose hard mode since it can’t even spell “sponge” properly without shitting itself.

[@JonBlack413]

Bruh just edit the shit already it’s been 3 months FFS.

[@Mister_Don888]

Why are you using a keyboard for platformers?

[@niemand7811]

You guys certainly got a lot to prove to someone. I wonder who it is?

[@tempestshadow5152]

Umm, ourselves? We don’t play games on the hardest difficulty to impress people. We do it so we become better at the game and so that we’re not weak wussies who die to basic enemies like you.

[@JonBlack413]

@@tempestshadow5152Want a real challenge go play a fighting game or any multiplayer game. Nobody cares you beat a story based RPG on the hardest difficulty.

[@dwanrobinson]

It depends on the game. If it's the requires leveling, then yes. But a mafia 2 where it's linear and enemies don't change regardless. Then the game itself has to resort cheap tactics to overcome you overpowered player. A game like Sifu then yes. Because enemies go super Saiyian only on the level. Same with Shadow of war. But a game that doesn't require actual skill like mafia. No.

[@Willkanapski]

I always played games on easy and i always will

[@NobodyYouKnow941]

Halo 3 had the best difficulty modes.

[@codycartwright6998]

No.

[@dreamnail]

As much as i love Devil May Cry (especially 3), Dante Must Die is stupid. The game is made for air combos and combining your massive arsenal of weapons, giving the enemies superarmor and 6 gajillion more hp defeats the entire point of the game.

[@Tomejatokoupil]

No thank you

[@rancidiot]

Nah play wukong

[@Ailurophile900]

I always want the game as hard as i can play first time. Cheaters use the experience of knowing the moves before hand and then playing through on a second play through. Combat ahould be unpredictable. There is a series that is understandable with its playthrough difficulty unlock. Its ninja gaiden. Even on hard mode the game still has two more modes to unlock. Ninja gaiden is definitely the hardest game i have played and makes sekiro look like a childrens game. All souls games for that matter, like elden ring are way too easy

[@Willkanapski]

No im good playing on easy mode thank you very much

[@Solt-e8k]

Bozo, go play getting over it, or sekiro shadows die twice if you want to play game on *HARD* mode games like batman,doom are supposed to be fun

[@craigashcraft7599]

Yeah but I suck at games and can barely beat modern games on easy mode so I suck at life and everyone wants to kill me

[@petercraigg1]

I have never in my life played any game on easy. Its always normal or hard(if i think it will be easy on normal)

[@mangakasaide2166]

lol, same

[@AditiyaFasilkom47]

People playing Arkham City on hard mode is spamming button, just to anxious when the enemies attack 😂 Me, yeah me too😂 But with hard training you Will get the satisfied gameplay ever. You got new Action move by accident. OMG i love when Batman tackle enemies by jumping from near environment to them. Its awesome dude! So many new things just playing in hard mode.

[@tempestshadow5152]

What? English, do you speak it? Reading what you wrote gave me a headache. Just write in your native language next time and let youtube auto translate it. It will probably be easier to understand that compared to the garbage you just wrote.

[@DmonHiro]

This is such a dumb argument. Who the hell cares if you spend 60$ and only got 10 hours of fun? It's still 6$ an hour. Cheap as hell. Games should be played on Normal. This is just being an elitist. You need to be MOTIVATED to get the collectibles? Dude, you're werid.

[@Willkanapski]

Ok bozo

[@lynchmobb119]

The Arkham games are baby easy

[@Bojan12]

Depends what skill you possess. Some will find it very challenging especially if that is their first games ever

[@lynchmobb119]

@@Bojan12 I mean but using one of the easiest games ever made as an argument for why you should always play on hard is stupid.

[@Bojan12]

@@lynchmobb119 Maybe for him it is hard because like he said he used to play all on easy. To he honest I was from era of older games so for me easy was never an option just like what games gives you. And that was never easy difficulty

[@lynchmobb119]

@@Bojan12 right, but I’m saying just because playing on hard on a supper easy game makes sense that doesn’t make it true for all games.

[@tempestshadow5152]

Baby easy to play through the main story, sure. But you ever try doing the challenge mode in Asylum and getting a high score for achievements/trophies? Those were some of the worst bits in any Arkham game, not necessarily because of the difficulty, but because of other factors that made it difficult to play, such as a bad camera. But even then you needed to know how to play well to have a perfect high uninterrupted combo, knowing when to start knocking out opponents and who to knock out first, and using all of Batman’s moves to get combo bonuses to get a high score. I still managed to finish it within a few hours, but compared to the main campaign which I played on hard, the challenges made it seem like it was a walk in the park.

[@Lecomedie]

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