How Do You Game? (Gaming Preferences)

Man, it's been a long long time since I started a thread on here, but I thought I'd ask this question since something interested started happening a while back.

So to explain the point of this thread, I've been gaming in a very similar fashion for the past decade. I have played mostly every game I have come across on the easiest setting throughout the years and from looking at my past time completions, I noticed that most of the FPS Games I played (The Genre that dominates my life) usually tend to be 4-5 Hours long. That was mainly because now I felt I rushed through most of it. This also had to do with the way I rated and critiqued games. Back when I started using the forums here, I rated many games highly. Lots of 9/10 and 10/10 ratings to a lot of games.

But now, I feel like I have changed hugely as a gamer and reviewer. Nowadays I have been tempted to replay and play a lot of games on the normal difficulty and if I feel that the game is still too easy in spots, I'll be replaying the game on harder difficulties. Recently I started to replay Half-Life, which I've said many times is my all time favorite game. But now I play it completely different than I used to. I usually like to take my time and go through environments and admire the scenery and I really like to take my time and let the game's atmosphere sink it and again, this changed how I completely critique games as well. I've called Half-Life "Perfect" at many points on here, but now I got to admit that's just not true. Even if I think so, there will always be a nit pick or a flaw I will see. This was apparent with Half-Life due to a few problems I came across (Keyboard Drifting issues with GoldSrc Engine, Audio Issues, the long 5 minute train ride that opens the game where you are limited in your movement) I feel as I get older, I start to see things more objectively and more critically than I did before, and I want to experience games on harder difficulties since I've had so much fun playing them on those. I want to replay games I loved from my past and see how they really are now that I'm older.

So the questions I have to ask are:

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?

I'd definitely like to know. I'm turning 25 in January and I feel as I grow older I've started to become interested in playing things differently than I usually did back in the day.

Man, it's been a long long time since I started a thread on here, but I thought I'd ask this question since something interested started happening a while back.

So to explain the point of this thread, I've been gaming in a very similar fashion for the past decade. I have played mostly every game I have come across on the easiest setting throughout the years and from looking at my past time completions, I noticed that most of the FPS Games I played (The Genre that dominates my life) usually tend to be 4-5 Hours long. That was mainly because now I felt I rushed through most of it. This also had to do with the way I rated and critiqued games. Back when I started using the forums here, I rated many games highly. Lots of 9/10 and 10/10 ratings to a lot of games.

But now, I feel like I have changed hugely as a gamer and reviewer. Nowadays I have been tempted to replay and play a lot of games on the normal difficulty and if I feel that the game is still too easy in spots, I'll be replaying the game on harder difficulties. Recently I started to replay Half-Life, which I've said many times is my all time favorite game. But now I play it completely different than I used to. I usually like to take my time and go through environments and admire the scenery and I really like to take my time and let the game's atmosphere sink it and again, this changed how I completely critique games as well. I've called Half-Life "Perfect" at many points on here, but now I got to admit that's just not true. Even if I think so, there will always be a nit pick or a flaw I will see. This was apparent with Half-Life due to a few problems I came across (Keyboard Drifting issues with GoldSrc Engine, Audio Issues, the long 5 minute train ride that opens the game where you are limited in your movement) I feel as I get older, I start to see things more objectively and more critically than I did before, and I want to experience games on harder difficulties since I've had so much fun playing them on those. I want to replay games I loved from my past and see how they really are now that I'm older.

So the questions I have to ask are:

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?

I'd definitely like to know. I'm turning 25 in January and I feel as I grow older I've started to become interested in playing things differently than I usually did back in the day.

Interesting post!

To answer your questions:

1. I used to play on ‘Normal’ or ‘As the developer intended’ but usually play on ‘Easy’ these days, or whatever option gives the least amount of challenge in combat etc. As I’ve got older I much prefer exploration over killing!

2. Again, i used to take my time and explore all the nooks and crannies, but only if I found the game fun or interesting or relaxing... I think I’ve seen absolutely everything that Skyrim and Oblivion have to offer! Nowadays, I just want to try to complete the main stuff and skip the optional. I’m generally not the least bit interested in map-clearing or getting all the achievements.

