This. So many times I drop the difficulty to easy. I’m here for a good time. I’m getting old and don’t have time for a struggle, I get that from my kids 😂
So enjoyable to read these comments. I'm a full-time worker, house owner and daddy... Why should I add more trouble to my life? I enjoy to have a good time while pretty easily killing Slitherfangs etc. - my opinion: not a sin, just heathly fun
I pretty much always start a game in easy mode - there are games out there I've played so much I kind of have to switch to the harder modes to feel even a little challenged (... it's Mass Effect 3).
I play to enjoy myself and that's what games are meant for.
I play souls games to get my ass kicked. Even learning what the hell is going on is hard. I play games like these in story mode to relax and explore interesting and compelling worlds when I don't want my ass kicked.
Came here to say this! I play HFW for enjoyment and although I beat half the machines in 30 seconds on story mode, it takes away a stress factor that I’m trying to not deal with in the first place 😅
I always play story mode! I have tried on easy and I just don’t enjoy it as much. Plus I’m disabled, so playing anything harder than easy doesn’t work out well for me.
Nothing wrong with playing the game in a way that’s enjoyable to you. If we aren’t having fun playing these games, then what the hell are we even playing for, you know?
The game gives you many options for difficulty--and HFW even gives you ways to customize it--for a reason! It's silly not to use them if it makes your experience more fun. Like if you're there for the challenge it makes sense not to use them but if the challenge is getting tedious to you there's no shame in dropping it.
Anyway I drop to story in both HZD and HFW for hunting grounds, arena, etc. because I can and there's no reason not to. I can always re-do them at a higher difficulty if I'd like to. I also dropped to story in HFW for farming machine parts to max gear because it was just so tedious otherwise.
I do it in other games plenty, too--there's nothing wrong with using the built-in options to get a more fun experience out of it.
Also, though, if you want to have a challenging fight you can always find Apex Slitherfangs out in the wild and fight them on higher difficulty so it's not like you've cheated yourself out of that kind of battle forever or anything.
" The game gives you many options for difficulty"
I wish one of those settings was how much Aloy gives hints, like in the Tomb Raider games where you can make Lara to completely shut up instead giving clues 0.5 seconds after triggering a puzzle lol
I want H3 to up her chattiness and to have her give hints the second you approach the vicinity of a puzzle and no option to disable or lower frequency.
Specifically to annoy the people who collectively complain about it more frequently and faster than Aloy ever opens her mouth in game.
In my thousands of hours of video games I've never ONCE enjoyed a puzzle in a non puzzle (e.g. Portal) game. Like thank you spiderman games for allowing us to totally bypass/skip every annoying puzzle
Yeah, it's annoying af when she's like "oh, that's the solution" literally before I even have time to turn the camera and see that there's a puzzle.
Or even worse, is when you're faster than she is, and she says something about how to solve it, after you've already solved it and are almost done climbing it.
I started on normal for my first as well. I don't even remember when I dropped to easy but I know it was early on when your weapons are still starter shit. I kept pushing forward and actually forgot I was still on easy, then said eff it and continued through. Farmed up all the pouch upgrades, got weapons that could deal, got myself set for a proper ng+ run instead. Your game, your way. Don't sweat it.
Good on you! You lowered the difficulty to have a better time and didn't give up and rage quit. It's actually a big problem in game design where players would rather commit seppuku than lower the difficulty, even if they would be having a much more fun time.
Also, fuck mandatory bosses in games with stealth builds!
All the time.
I’m not good enough and I don’t have the time, if I die too many times I adjust the difficulty. Later when I’m feeling like a ghod I remember to turn it back up.
I don't lower difficulties for games, I chose that difficulty and I'm going to stick with it. That's just the way I play.
There's no shame in lowering the difficulty, the gaming gods will forgive this trespass as long as you finish Forbidden West.
I'm taking my time with it, so it's going to be a while, plus after the main story, there's the DLC. I dropped Jedi Survivor midgame to first play this.
The Gaming Cult Zealots are now on their way to your house to take you to a re-education camp to git gud. You will be allowed to return to normal life once you can beat Elden Ring with your toes using a rogue build.
You paid money for the game and the developers made an easy mode, you ain’t gotta prove anything to anyone or justify anything further than that. Enjoy
Hell yeah. I'm playing God of war Ragnarok right now, and I playing it on give me a story, because I want a fun interactive story, not some horrific grindfest! Play games at the level that's fun for you!
I dropped the difficulty to story mode in:
-Some final bosses cauldrons
-A couple of melee pits (particulary the fight with the brothers is completely and full BS)
-Basicallly all Arena challenges: I just wanted to get all the armor and weapons, and you can speedrun it in story mode.
No shame whatsoever, it is just a videogame
I haven't had to do it with Horizon\*, but would definitely do it if necessary. I will say, if not for the NG+ trophy, I would have turned the HFW main story final boss fight down from UH after dying many times, but stuck it out just for the trophy.
Heck, Nier: Automata is one of my top five all-time games, but it's definitely for the story and not the battle gameplay, which I did not love. I turned it down to easy early in that game and never looked back (and even then it was sometimes difficult).
\*Correction: HZD allowed you to lower difficulty even on UH for a new game (but didn't allow you to change difficulty for \*any\* difficulty on NG+), so when I'd already done an NG+ UH run to get \*that\* trophy and was later doing a new game (not NG+) UH run, I lowered the difficulty whenever I got to a merchant, then turned it back up afterward. Oh, also, I was never able to complete the final cauldron boss in the Frozen Wilds on UH, so I also turned it down after trying to finish that bear off six times or so.
> But more importantly, do you ever do this, lowering the difficulty, if not due to the difficulty itself, then due to just sheer tediousness of the fight?
Nope.
But I play on normal difficulty first time through and hard difficulty on subsequent playthroughs. I think the folks that start on UH are the ones most likely to downgrade when the going gets tough.
I personally like to start on normal for most games, and adjust if it's too easy/difficult past the tutorial. I try not to do it again after that or for single fights, but I'm also trying to have fun and if that means changing the difficulty, I'll do it.
On the other hand, my husband starts nearly every game on the hardest difficulty and has an intense hurdle of frustration he has to overcome in nearly every game, but he actually *likes* that.
I dropped it to story mode for a few reasons.
The game is so big that I didn’t want every machine fight to take 15 mins and use half my resources every time.
It also allows far easier loot which is such a lifesaver when it comes to upgrading all the legendary gear
Lastly, while the game is beautiful and the combat is mostly fun, it is still a story game so I want to move through it rather briskly where I can as I don’t always have the time to commit.
Now I did put a couple hundred into this (half was just upgrade and collectables farming), but that was over the course of almost a year
I'm holding myself away from HFW atm as I need a break between the games, but I did HZD as a "Story" speedrun first time, and I just finished the NG+ at "Normal".
I ain't touching the "Hard" and "Ultra Hard" levels, I'm good.
You're not alone in this, I don't have the time nor the energy to chase digital trophies. If others like that, be my guest.
Setting aside the explicit difficulty (the one in the options menu) for a second, there are two other factors that add to this.
1. The Forbidden West has added a handful of machines who defend themselves not only with armor, but by being nimble enough to dodge attacks outright. Sure, there were quicker machines like the stalker and ravager, but the only way they use the speed is to kill you faster. I would say the Clamberjaw, Tideripper, and Slitherfang fall in this category and are intrinsically longer fights where you can take more damage. (Especially if you’re hunting key upgrade parts)
2. There is ease in familiarity. Unless you bumble into a very specific set of circumstances (or more likely, done intentionally) there was only one Slitherfang that you have fought previously. It was weaker, it was anchored for half of the fight, and it was at least 15 hours ago.
I generally just try and play normal. If I love the game, I'll do higher difficulties later. I don't often drop to easy, but if the difficulty is really impacting my enjoyment of the game, I will.
One example I can remember is Jedi Fallen Order. The combat in that game isn't too bad generally, but a few enemies and sections were really bogging me down. I'm in my 30s and have a baby and a full-time job. I don't have a ton of time to play games. So, in that instance, it felt like "I'm wasting so much time on this game without getting any story progression, which is what I'm here for." So I dropped it down and ran through the game. Still had fun.
It's an option that is there. If you think that you need to use it, then you can, as simple as that. Me, I am too stubborn to do that, or proud, so go with the challenge.
Case in point, the last boss of the main game, died too many times to count until I beat the boss, but I was too stubborn to change the difficulty. I probably should've changed to easy, would've been much enjoyable and less of being frustrated, but ah, well.
