Do you try and beat your games on hard ?

Or do you rather have fun by playing the game on an easier diffuculty and never go for the achievements and fame.

I usually play games on Normal on a first playthrough. If I feel compelled to play on a harder difficulty, I'll give it a shot. I recently finished Infamous on Hard. It wasn't too difficult, just frustratng as hell. The potential for frustration is what usually deters me from trying. Halo Reach on Legendary is absolutely brutal.

Sure, if it's fun. BranKetra

Agreed. It depends on the game. If I want to knock out a couple of achievements that have to do with difficulty, I may ramp it up to the hardest difficulty I can do and go from there. However, if I just want to enjoy the game on my own, I set it onto normal and that goes for most games I play today.

It depends on the game. If I want to knock out a couple of achievements that have to do with difficulty, I may ramp it up to the hardest difficulty I can do and go from there.

Metamania

Only once I've done everything else! But it really depends on the game. If it's worth completing on hard, then I'll do it!

Never the first time thru.

If I do it's usually for trophies since games these days don't unlock secret weapons or ending like they did back then.:(

[QUOTE="Metamania"]

It depends on the game. If I want to knock out a couple of achievements that have to do with difficulty, I may ramp it up to the hardest difficulty I can do and go from there.

BranKetra

Yeah, but for some games, you can kill three or four birds with one stone by playing the game at the hardest difficulty and beating it. I guess for others, you may have to do that one-by-one, but I doubt it.

[QUOTE="BranKetra"][QUOTE="Metamania"]

It depends on the game. If I want to knock out a couple of achievements that have to do with difficulty, I may ramp it up to the hardest difficulty I can do and go from there.

Metamania

Yeah, but for some games, you can kill three or four birds with one stone by playing the game at the hardest difficulty and beating it. I guess for others, you may have to do that one-by-one, but I doubt it.

generally i play on normal then if i like the game enough on hard, unless i look on the forums and see people say hard isnt really hard at all, then i'll give it a go.blaqphantom

Depends on the genre. If it's an FPS I'll always play on hard my first time through. Most other genres I just play on the normal difficulty setting and bump it up as I go along.

On 1st playthrough I usually play on normal difficulty, unless I've heard that the game is really easy to begin with (KH2 is an example).

If I enjoyed the game in the 1st playthrough, then I'll always go back to complete the harder difficulty levels.

I will play on hard if

A I LOVE the game. (Viewtiful Joe, I'm looking at you.)

B There is a tangible reward for doing so. (Dead space 2 and Viewtiful Joe again.)

C If I got nothing better to do. (This almost never happens.)

D If I feel like being completionist with acheivments. (I have one acheivment left on Dead Space 2, and it's beating the game on Hardcore. However I also know there is a reward for doing so, so I'm not sure this counts.)

E If the game is super easy to begin with. (Okamiden, did the "hard" difficulty right off the bat... still pretty damn easy.)

I usually don't play on the toughest difficulties because many games these days interpret "they wanna play on a hard difficulty" as "let's make the game frustrating as hell." Very few games manage to make a game challenging without being frustrating. (ie making it unfair.) That's why I love Viewtiful Joe. On the toughest difficulty, you have to remain constantly alert and on your toes. And if you die, chances are, it's because you messed up and got careless. Not because of the game pulling a cheap shot. Not many games today do this.

I beat them on easy to avoid frustation lol :P

Since the 360 I've been playing them through on the hardest difficulty from the start in order to get the achievements without playing twice, after that it just became a habit, and things became a lot easier... Except for Touhou, those games can destroy me on any mode ('cept easy, easy's for girls, and men that have never played anything but an FPS).

If it's a game I enjoy playing a lot, and it provides a good challence, then yes.

Yes, I try to complete every game I play on the highest difficulty. It just makes me feel more accomplished, achievements are a nice bonus.

depends heavily on the genre, for example I playd Crysis 2 on the hardest dificulty right away, but had to start the Force Unleashd in normal since I haven't played that many hack and slash games.

.

Definitely! Im not going to play the same difficulty again. If I play a game again, I play it on Hard from there on out. Its more fun when you have a challenge IMO.

I don't play on easy. Easy takes away the challenge and makes games boring. I usually play on normal and if the game is really good or has a lot of Hard achievements I'll play it again.

Medium first play, and hard if I liked the game enough to go again.

If it's a rental, I play on Easy or Normal because I just want to get through the game before I return it.

If it's something I bought, I'll play on Easy or Normal the first time. If the game's main "challenge" is trying to get over wonky controls or cheap enemies, I probably won't try harder, but if the game is really polished, I definitely try it on a harder setting.

I always play the hardest difficulty available (I hate it when some difficulties are locked). I find that I die many times over that way, but gradually become better at the game. Eventually, I kick ass at it and hardly die anymore, plus I'll be able to do allot of cool things.

It's that awesome progression that I love in games, especially challenging games. I just don't like to go through a game just to experience the story or something like that. I want to work at it, that's the way I'm having the most fun. If I can just do it with my eyes closed, as is usually the case on the normal settings, I just get bored. I find that I get the full experience out of it, the more challenging it is.

That said, there are some games that are pretty easy like Darksiders, but I still loved that game allot. Then there are others that you can almost finish with your eyes closed like God of War, but even that game is pretty cool. So, it's not required for me to like a game, but it does make it more fun.

First time on normal difficulty, second time on hard difficulty. On games that I probably wont play again I might play on hard.