3. I also notice I’m pretty generous with my 9 and 10 review scores, but if I’ve loved a game generally, or been impressed with it for several aspects (gameplay, story, aesthetics, or my emotional response) and not found it a chore to play or too clunky or whatever, then I don’t feel the need to hold back. Having dabbled in game development I know what goes into it compared with other media with regards to creativity, technicalities, time, and sheer bloody effort, so try not to be too critical.

Man, it's been a long long time since I started a thread on here, but I thought I'd ask this question since something interested started happening a while back.

So to explain the point of this thread, I've been gaming in a very similar fashion for the past decade. I have played mostly every game I have come across on the easiest setting throughout the years and from looking at my past time completions, I noticed that most of the FPS Games I played (The Genre that dominates my life) usually tend to be 4-5 Hours long. That was mainly because now I felt I rushed through most of it. This also had to do with the way I rated and critiqued games. Back when I started using the forums here, I rated many games highly. Lots of 9/10 and 10/10 ratings to a lot of games.

But now, I feel like I have changed hugely as a gamer and reviewer. Nowadays I have been tempted to replay and play a lot of games on the normal difficulty and if I feel that the game is still too easy in spots, I'll be replaying the game on harder difficulties. Recently I started to replay Half-Life, which I've said many times is my all time favorite game. But now I play it completely different than I used to. I usually like to take my time and go through environments and admire the scenery and I really like to take my time and let the game's atmosphere sink it and again, this changed how I completely critique games as well. I've called Half-Life "Perfect" at many points on here, but now I got to admit that's just not true. Even if I think so, there will always be a nit pick or a flaw I will see. This was apparent with Half-Life due to a few problems I came across (Keyboard Drifting issues with GoldSrc Engine, Audio Issues, the long 5 minute train ride that opens the game where you are limited in your movement) I feel as I get older, I start to see things more objectively and more critically than I did before, and I want to experience games on harder difficulties since I've had so much fun playing them on those. I want to replay games I loved from my past and see how they really are now that I'm older.

So the questions I have to ask are:

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?

I'd definitely like to know. I'm turning 25 in January and I feel as I grow older I've started to become interested in playing things differently than I usually did back in the day.

1. Easy difficulty pretty much every time, unless I'm playing a game where I know easy difficulty will lock me out of actually getting an ending. Though I don't think I have many such games in the first place, and most of those I've already retired I think.

2. Depends on the game. More linear games I usually just go straight through and don't bother with any side stuff, but with more open games I usually spend at least a couple hours just wandering.

3. Numbered ratings I feel are pointless, especially if you start adding in things like 8.5 or other such nonsense, so I don't add them to the site at all, and I even deleted all that I had previously added. And I personally don't really have any interest in writing reviews for games, don't even read that many to be honest. Essays about the stories and themes of games make for far more interesting reading, and are something I would do if I was any good at it.

1. Normal is my go to difficulty setting. I rarely change it to easy or hard.

2. Really just depends on the game. If I really like playing it then I'll take my time and try to complete as much as I can before getting to the credits. When I played Breath of Wild I didn't want to go to Ganon until I got tired exploring Hyrule. Took about 200 hours for me to feel like I've done and seen everything. I think there were only four or five shrines I didn't do before fighting Ganon and beating the game. Pokémon SwSh on the other hand felt very bland in comparison to BOTW, so I rushed through it.

3. Yes. Most games get an 8/10 or lower from me. Can't remember the last time I gave a game 10/10 rating. When I was a child, it was normal for me to rate a game 8 or higher.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?

I usually play on easy when the game gives me the option. It's not that I couldn't play on normal but with a backlog of over 500 games I'd rather cut some time on each game and be able to play more different games rather than spend too much time on a few titles.

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?

I'm probably right in the middle. I just go with the flow. Going too fast makes me feel like I'm missing out on so many things, but taking my time too much feels like I would take a 10 hour game and turn it into a 20 hour game only to get a few more things here and there. Not worth my time. I'd rather use that time to play another game.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?

Not really, I think I've always rated my games based on my feeling with the game, not with how I liked the visuals or the music or this or that. It's the overall experience. And this I don't feel like it has changed much in the past years. I'm also a lot older than you so I guess it changed my perspective on things since I've been playing games since before the NES even came out and I've grown up as the new technologies and consoles were coming out.