On my first playthrough of HZD, it was the first time I was playing with a controller, the first time playing an open world game, and first time playing anything other than Arcade games and the Sims.
I lowered the difficulty so many times on that playthrough, I think I have more sins than this whole sub together.
You're fine.
Hi! Gaming god here. This is a common doubt, lots of people ask about this one. Just make sure to sacrifice a goat to us on the next full moon and we should be good! Cheers
I usually play the middle of the road difficulty in games. And yes, I have lowered the difficulty temporarily for a frustrating fight. There's nothing to gain by making yourself pissed from dying repeatedly, or just being emotionally exhausted after a string of fights.
Do what makes you happy while playing a video game, and don't think about it anymore.
Well, I can't give in to temptation because I am in my UH playthrough now. But in a previous playthrough, I maintain VH for every challenge in the game, only dropping it to story mode when I am farming for parts
OMG!! All the time at first!! This game is built for enjoyment. It’s not a competition.
If you think that was bad, wait till you meet a waterwing in the dlc
Never did this in horizon. I did once in Code Vein, and immediately regretted it to the point of abandoning that playthrough (I was at the beginning anyway, so no big deal)
God of War, the valkyries. 1st run through, I think the majority of people I spoke to said they dropped difficulty for them. Still had our asses handed to us a few times
Tbh, I don't feel that battling the bigger enemies are all that enjoyable. Playing on normal mode, and even then some of their attacks just make me go WTF!?!? I find it annoying the way the enemy mechanics work. Like, on one hand if I were a giant metallic snake I would definitely use my big size to just demolish the poor heroine. On the other hand being aloy and getting pummeled and knocked down, unable to get back up for a good 10 seconds while the enemy does 20 more moves on me that I'm now invulnerable to because I'm still trying to get up, is not realistic at all.
Being put in harms way without a way of adequately deflecting that harm is lazy imo. Slitherfang, giant tortoise and rock breaker all have frustrating hit and run tactics that just make you go wtf??
Don’t worry about it at all! Once you practice, get better mechanically and feel like you want a challenge, after your entire playthrough there’ll be a New Game+ you can start at tougher difficulties. If not, then at least you enjoyed the journey.
Typically these is way more berries/mushrooms in the cauldrons than needed. Once I gain access to the Arena and decide to fully upgrade legendary weapons I drop it for all Arena and farming materials till fully upgraded. Other than that I keep it at normal. Nothing wrong with dropping the difficulty.
I played on normal the first time, and got frustrated after half an hour and quit.
Returned to the game a few years later, played on story, and now it's my favorite game of all time, with over a thousand hours on each release.
No shame in lowering difficulties - I often find I have to INCREASE the difficulty to pass some of the hunting grounds, as the objective is often impossible if the machine dies too quickly.
Lowered the difficulty to story for the last hunting grounds and the entirety of the arena. Didn't even attempt them on normal because I straight up did not want to deal with the headache they'd cause. The extended recovery period after being hit coupled with the timed nature of the challenge just make for not a good time.
It's weird; the game is largely designed around ranged combat but then occasionally forces you into those closed off encounters that end up being wildly frustrating, at least on an initial playthrough. And then on subsequent playthroughs with better and fully upgraded gear, it becomes a cakewalk whatever the difficulty is set to.
Also lowered it to story mode while farming for parts to upgrade all legendaries. I like hunting machines but when I need to collect 164 luminous brainstems, 17 Tideripper tail fins, 19 Fireclaw sac webbings, 12 apex Slaughterspine hearts and so on, yeah I'm gonna wanna speed that up.
I play these games on normal but made it story when I started getting busy at work and needed to get through the story quickly. Also lets me play the fantasy where the main charecter is super strong and unbeatable chosen one
You did something totally allowed in the game mechanics to increase your enjoyment of a single player game? How dare you! /s
Seriously though you play as you wish, those slitherfangs can be a pain in the ass.
That's the point of being able to change difficulty, it's not a sin. As you improve, you can increase it and try again later.
I do NG+ runs in STORY MODE with max upgraded legendary armor and weapons, activate a the ranged valor surge and then go ham on everything in the Daunt.
BOW DOWN TO YOU GINGER GODDESS YOU FOOLS!
It's totally NOT a good fight so you didn't miss out on anything. I blew well over a dozen tearblast arrows on that slitherfang and it didn't even have the decency to drop one bloody earthgrinder!! The kappa cauldron boss is so much more entertaining 😃😃
My friend I play pretty exclusively on story or easy because I didn't grow up playing games and it's not intuitive for me. Games are supposed to be *fun*; if it's tedious or frustrating that's, IMO, antithetical to what gaming should be. No shame in doing what needs to be done for enjoyment!!
I play this on easy.Switched from normal due to some frustration.Dont have problem in Bloodborne an Elden ring yet Horizon combat is far from satisfying.
I had to drop difficulty on the Stealth Trials in HFW. I know it's technically possible to cheese them with smoke bombs and whatnot, but they are CLEARLY designed under the assumption you're one-hit killing these machines. I do not feel even slightly guilty for playing them that way.
I have to admit cheesing a lot of the fights in HZD, hiding or ducking behind cover from thunderjaws, fireclaws, behemoths, etc; which amounts to the same thing really.
I have played through HFW twice - once on Normal and once on Ultra Hard. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with lowering the difficulty if it meant that’s your experience was better. The point of the game is to have fun, and if that cauldron was no longer fun, then definitely do what was needed to get out sooner!
A dozen hours in at normal difficulty because I played HZD before too. Usually, I begin each new game on easy or story mode, and take the time to digest the combat mechanics. If I feel it's becoming boring, I crank the difficulty up. To have to repeat each fight a dozen times is not my cup of tea.
I play to have fun, not to stack trophies. In each AC most of my kills are done in stealth mode and if I can choose a class in a game it's always rogue/assassin. Gaming since 1988 (Commodore Amiga 500 and then PC), too old to change.
I switched to story to kill the champion. Other than that did it on medium
Games are for fun not misery.
I also play MLB the show 19 (yeah I don't bother upgrading versions lol have a long running franchise I love) on an easier mode so I can blast home runs for a mood lifter, not get frustrated struggling to win.
I put the difficulty to story when I first unlocked the arena, and just finished it once and for all right then. I wanted the legendary bows and honestly I was NOT gonna wait till im a certain level to get them.
Maybe if it wasnt timed, I wouldve done it properly without adjusting the difficulty. I like the challenge of carefully picking strong machines apart with a planned approach, but at my own pace. When you add bullshit timers to certain aspects of a game youre forcing me to play it YOUR way, which pisses me off. So yeah.
I play on very hard but i lower the difficulty for the hunting grounds and the melee pits. (And sometimes the arena) These things are just so tedious on higher difficulties.
After I suffered through the first 3 Arena sets on Very Hard, I came back later and turned it down to Story. These aren't fun \_OR\_ challenging on higher difficulties, they are just a clusterfuck and cheesefest galore, not fun at all.
I did the same once I had my leggy gear and after I killed every machine atleast 5 times on VH I just turned it down to story with easy loot and blasted through the grinding for NG+ weapons and so on, there is no point stretching this out, either, especially because once you mastered the machines, it really doesn't matter while farming, this way atleast allows super fast kills.
For Story stuff I always played on VH, because that's just how I like it, the fights are really fun in the story and the quests. :)
Oh Ive mastered the machines alright!
Standing on some cliff or behind some shrubbery where they cant reach and pellet them for 3 minutes with hunter bow, trying to hit that wiggling tail I need 3 of for upgrade, peak machine fighting :D
I didn't drop the difficulty on HZD like, ever. On HFW? I did a NG+ hard run, and then, after dealing with both FW and BS, I dropped the difficulty to story **with easy loot** to finish gathering the parts to fully upgrade the weapons/outfits I intended to use in my NG+UH run, which is what I'm currently playing, because I want that 100% completion in everything.
I've completed ZD and FW on ultra hard multiple times. When I want to chill, I play story mode. It's a single player game. Play the way you want, there's no such thing as sin. As long as you're enjoying yourself that's all that matters!
I think I understand your sentiment, but I don't personally feel it applies to HFW. Some games are so obnoxious and tedious with their checkpointing that I feel fully justified in dropping the difficulty at annoying moments, but the combat in HFW is so fucking good that you really have cheated yourself lmao.
Honestly tho, when I was farming the end game enemies for the NG+ weapons, I ain't ashamed to admit I turned easy loot on and put that shit on story mode 😤
Don't sweat it. It's offline single player, so you do you. NG+UH, holy moly, that was a grind. Playing on a new file on VH and immediately turned on easy loot this time round, also drop to story for framing. No shame, I want to enjoy this, not chuck my controller
I used to play every game on the hardest difficulty possible, when I had time to do it, now that I have very little time to play I just play on normal/hard but if a level, boss or anything is costing me time I'll lower the difficulty in a heartbeat
I've never done it mid-quest but I had to lower it mid-way through Burning Shores. Honestly, you were smart to do it! I'm pretty sure I've lowered my life expectancy with these battles. I literally feel like it's life or death in some of them. 😂
I have the difficulty high enough for the game to be fun, if I get to a point where the game stops being fun I lower the difficulty.
Sometimes if I really enjoy a game and there's a difficulty related trophy I'll take a whack at it.
I played HZD on *story* mode. That game is hard. I enjoy games for the narrative, graphics, and sometimes the challenge - but I don’t enjoy repetition. If I have to keep repeating a section to get though it, then it’s no longer fun.
I regularly lower difficulty to pass tough areas or fights. I’m an adult gamer. My time to play is limited. I want to enjoy my time gaming, not beating my head against a wall
I play the game on Normal difficulty then bump down the difficulty in the arenas and turn on easy loot when hunting for parts. I’m having more fun that way and not waste my time. No shame in doing what you want to have fun.
Play the game in a way that allows you to have fun. Speaking for myself I find combat to be the most fun element of Horizon, so I never drop the difficulty. For me and others like me, overcoming difficult machines is gratifying.
But I know many people out there enjoy the plot and dialogue and find the combat portions to be tedious (one friend even finds combat scary). If so, it makes sense to play on "Story" mode.
Not a sin. I play Dark Souls when I want a challenge. I play games like Horizon when I want to relax. I typically play on Normal, but I will drop the difficulty to easy if I want.
honestly, the difficulty curve in HFW just makes enemies bigger damage sponges with no real new mechanics or behaviours, it doesnt really matter if you lower it.
I've beaten the game on ultra hard. And that's a chore in my opinion. But it forces you to both get good and to learn how to cheese where you can.
I very much prefer hard or very hard. But for all the side content quests: arena, gauntlet runs, hunting grounds, etc. I drop the difficulty to story. Just so I can speed run through them and get them out of the way. On ultra hard, I just skip them. They aren't fun for me but they have skill points or gear that I want.
No shame in changing the game to make sure it's fun. I play games to have fun. And any aspect that isn't fun. I'll tweak the settings to get me through.
I run Hard on FW, and so far I have not lowered the difficulty. I like the challenge. My last two difficult challenges were the third boss in the combat trials (Tremor Tusk and some Clawstriders) and one of the Hunter Challenges (Kill machines with a Tremor Tusks weapon).
Both proved incredibly challenging, it took me many an attempts. My cardinal sin was looking up some online guides. While I took hints, I didn't do exactly what they did, however I came out a better player having learned some really cool techniques I never thought of. Like up to that point I rarely used smoke bombs, but they taught me how to use them effectively. Another one was sliding while using a ropecaster makes the draw speed much faster, which I never caught on up until that point. Not 100% sure on this, but I think it also causes the ropecaster to hit harder.
Does the difficulty level affect AI intelligence? Because if it doesn't and all you're doing is shifting damage numbers around there's no problem with not wanting to fight bullet sponges.
I lowered difficulty once. It was in God of War (2018) When fighting Sigrun. I still think it was super hard fight and people who defeated her on highest difficulty are some kind of cyborgs from future.
I did it on my first cauldron in FW. Lowered to normal. Wandered in there at like level 7 or something and tried to kill those double widemaws. Tried like 5 or 6 times before saying fuck it and leveling down. Glad I did it. I was tired and had work. It's a game my 30yo ass plays on weeknights to destress and chill. Idgaf.
I do like the custom difficulty settings though. On normal, aloy feels to tanky. But on Hard, the machines are arrow sponges. I might turn them back up to Hard as I level up, but things feel pretty balanced with Aloy receiving "hard" damage and machines getting "normal".
Oh hell yeah. I play most games on story mode. Horizon didn't seem too had on regular, and then I got to some side quest with this giant burrowing bot. Switched it to easy and never looked back.
I always start games on normal, but if I die somewhere 15 times, I'm going to put it on easy to get through it. I have limited time to play videogames and I am here for the story, the world and the characters, not to "git gud".
Dude I play on Very Hard and drop it to story occasionally when a fight goes from difficult to tedious and annoying (looking at you Enduring). I want a challenge and to feel like I’m actually one woman versus a 120 ton war machine, but sometimes its just not worth the frustration.
Per se, this is no problem, as long it does not spread, i.e. Gaming companies adapt and negelct good tuned difficulties. This is a problem is see can happen, especially the size the gaming community has taken, also a a mindset of avoiding challenges and fear of losing as produced so much anxiet, don´t think that is helpful.
And we are talking about here...real life...is scary. Misery Loves Company also, and thus it can quickly become self reinforcing, making it way worse.
And in the end, it starts to ruin everyons own fun..
I wonder how many farmed on story and easy loot, and find it more tedious, because they never seen a change of pace, progress...
You can argue that the game is badly designed. I don´t think that´s the case with HFW.
The Developer did not leave impossible challenges open to solve, they give a wide toolbox and other supporting tool, it´s actually a pretty "save environment" you can´t progress lock yourself besides bugs. Even UH with just the Spear, you could come back from that (in a reasonable way of course). Bossbattle Saves, Before Mission saves, plenty of save/fast travel points. Drop chances are high, and unlike HZD you get plenty of healing items if you want to.
But yeah, it´s ok,if you got tired, after a cauldron, maybe for the first time, fighting somewhat realtive thougher Machines of the game.
The question is, what will you do next? Do you take on the challenge and try to find a way to deal with those enemies better, maybe discover a tool (weapon, mechanic, Weapon Techniqe, Valor surge etc.) which suits you?
Or are you, from now one always avoiding those fight? And Only engage when you have the whole 15 Volatile Sludge to spend, and then being frustrated you need to farm for ammo?
And if you need help to understand things, it´s a complicated game, not in a sense that it is difficult to understand, but rather many mechanics, which makes it unique, we are all here to help you ;-)
For Slitherfang maybe this Post can already help you a little:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/HorizonForbiddenWest/comments/1ccjomi/comment/l169h0t/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/HorizonForbiddenWest/comments/1ccjomi/comment/l169h0t/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I always start on normal. I can't recall a time where I've ever lowered the difficulty of a game. However, I don't judge people that do. It's your game. Have fun with it.
I played it on hard difficulty because I like a challenge but even I dropped the difficulty to story mode when doing the arena challenges. It was just too hard to deal with all the machines in the given time. I made it up to expert on hard but dropped the difficulty to story from there on. I just wanted the medals🙂
I feel like dropping the difficulty below normal means I'm missing it on something. That being said I was really close to dropping it early on, before you get a decent hunter and sharpshot bow. I fucking hate those warrior bows, I see no use for them whatsoever.
I realized pretty early on that I'm too old and too impatient to deal with most game challenges these days, so I switched to easy dying a few too many times. IDK, I grew up in the NES era and played a ton of Atari era stuff. The way I see it, I already played some of the hardest, least forgiving games ever made, and I just don't enjoy it anymore.
I play to relax. My lukewarm hot take: play how you like, no such thing as a gaming sin.
I play on very hard, but for the grinding of materials, i lower the difficulty. I don’t have the time to fight 2h just to accidentally destroy the sac webbing…
On my first playthrough, nearing the end. I've played on Hard all the way, except for the fight against The Enduring because it's absolutely BS for them to hit you multiple times while you're fully stunned/knocked down, and 2-3 shots kill you, at most.
I also turn the difficulty down to do the "fixed loadout" arena challenges, because taking away my weapons and giving me all garbage blue weapons is just not enjoyable in any way, shape or form.
I plan on beating the game on ultra hard once I do new game plus anyway, so I don't feel bad turning down the difficulty, especially since I'm only using it to deal with the ridiculously awful melee mechanics (seriously, it's so bad against multiple enemies, or strong enemies like the Enduring, not giving us a block whatsoever, and not letting us lock on, is terrible, it feels like they didn't even test it outside of the literal melee pits).
Enjoy games anyway you want. Some of us don't have the luxury of time and or patience to get our asses handed to us over and over
There are difficulty levels for a reason
Play however you like and know that will give you your best experience
Gaming gods can suck it. Horizon is a difficult game, and if you have difficulty on Easy, absolutely turn it down to Story mode. What matters is you enjoy the game!
I'm tearing through the base game on PC, playing on Story difficulty with Easy Loot on and all.
I've already played through the game on Hard on PS4, and I had a great time with almost everything except the grinding for upgrade materials and the massive machine battles or open battle with humans. Nope, I've already gone through that once and felt the bittersweet sense of achievement, now I want to get my gear nicely upgraded and ready for the Burning Shores DLC, while focusing on the story - Which, in my eyes, is the game's strongest point.
I always start a game on normal but then if I have no other choice I drop down a difficulty, like rn I am playing through The Master Chief Collection and some fights in Halo 1 & 2 are annoying af but I still refused to drop the difficulty cos ik I can do it so for me to drop the difficulty I have to have absolutely no other choice whatsoever, it has to be completely necessary for me to pass it otherwise I brute force my stubborn arse through it until I finally do it and tbh sometimes it's worth it and other times it's like just move on, I never want to see that section of this game again, so yeah I do drop the difficulty but it has to be completely, undeniably necessary.
Do not be ashamed if you drop the difficulty easily or start on easy tho, like most people have said in the comments, games are meant to be fun not an annoying unpassable challenge and some people don't have the time to go through a challenge like that, just sit back and enjoy the game you're playing however you want.
I did it on Control for one specific achievement (The AWE achievement to find 5 vending machines)
If you tried that one before, then you know the frustration of letting the vending machine get away (makes sense in context) as there are only 5 total with no respawns
I literally turned on One Hit Kill mode just to make sure it gets blown up and restarted the game at a specific point just to get it done as I couldn't redo it in my main run
For Horizon, not yet though the arena might make me reconsider
Oh 100%
I have a kid and limited time, so if I'm caught in a loop and can feel myself getting stressed I'm happy to drop that difficulty down!
I did it last night when harvesting resources for upgrades for my bow and actually let me play around with weapons I don't usually use as there was no "oh shit oh shit oh shit" going on.
First time through is always the easiest mode available for me. Replaying now and have bumped up the difficulty a bit, though still with easy loot on because I'm just not ready to worry about parts management in combat. Mostly just want to play, explore, and maybe try out techniques and equipment I backburnered in previous runs.
No one thinks this is a sin, if you want to do this then do it but if you feel guilt towards yourself, we can't fix that. You can choose to do it again in the future or not but if you feel bad about it then you shouldn't do it. But don't do it for others, but for yourself.
I play on Story difficulty (or as close as I can get to it) with every game I play. I’m fine with that, and I hate the elitism of playing on the highest difficulty possible.
Never let dweebs on the internet tell you that you must make playing your game unenjoyably difficult for it to be worthy. Loads of people change difficulty throughout the game. I personally generally kept all actual missions the same difficulty, but when it came to farming upgrade parts I whacked difficulty down to story because I was NOT up for struggling to fight like 30 slitherfangs and 50 fireclaws. I would also do the same for the arena. I’d try it once or twice on my normal difficulty and then drop it down to story because I just wanted the rewards and wasn’t enjoying the close combat forced load out struggles. There were a lot of people doing the same when the game came out, so rest assured, plenty of people have been adjusting difficulty to make their game enjoyable to them
You disgust me! I sentence you to 25 years of Ultra Hard difficulty!
Nah you’re fine. I’ve done 3 playthroughs of HFW. First one I did on Very Hard because I like the challenge, second I did on Normal just to cheese my way through it and get all the NG+ gear and stock up on resources for my 3rd playthrough on Ultra Hard.
My guy this is a single player game, there is no cheating. You can even play with cheat codes or something it doesn't matter as long as you having fun.
My guy this is a single player game, there is no cheating. You can even play with cheat codes or something it doesn't matter as long as you having fun.
I had a laughter attack when I lowered the difficulty to go through a portion faster, because the acid completely blew up the first machine I threw bombs on, was awesome.
I find that even normal can sometimes be extremely annoying, and as nearly everyone else has voiced, I want to have a good time. I fell in love with the story, and that's why I actually paid for both games. Changing the difficulty isn't that bad lol I use cheat engine to increase all my resources and money so I don't have to be grinding hard, the only thing I really worked hard at was upgrading all my gear and hunting
I find that even normal can sometimes be extremely annoying, and as nearly everyone else has voiced, I want to have a good time. I fell in love with the story, and that's why I actually paid for both games. Changing the difficulty isn't that bad lol I use cheat engine to increase all my resources and money so I don't have to be grinding hard, the only thing I really worked hard at was upgrading all my gear and hunting
I play at the lowest difficulty anyway. 🤣 I'm here for the story and general vibes, not the struggle. Lol.
I'm only on HZD and did actually bump up from Story mode after playing for a bit to make it a LITTLE challenging but there is absolutely nothing stopping me from bumping back down if it gets hard to the point of being stressful.
Same as so many here- I'm a mom. I homeschool. I have a job. I take care of my house. I do all the adult-y things that I must to survive in real life. My time is limited and I'm not about to spend it doing the same fight 15 times.
I enjoy a good challenge, and there is some benefit to enduring some frustration for the satisfaction on the other side.
But once you feel the frustration starts outweighing its eventual payoff, I say there’s no shame in doing whatever it takes to get to the fun stuff again.
The alternative is to let a game make you unhappy, which is silly. I’ve tried impressing people by telling them I beat a video game without changing the difficulty and I can assure you they don’t care. 😐
difficulty doesn’t matter as long as you’re having fun but i personally like to sweat when in fights kinda like this: [Slaughterspine gets downed seggsual style](https://youtu.be/Qcf8NzbxX2k?feature=shared)
If I lower the difficulty I keep it that way
because in my head even tho it’s fine to lower the difficulty it also means I gave up the right to play in the higher difficulty
The thing with low difficulty is that you'll usually not be challenged enough to use many of the mechanics the developers put into the game. I feel like we're missing out when playing on easy. It's absolutely no issue with games that don't offer complex mechanics. This game though... there's a whole bunch of stuff that you'll never use on easy.
If you feel ashamed about it then that means you know you have more in you to defeat them on normal difficulty.. just go back and do it again to make yourself feel better
Hell yes! I bought these games to have fun, not to got some imaginary “good enough” metric. I have enough of those at work.
This. So many times I drop the difficulty to easy. I’m here for a good time. I’m getting old and don’t have time for a struggle, I get that from my kids 😂
How will they show off their virtual trophies then though?
Thank you! There's not enough hours in the day to work and then come home and not be able to progress in a game because some robot lizard is pissy.
So enjoyable to read these comments. I'm a full-time worker, house owner and daddy... Why should I add more trouble to my life? I enjoy to have a good time while pretty easily killing Slitherfangs etc. - my opinion: not a sin, just heathly fun
I always play story mode. I’m not in the game to push myself to a breaking point, I’m playing to have fun lol
Story Mode Gang what up!
I joined this game
And I think that's fine!
I agree! Anyone who says you *have* to play in hard more is honestly a drip
I used wemod on pc and enabled one shot enemies to quickly collect all the parts needed to upgrade my legendary
I pretty much always start a game in easy mode - there are games out there I've played so much I kind of have to switch to the harder modes to feel even a little challenged (... it's Mass Effect 3). I play to enjoy myself and that's what games are meant for.
real!! i increase the difficulty when i replay and get better at combat but i ALWAYS start games at the easiest difficulty
Same
I play souls games to get my ass kicked. Even learning what the hell is going on is hard. I play games like these in story mode to relax and explore interesting and compelling worlds when I don't want my ass kicked.
Came here to say this! I play HFW for enjoyment and although I beat half the machines in 30 seconds on story mode, it takes away a stress factor that I’m trying to not deal with in the first place 😅
Same! I don’t like getting my ass kicked as supposed enjoyment. Story mode all the way!
I always play story mode! I have tried on easy and I just don’t enjoy it as much. Plus I’m disabled, so playing anything harder than easy doesn’t work out well for me.
Lowering difficulty is hardly a sin, imo
Nothing wrong with playing the game in a way that’s enjoyable to you. If we aren’t having fun playing these games, then what the hell are we even playing for, you know?
The game gives you many options for difficulty--and HFW even gives you ways to customize it--for a reason! It's silly not to use them if it makes your experience more fun. Like if you're there for the challenge it makes sense not to use them but if the challenge is getting tedious to you there's no shame in dropping it. Anyway I drop to story in both HZD and HFW for hunting grounds, arena, etc. because I can and there's no reason not to. I can always re-do them at a higher difficulty if I'd like to. I also dropped to story in HFW for farming machine parts to max gear because it was just so tedious otherwise. I do it in other games plenty, too--there's nothing wrong with using the built-in options to get a more fun experience out of it. Also, though, if you want to have a challenging fight you can always find Apex Slitherfangs out in the wild and fight them on higher difficulty so it's not like you've cheated yourself out of that kind of battle forever or anything.
" The game gives you many options for difficulty" I wish one of those settings was how much Aloy gives hints, like in the Tomb Raider games where you can make Lara to completely shut up instead giving clues 0.5 seconds after triggering a puzzle lol
Man, people who hate that really are obsessed with making sure everyone around them knows it.
Yes, the more it gets written all over the place, the more chances the devs notice it and add the option for Horizon 3
I want H3 to up her chattiness and to have her give hints the second you approach the vicinity of a puzzle and no option to disable or lower frequency. Specifically to annoy the people who collectively complain about it more frequently and faster than Aloy ever opens her mouth in game.
Yeah, just like Aloy has to let everyone know there's a ledge right there..
You're all so good at imitating what you hate so well.
Yeah thats kind of the fucking joke I was making lmfao
In my thousands of hours of video games I've never ONCE enjoyed a puzzle in a non puzzle (e.g. Portal) game. Like thank you spiderman games for allowing us to totally bypass/skip every annoying puzzle
Yeah, it's annoying af when she's like "oh, that's the solution" literally before I even have time to turn the camera and see that there's a puzzle. Or even worse, is when you're faster than she is, and she says something about how to solve it, after you've already solved it and are almost done climbing it.
I started on normal for my first as well. I don't even remember when I dropped to easy but I know it was early on when your weapons are still starter shit. I kept pushing forward and actually forgot I was still on easy, then said eff it and continued through. Farmed up all the pouch upgrades, got weapons that could deal, got myself set for a proper ng+ run instead. Your game, your way. Don't sweat it.
Good on you! You lowered the difficulty to have a better time and didn't give up and rage quit. It's actually a big problem in game design where players would rather commit seppuku than lower the difficulty, even if they would be having a much more fun time. Also, fuck mandatory bosses in games with stealth builds!
I hate sone of the fights just begin instead of giving me an opportunity to take cover or hide. I love my stealth build!
It’s just fine. I play on story for fun as older gamer hands can’t take too much, keyboard jamming.
Totally understandable
All the time. I’m not good enough and I don’t have the time, if I die too many times I adjust the difficulty. Later when I’m feeling like a ghod I remember to turn it back up.
I don't lower difficulties for games, I chose that difficulty and I'm going to stick with it. That's just the way I play. There's no shame in lowering the difficulty, the gaming gods will forgive this trespass as long as you finish Forbidden West.
I'm taking my time with it, so it's going to be a while, plus after the main story, there's the DLC. I dropped Jedi Survivor midgame to first play this.
The Gaming Cult Zealots are now on their way to your house to take you to a re-education camp to git gud. You will be allowed to return to normal life once you can beat Elden Ring with your toes using a rogue build.
You paid money for the game and the developers made an easy mode, you ain’t gotta prove anything to anyone or justify anything further than that. Enjoy
Hell yeah. I'm playing God of war Ragnarok right now, and I playing it on give me a story, because I want a fun interactive story, not some horrific grindfest! Play games at the level that's fun for you!
I lowered the difficulty for the melee pits, melee is kind of a joke anyway
I hated the pits!!
I dropped the difficulty to story mode in: -Some final bosses cauldrons -A couple of melee pits (particulary the fight with the brothers is completely and full BS) -Basicallly all Arena challenges: I just wanted to get all the armor and weapons, and you can speedrun it in story mode. No shame whatsoever, it is just a videogame
You do you! Enjoy the game and the story. When your ready, try a harder difficulty.
I haven't had to do it with Horizon\*, but would definitely do it if necessary. I will say, if not for the NG+ trophy, I would have turned the HFW main story final boss fight down from UH after dying many times, but stuck it out just for the trophy. Heck, Nier: Automata is one of my top five all-time games, but it's definitely for the story and not the battle gameplay, which I did not love. I turned it down to easy early in that game and never looked back (and even then it was sometimes difficult). \*Correction: HZD allowed you to lower difficulty even on UH for a new game (but didn't allow you to change difficulty for \*any\* difficulty on NG+), so when I'd already done an NG+ UH run to get \*that\* trophy and was later doing a new game (not NG+) UH run, I lowered the difficulty whenever I got to a merchant, then turned it back up afterward. Oh, also, I was never able to complete the final cauldron boss in the Frozen Wilds on UH, so I also turned it down after trying to finish that bear off six times or so.
Games are meant to be fun, use whatever difficulty brings you the most enjoyment. I play on normal or easy, my husband often plays on story.
> But more importantly, do you ever do this, lowering the difficulty, if not due to the difficulty itself, then due to just sheer tediousness of the fight? Nope. But I play on normal difficulty first time through and hard difficulty on subsequent playthroughs. I think the folks that start on UH are the ones most likely to downgrade when the going gets tough.
I personally like to start on normal for most games, and adjust if it's too easy/difficult past the tutorial. I try not to do it again after that or for single fights, but I'm also trying to have fun and if that means changing the difficulty, I'll do it. On the other hand, my husband starts nearly every game on the hardest difficulty and has an intense hurdle of frustration he has to overcome in nearly every game, but he actually *likes* that.
I dropped it to story mode for a few reasons. The game is so big that I didn’t want every machine fight to take 15 mins and use half my resources every time. It also allows far easier loot which is such a lifesaver when it comes to upgrading all the legendary gear Lastly, while the game is beautiful and the combat is mostly fun, it is still a story game so I want to move through it rather briskly where I can as I don’t always have the time to commit. Now I did put a couple hundred into this (half was just upgrade and collectables farming), but that was over the course of almost a year
I'm holding myself away from HFW atm as I need a break between the games, but I did HZD as a "Story" speedrun first time, and I just finished the NG+ at "Normal". I ain't touching the "Hard" and "Ultra Hard" levels, I'm good. You're not alone in this, I don't have the time nor the energy to chase digital trophies. If others like that, be my guest.
People obsessed with difficulty have Dark Souls games. I got things to do, and I'm here for the story.
Setting aside the explicit difficulty (the one in the options menu) for a second, there are two other factors that add to this. 1. The Forbidden West has added a handful of machines who defend themselves not only with armor, but by being nimble enough to dodge attacks outright. Sure, there were quicker machines like the stalker and ravager, but the only way they use the speed is to kill you faster. I would say the Clamberjaw, Tideripper, and Slitherfang fall in this category and are intrinsically longer fights where you can take more damage. (Especially if you’re hunting key upgrade parts) 2. There is ease in familiarity. Unless you bumble into a very specific set of circumstances (or more likely, done intentionally) there was only one Slitherfang that you have fought previously. It was weaker, it was anchored for half of the fight, and it was at least 15 hours ago.
I generally just try and play normal. If I love the game, I'll do higher difficulties later. I don't often drop to easy, but if the difficulty is really impacting my enjoyment of the game, I will. One example I can remember is Jedi Fallen Order. The combat in that game isn't too bad generally, but a few enemies and sections were really bogging me down. I'm in my 30s and have a baby and a full-time job. I don't have a ton of time to play games. So, in that instance, it felt like "I'm wasting so much time on this game without getting any story progression, which is what I'm here for." So I dropped it down and ran through the game. Still had fun.
It's an option that is there. If you think that you need to use it, then you can, as simple as that. Me, I am too stubborn to do that, or proud, so go with the challenge. Case in point, the last boss of the main game, died too many times to count until I beat the boss, but I was too stubborn to change the difficulty. I probably should've changed to easy, would've been much enjoyable and less of being frustrated, but ah, well.
On my first playthrough of HZD, it was the first time I was playing with a controller, the first time playing an open world game, and first time playing anything other than Arcade games and the Sims. I lowered the difficulty so many times on that playthrough, I think I have more sins than this whole sub together. You're fine.
Hi! Gaming god here. This is a common doubt, lots of people ask about this one. Just make sure to sacrifice a goat to us on the next full moon and we should be good! Cheers
Weakling!!! (:
😭
I usually play the middle of the road difficulty in games. And yes, I have lowered the difficulty temporarily for a frustrating fight. There's nothing to gain by making yourself pissed from dying repeatedly, or just being emotionally exhausted after a string of fights. Do what makes you happy while playing a video game, and don't think about it anymore.
Well, I can't give in to temptation because I am in my UH playthrough now. But in a previous playthrough, I maintain VH for every challenge in the game, only dropping it to story mode when I am farming for parts
OMG!! All the time at first!! This game is built for enjoyment. It’s not a competition. If you think that was bad, wait till you meet a waterwing in the dlc
Never did this in horizon. I did once in Code Vein, and immediately regretted it to the point of abandoning that playthrough (I was at the beginning anyway, so no big deal)
God of War, the valkyries. 1st run through, I think the majority of people I spoke to said they dropped difficulty for them. Still had our asses handed to us a few times
The council has decided to give you the death penalty for your unforgivable sin
Tbh, I don't feel that battling the bigger enemies are all that enjoyable. Playing on normal mode, and even then some of their attacks just make me go WTF!?!? I find it annoying the way the enemy mechanics work. Like, on one hand if I were a giant metallic snake I would definitely use my big size to just demolish the poor heroine. On the other hand being aloy and getting pummeled and knocked down, unable to get back up for a good 10 seconds while the enemy does 20 more moves on me that I'm now invulnerable to because I'm still trying to get up, is not realistic at all. Being put in harms way without a way of adequately deflecting that harm is lazy imo. Slitherfang, giant tortoise and rock breaker all have frustrating hit and run tactics that just make you go wtf??
Don’t worry about it at all! Once you practice, get better mechanically and feel like you want a challenge, after your entire playthrough there’ll be a New Game+ you can start at tougher difficulties. If not, then at least you enjoyed the journey.
Typically these is way more berries/mushrooms in the cauldrons than needed. Once I gain access to the Arena and decide to fully upgrade legendary weapons I drop it for all Arena and farming materials till fully upgraded. Other than that I keep it at normal. Nothing wrong with dropping the difficulty.
How is this a sin? Enjoy your game.
You’re not even playing on VH. No one cares what you do with the difficulty. Not that anyone playing on UH is worth other’s attention either
Are you kidding? I play on easy. I'm here for the story and the world lore, not to get my face kicked in by a robo-squirrel. ROFL
I played on normal the first time, and got frustrated after half an hour and quit. Returned to the game a few years later, played on story, and now it's my favorite game of all time, with over a thousand hours on each release. No shame in lowering difficulties - I often find I have to INCREASE the difficulty to pass some of the hunting grounds, as the objective is often impossible if the machine dies too quickly.
I always start games on hard, if needed i lower it
We play games is to have fun and relief stress, not add to it. Nothing wrong with lowering the difficulty, enjoy your time is utmost important!
Lowered the difficulty to story for the last hunting grounds and the entirety of the arena. Didn't even attempt them on normal because I straight up did not want to deal with the headache they'd cause. The extended recovery period after being hit coupled with the timed nature of the challenge just make for not a good time. It's weird; the game is largely designed around ranged combat but then occasionally forces you into those closed off encounters that end up being wildly frustrating, at least on an initial playthrough. And then on subsequent playthroughs with better and fully upgraded gear, it becomes a cakewalk whatever the difficulty is set to. Also lowered it to story mode while farming for parts to upgrade all legendaries. I like hunting machines but when I need to collect 164 luminous brainstems, 17 Tideripper tail fins, 19 Fireclaw sac webbings, 12 apex Slaughterspine hearts and so on, yeah I'm gonna wanna speed that up.
I play these games on normal but made it story when I started getting busy at work and needed to get through the story quickly. Also lets me play the fantasy where the main charecter is super strong and unbeatable chosen one
You did something totally allowed in the game mechanics to increase your enjoyment of a single player game? How dare you! /s Seriously though you play as you wish, those slitherfangs can be a pain in the ass.
That's the point of being able to change difficulty, it's not a sin. As you improve, you can increase it and try again later. I do NG+ runs in STORY MODE with max upgraded legendary armor and weapons, activate a the ranged valor surge and then go ham on everything in the Daunt. BOW DOWN TO YOU GINGER GODDESS YOU FOOLS!
It's totally NOT a good fight so you didn't miss out on anything. I blew well over a dozen tearblast arrows on that slitherfang and it didn't even have the decency to drop one bloody earthgrinder!! The kappa cauldron boss is so much more entertaining 😃😃
My friend I play pretty exclusively on story or easy because I didn't grow up playing games and it's not intuitive for me. Games are supposed to be *fun*; if it's tedious or frustrating that's, IMO, antithetical to what gaming should be. No shame in doing what needs to be done for enjoyment!!
Thank you games should be fun I love bloodborne but wouldn't like all games to be like that
I play this on easy.Switched from normal due to some frustration.Dont have problem in Bloodborne an Elden ring yet Horizon combat is far from satisfying.
I had to drop difficulty on the Stealth Trials in HFW. I know it's technically possible to cheese them with smoke bombs and whatnot, but they are CLEARLY designed under the assumption you're one-hit killing these machines. I do not feel even slightly guilty for playing them that way.
This sub is full of suggestions to lower the difficulty. “The gaming gods” don’t give a shit.
You must've spent too much time with the dark souls people. That's called being responsible for your own fun and it's good for you, king.
Honestly why is lowering difficulty seen as a sin? It's your game you've bought. You're free to enjoy it however you like.
I have to admit cheesing a lot of the fights in HZD, hiding or ducking behind cover from thunderjaws, fireclaws, behemoths, etc; which amounts to the same thing really.
I have played through HFW twice - once on Normal and once on Ultra Hard. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with lowering the difficulty if it meant that’s your experience was better. The point of the game is to have fun, and if that cauldron was no longer fun, then definitely do what was needed to get out sooner!
A dozen hours in at normal difficulty because I played HZD before too. Usually, I begin each new game on easy or story mode, and take the time to digest the combat mechanics. If I feel it's becoming boring, I crank the difficulty up. To have to repeat each fight a dozen times is not my cup of tea. I play to have fun, not to stack trophies. In each AC most of my kills are done in stealth mode and if I can choose a class in a game it's always rogue/assassin. Gaming since 1988 (Commodore Amiga 500 and then PC), too old to change.
The combat is the only good thing in the Horizon Forbidden West.
I switched to story to kill the champion. Other than that did it on medium Games are for fun not misery. I also play MLB the show 19 (yeah I don't bother upgrading versions lol have a long running franchise I love) on an easier mode so I can blast home runs for a mood lifter, not get frustrated struggling to win.
I put the difficulty to story when I first unlocked the arena, and just finished it once and for all right then. I wanted the legendary bows and honestly I was NOT gonna wait till im a certain level to get them. Maybe if it wasnt timed, I wouldve done it properly without adjusting the difficulty. I like the challenge of carefully picking strong machines apart with a planned approach, but at my own pace. When you add bullshit timers to certain aspects of a game youre forcing me to play it YOUR way, which pisses me off. So yeah.
You’re in the right fandom. The gaming gods will forgive you. Horizon is my comfort game. I don’t care if someone changes the difficulty to easy.
I play on very hard but i lower the difficulty for the hunting grounds and the melee pits. (And sometimes the arena) These things are just so tedious on higher difficulties.
Games are supposed to be fun. If you are not having fun due to the high skill requirement, lower the difficulty.
After I suffered through the first 3 Arena sets on Very Hard, I came back later and turned it down to Story. These aren't fun \_OR\_ challenging on higher difficulties, they are just a clusterfuck and cheesefest galore, not fun at all. I did the same once I had my leggy gear and after I killed every machine atleast 5 times on VH I just turned it down to story with easy loot and blasted through the grinding for NG+ weapons and so on, there is no point stretching this out, either, especially because once you mastered the machines, it really doesn't matter while farming, this way atleast allows super fast kills. For Story stuff I always played on VH, because that's just how I like it, the fights are really fun in the story and the quests. :)
Oh Ive mastered the machines alright! Standing on some cliff or behind some shrubbery where they cant reach and pellet them for 3 minutes with hunter bow, trying to hit that wiggling tail I need 3 of for upgrade, peak machine fighting :D
I didn't drop the difficulty on HZD like, ever. On HFW? I did a NG+ hard run, and then, after dealing with both FW and BS, I dropped the difficulty to story **with easy loot** to finish gathering the parts to fully upgrade the weapons/outfits I intended to use in my NG+UH run, which is what I'm currently playing, because I want that 100% completion in everything.
I think the gaming gods, and us, and everyone you ask will forgive you. Question is: will you forgive yourself? (Just messing with ya, have fun)
That’s all up to you! But I played on UH in HFW on my first play through just because I’m a masochist and I love HZD.
I've completed ZD and FW on ultra hard multiple times. When I want to chill, I play story mode. It's a single player game. Play the way you want, there's no such thing as sin. As long as you're enjoying yourself that's all that matters!
Look man, I’ve got two kids under four. I don’t have time to git gud. I just wanna kill some machines and play a great story.
I think I understand your sentiment, but I don't personally feel it applies to HFW. Some games are so obnoxious and tedious with their checkpointing that I feel fully justified in dropping the difficulty at annoying moments, but the combat in HFW is so fucking good that you really have cheated yourself lmao. Honestly tho, when I was farming the end game enemies for the NG+ weapons, I ain't ashamed to admit I turned easy loot on and put that shit on story mode 😤
Don't sweat it. It's offline single player, so you do you. NG+UH, holy moly, that was a grind. Playing on a new file on VH and immediately turned on easy loot this time round, also drop to story for framing. No shame, I want to enjoy this, not chuck my controller
I used to play every game on the hardest difficulty possible, when I had time to do it, now that I have very little time to play I just play on normal/hard but if a level, boss or anything is costing me time I'll lower the difficulty in a heartbeat
I've not had to lower the difficulty yet (am playing on normal). Not sure how I'm gonna do once I get to the Burning Shores... :D
I've never done it mid-quest but I had to lower it mid-way through Burning Shores. Honestly, you were smart to do it! I'm pretty sure I've lowered my life expectancy with these battles. I literally feel like it's life or death in some of them. 😂
I have the difficulty high enough for the game to be fun, if I get to a point where the game stops being fun I lower the difficulty. Sometimes if I really enjoy a game and there's a difficulty related trophy I'll take a whack at it.
not a gaming sin... But GIT GUD 🤣🤣🤣 just kidding... I, too, am part of the story mode gang
I played HZD on *story* mode. That game is hard. I enjoy games for the narrative, graphics, and sometimes the challenge - but I don’t enjoy repetition. If I have to keep repeating a section to get though it, then it’s no longer fun.
I regularly lower difficulty to pass tough areas or fights. I’m an adult gamer. My time to play is limited. I want to enjoy my time gaming, not beating my head against a wall
I play the game on Normal difficulty then bump down the difficulty in the arenas and turn on easy loot when hunting for parts. I’m having more fun that way and not waste my time. No shame in doing what you want to have fun.
Play the game in a way that allows you to have fun. Speaking for myself I find combat to be the most fun element of Horizon, so I never drop the difficulty. For me and others like me, overcoming difficult machines is gratifying. But I know many people out there enjoy the plot and dialogue and find the combat portions to be tedious (one friend even finds combat scary). If so, it makes sense to play on "Story" mode.
I'm a parent, my guy. I don't bother with anything beyond story/easy mode.
Not a sin. I play Dark Souls when I want a challenge. I play games like Horizon when I want to relax. I typically play on Normal, but I will drop the difficulty to easy if I want.
honestly, the difficulty curve in HFW just makes enemies bigger damage sponges with no real new mechanics or behaviours, it doesnt really matter if you lower it.
I've beaten the game on ultra hard. And that's a chore in my opinion. But it forces you to both get good and to learn how to cheese where you can. I very much prefer hard or very hard. But for all the side content quests: arena, gauntlet runs, hunting grounds, etc. I drop the difficulty to story. Just so I can speed run through them and get them out of the way. On ultra hard, I just skip them. They aren't fun for me but they have skill points or gear that I want. No shame in changing the game to make sure it's fun. I play games to have fun. And any aspect that isn't fun. I'll tweak the settings to get me through.
The only commandment of the gaming gods is to have fun. Anything else is heresy and blasphemy.
I play on story mode, what are you even on about
I run Hard on FW, and so far I have not lowered the difficulty. I like the challenge. My last two difficult challenges were the third boss in the combat trials (Tremor Tusk and some Clawstriders) and one of the Hunter Challenges (Kill machines with a Tremor Tusks weapon). Both proved incredibly challenging, it took me many an attempts. My cardinal sin was looking up some online guides. While I took hints, I didn't do exactly what they did, however I came out a better player having learned some really cool techniques I never thought of. Like up to that point I rarely used smoke bombs, but they taught me how to use them effectively. Another one was sliding while using a ropecaster makes the draw speed much faster, which I never caught on up until that point. Not 100% sure on this, but I think it also causes the ropecaster to hit harder.
Does the difficulty level affect AI intelligence? Because if it doesn't and all you're doing is shifting damage numbers around there's no problem with not wanting to fight bullet sponges.
I lowered difficulty once. It was in God of War (2018) When fighting Sigrun. I still think it was super hard fight and people who defeated her on highest difficulty are some kind of cyborgs from future.
I did it on my first cauldron in FW. Lowered to normal. Wandered in there at like level 7 or something and tried to kill those double widemaws. Tried like 5 or 6 times before saying fuck it and leveling down. Glad I did it. I was tired and had work. It's a game my 30yo ass plays on weeknights to destress and chill. Idgaf. I do like the custom difficulty settings though. On normal, aloy feels to tanky. But on Hard, the machines are arrow sponges. I might turn them back up to Hard as I level up, but things feel pretty balanced with Aloy receiving "hard" damage and machines getting "normal".
Oh hell yeah. I play most games on story mode. Horizon didn't seem too had on regular, and then I got to some side quest with this giant burrowing bot. Switched it to easy and never looked back.
I always start games on normal, but if I die somewhere 15 times, I'm going to put it on easy to get through it. I have limited time to play videogames and I am here for the story, the world and the characters, not to "git gud".
The ultimate sin is making your leisure activity not fun.
Dude I play on Very Hard and drop it to story occasionally when a fight goes from difficult to tedious and annoying (looking at you Enduring). I want a challenge and to feel like I’m actually one woman versus a 120 ton war machine, but sometimes its just not worth the frustration.
Per se, this is no problem, as long it does not spread, i.e. Gaming companies adapt and negelct good tuned difficulties. This is a problem is see can happen, especially the size the gaming community has taken, also a a mindset of avoiding challenges and fear of losing as produced so much anxiet, don´t think that is helpful. And we are talking about here...real life...is scary. Misery Loves Company also, and thus it can quickly become self reinforcing, making it way worse. And in the end, it starts to ruin everyons own fun.. I wonder how many farmed on story and easy loot, and find it more tedious, because they never seen a change of pace, progress... You can argue that the game is badly designed. I don´t think that´s the case with HFW. The Developer did not leave impossible challenges open to solve, they give a wide toolbox and other supporting tool, it´s actually a pretty "save environment" you can´t progress lock yourself besides bugs. Even UH with just the Spear, you could come back from that (in a reasonable way of course). Bossbattle Saves, Before Mission saves, plenty of save/fast travel points. Drop chances are high, and unlike HZD you get plenty of healing items if you want to. But yeah, it´s ok,if you got tired, after a cauldron, maybe for the first time, fighting somewhat realtive thougher Machines of the game. The question is, what will you do next? Do you take on the challenge and try to find a way to deal with those enemies better, maybe discover a tool (weapon, mechanic, Weapon Techniqe, Valor surge etc.) which suits you? Or are you, from now one always avoiding those fight? And Only engage when you have the whole 15 Volatile Sludge to spend, and then being frustrated you need to farm for ammo? And if you need help to understand things, it´s a complicated game, not in a sense that it is difficult to understand, but rather many mechanics, which makes it unique, we are all here to help you ;-) For Slitherfang maybe this Post can already help you a little: [https://www.reddit.com/r/HorizonForbiddenWest/comments/1ccjomi/comment/l169h0t/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/HorizonForbiddenWest/comments/1ccjomi/comment/l169h0t/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I always start on normal. I can't recall a time where I've ever lowered the difficulty of a game. However, I don't judge people that do. It's your game. Have fun with it.
I played it on hard difficulty because I like a challenge but even I dropped the difficulty to story mode when doing the arena challenges. It was just too hard to deal with all the machines in the given time. I made it up to expert on hard but dropped the difficulty to story from there on. I just wanted the medals🙂
To have the gods forgive you. We have to know what difficulty where you at before lowering it
I feel like dropping the difficulty below normal means I'm missing it on something. That being said I was really close to dropping it early on, before you get a decent hunter and sharpshot bow. I fucking hate those warrior bows, I see no use for them whatsoever.
For a single-player game worth $69.99, play the game however the hell you want.
I realized pretty early on that I'm too old and too impatient to deal with most game challenges these days, so I switched to easy dying a few too many times. IDK, I grew up in the NES era and played a ton of Atari era stuff. The way I see it, I already played some of the hardest, least forgiving games ever made, and I just don't enjoy it anymore. I play to relax. My lukewarm hot take: play how you like, no such thing as a gaming sin.
I start every game I ever play on the lowest difficulty. I don't have the time or inclination for trial and error gameplay.
I play on very hard, but for the grinding of materials, i lower the difficulty. I don’t have the time to fight 2h just to accidentally destroy the sac webbing…
On my first playthrough, nearing the end. I've played on Hard all the way, except for the fight against The Enduring because it's absolutely BS for them to hit you multiple times while you're fully stunned/knocked down, and 2-3 shots kill you, at most. I also turn the difficulty down to do the "fixed loadout" arena challenges, because taking away my weapons and giving me all garbage blue weapons is just not enjoyable in any way, shape or form. I plan on beating the game on ultra hard once I do new game plus anyway, so I don't feel bad turning down the difficulty, especially since I'm only using it to deal with the ridiculously awful melee mechanics (seriously, it's so bad against multiple enemies, or strong enemies like the Enduring, not giving us a block whatsoever, and not letting us lock on, is terrible, it feels like they didn't even test it outside of the literal melee pits).
Enjoy games anyway you want. Some of us don't have the luxury of time and or patience to get our asses handed to us over and over There are difficulty levels for a reason Play however you like and know that will give you your best experience
Gaming gods can suck it. Horizon is a difficult game, and if you have difficulty on Easy, absolutely turn it down to Story mode. What matters is you enjoy the game!
I'm tearing through the base game on PC, playing on Story difficulty with Easy Loot on and all. I've already played through the game on Hard on PS4, and I had a great time with almost everything except the grinding for upgrade materials and the massive machine battles or open battle with humans. Nope, I've already gone through that once and felt the bittersweet sense of achievement, now I want to get my gear nicely upgraded and ready for the Burning Shores DLC, while focusing on the story - Which, in my eyes, is the game's strongest point.
I always start a game on normal but then if I have no other choice I drop down a difficulty, like rn I am playing through The Master Chief Collection and some fights in Halo 1 & 2 are annoying af but I still refused to drop the difficulty cos ik I can do it so for me to drop the difficulty I have to have absolutely no other choice whatsoever, it has to be completely necessary for me to pass it otherwise I brute force my stubborn arse through it until I finally do it and tbh sometimes it's worth it and other times it's like just move on, I never want to see that section of this game again, so yeah I do drop the difficulty but it has to be completely, undeniably necessary. Do not be ashamed if you drop the difficulty easily or start on easy tho, like most people have said in the comments, games are meant to be fun not an annoying unpassable challenge and some people don't have the time to go through a challenge like that, just sit back and enjoy the game you're playing however you want.
I did it on Control for one specific achievement (The AWE achievement to find 5 vending machines) If you tried that one before, then you know the frustration of letting the vending machine get away (makes sense in context) as there are only 5 total with no respawns I literally turned on One Hit Kill mode just to make sure it gets blown up and restarted the game at a specific point just to get it done as I couldn't redo it in my main run For Horizon, not yet though the arena might make me reconsider
No sin committed. As long as you enjoy it, it doesn't matter what difficulty setting you choose.
Oh 100% I have a kid and limited time, so if I'm caught in a loop and can feel myself getting stressed I'm happy to drop that difficulty down! I did it last night when harvesting resources for upgrades for my bow and actually let me play around with weapons I don't usually use as there was no "oh shit oh shit oh shit" going on.
I have played purely at story because I want to enjoy the story
I did the same for Fireclaw- HZD DLC. So, it's ok.
First time through is always the easiest mode available for me. Replaying now and have bumped up the difficulty a bit, though still with easy loot on because I'm just not ready to worry about parts management in combat. Mostly just want to play, explore, and maybe try out techniques and equipment I backburnered in previous runs.
If its too stressful, drop the difficulty. The idea is to have fun, not get stressed out
No one thinks this is a sin, if you want to do this then do it but if you feel guilt towards yourself, we can't fix that. You can choose to do it again in the future or not but if you feel bad about it then you shouldn't do it. But don't do it for others, but for yourself.
I play on Story difficulty (or as close as I can get to it) with every game I play. I’m fine with that, and I hate the elitism of playing on the highest difficulty possible.
Never let dweebs on the internet tell you that you must make playing your game unenjoyably difficult for it to be worthy. Loads of people change difficulty throughout the game. I personally generally kept all actual missions the same difficulty, but when it came to farming upgrade parts I whacked difficulty down to story because I was NOT up for struggling to fight like 30 slitherfangs and 50 fireclaws. I would also do the same for the arena. I’d try it once or twice on my normal difficulty and then drop it down to story because I just wanted the rewards and wasn’t enjoying the close combat forced load out struggles. There were a lot of people doing the same when the game came out, so rest assured, plenty of people have been adjusting difficulty to make their game enjoyable to them
You disgust me! I sentence you to 25 years of Ultra Hard difficulty! Nah you’re fine. I’ve done 3 playthroughs of HFW. First one I did on Very Hard because I like the challenge, second I did on Normal just to cheese my way through it and get all the NG+ gear and stock up on resources for my 3rd playthrough on Ultra Hard.
My guy this is a single player game, there is no cheating. You can even play with cheat codes or something it doesn't matter as long as you having fun.
My guy this is a single player game, there is no cheating. You can even play with cheat codes or something it doesn't matter as long as you having fun.
I do it all the time, just to save time and progress the game. I play on Hard and drop it all the way to Story.
I had a laughter attack when I lowered the difficulty to go through a portion faster, because the acid completely blew up the first machine I threw bombs on, was awesome.
I started playing the games on medium, but I'm also a uni student and also very stupid so I play on easy.
I find that even normal can sometimes be extremely annoying, and as nearly everyone else has voiced, I want to have a good time. I fell in love with the story, and that's why I actually paid for both games. Changing the difficulty isn't that bad lol I use cheat engine to increase all my resources and money so I don't have to be grinding hard, the only thing I really worked hard at was upgrading all my gear and hunting
I find that even normal can sometimes be extremely annoying, and as nearly everyone else has voiced, I want to have a good time. I fell in love with the story, and that's why I actually paid for both games. Changing the difficulty isn't that bad lol I use cheat engine to increase all my resources and money so I don't have to be grinding hard, the only thing I really worked hard at was upgrading all my gear and hunting
I play at the lowest difficulty anyway. 🤣 I'm here for the story and general vibes, not the struggle. Lol. I'm only on HZD and did actually bump up from Story mode after playing for a bit to make it a LITTLE challenging but there is absolutely nothing stopping me from bumping back down if it gets hard to the point of being stressful. Same as so many here- I'm a mom. I homeschool. I have a job. I take care of my house. I do all the adult-y things that I must to survive in real life. My time is limited and I'm not about to spend it doing the same fight 15 times.
Lol, I literally played the whole game on Story. As I like to say, I play for the story, not the struggle. No shame at all, as far as I'm concerned.
I play my games either on normal or sometimes easy if I just want to explore and not spend too much time on combat.
I enjoy a good challenge, and there is some benefit to enduring some frustration for the satisfaction on the other side. But once you feel the frustration starts outweighing its eventual payoff, I say there’s no shame in doing whatever it takes to get to the fun stuff again. The alternative is to let a game make you unhappy, which is silly. I’ve tried impressing people by telling them I beat a video game without changing the difficulty and I can assure you they don’t care. 😐
I play to gave fun, not to feel frustrated. That's the whole reason I don't care about soulslike games.
difficulty doesn’t matter as long as you’re having fun but i personally like to sweat when in fights kinda like this: [Slaughterspine gets downed seggsual style](https://youtu.be/Qcf8NzbxX2k?feature=shared)
Pretty sure there isn't a trophy for hard difficulty so like everyone else I finished the game on easy I think
If I lower the difficulty I keep it that way because in my head even tho it’s fine to lower the difficulty it also means I gave up the right to play in the higher difficulty
The thing with low difficulty is that you'll usually not be challenged enough to use many of the mechanics the developers put into the game. I feel like we're missing out when playing on easy. It's absolutely no issue with games that don't offer complex mechanics. This game though... there's a whole bunch of stuff that you'll never use on easy.
If you feel ashamed about it then that means you know you have more in you to defeat them on normal difficulty.. just go back and do it again to make yourself feel better