Quite interesting how your playstyle changed.

Personally for me I've grown up with Sega Megadrive/Genesis and Nintendo 64 games with no difficulty settings. There was no easy, nor hard, just the one difficulty the devs intended the game to be played with. So later on with games that actually had difficulty setting I would always play normal cause I want to play the games as they are intended.
As for harder modes. I think the only games I've ever replayed at harder difficulties were horror games that have some stuff only unlocked at harder difficulties. Like Project Zero 2/Fatal Frame 2 where I played through the game in hard and nightmare mode.

As for the second question. I really take my time exploring and checking everything. I love finding secrets but also just enjoying the scenery and landscapes the developers put their heart and soul in. Always did that and I'm pretty sure that won't ever change.

As for rating games. I did rate the first few I put on here as completed and then realized I could never give out any balanced ratings so I just deleted my ratings all together and just don't rate the games. There's lots of games I love, a lot of games I really enjoyed and just a few I really disliked so I feel like I don't have to decide on numbers for me personally.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?

I always play the game on the intended difficulty. Some has the easy as default, some has normal as the one. The important thing is to have fun and enjoy.

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?

I take my time. If I want to play several games at the same time, I do. This way I never get bored or tired of playing games. Some games causes me burnout, so I prefer to go in my time.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
I am not critical at all. If I had fun, for me it is good. If something made me touched or really made a impression on me, the game is great.

1. I always play on normal my first time around with a game. Games are usually designed around normal, and they normally are just the right amount of difficulty for me. I will adjust this on further playthroughs if I feel like it but, I just tend to stick to normal.

2. I attempt to take my time with games, but the time on everyone differs. Harder games usually take me longer to beat, while easier ones tend to be a normal time also. I always seem to finish big open-world games earlier than expected though which is usually cool since I dread the length of them.

3. I have definitely evened out on my ratings since I was a bit younger. Early high school me was a critical shithead who critiqued games to no end. I have mellowed out now quite a bit, heck I am absolutely loving the Evil Within, even though there are some major flaws with the game.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
When I started playing games again last year (after not playing for twenty years), I played everything on easy. 50 or so games later, I decide based on a couple of criteria whether I play it on easy or normal. Hack n slash and (J)rpg I usually play on normal because of the character builds. For other genres it depends how punishing the game is. Do you respawn far off (easy) or right before you died (normal)? Survival horror/action with limited ammo (easy). Stealth with no ammo (skip (or easy).

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
I take my time, I will do all side quests when I come across them. I will not collect collectables unless I stumble upon them (even if they add story) because I don't like to spend my time mindlessly searching areas or using a guide. I do use a guide for metroidvania due to the fact it strengthens your character enough to not be too frustratingly challenging.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
No not really. I've reviewed books and movies the past fifteen years, so I feel comfortable with my methods. I think reviews are personal and I enjoy reading them as well writing them.

1. I always aim for the hardest modes, assuming they are available from the start (most modern games ask you to play through once first before said modes become available, which is perfectly fine in games like DOOM (2016) or The Evil Within since they feature permadeath / insta-kill penalties and would be too time consuming to work on without prior knowledge). There's multiple reasons for that:

- it's the most engaging form of approaching a game to me personally, because success is determined by how well you grasp each individual mechanic and your skills using the right tools at the right time. In some cases, you are learning under desperation and it can be frustrating, but the sense of accomplishment when your performance reflects your knowledge of the game in practice is simply irreplaceable.

- the whole idea has been kickstarted by the Veteran mode in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and it's been a sickness ever since, it felt really good getting through the toughest of encounters and made me wonder if similar experience could be replicated in other games.

- it keeps me focused all the way throughout, I want to be as much "in-game" as only possible and knowing how severe the punishment for player error is keeps me "awake" and determined.

2. I'm taking all the time in the world to explore the game's universe, strengths and weak spots: if it's a game of complex nature, I need to be 100% certain I covered all the necessary basics before diving into the thick of it. If it's an open-world game, I go in with the checklist-mindset and have to clear all of it. If it's a walking simulator with tons of text documents, I'll end up re-reading some of it and perhaps even take notes, you get the idea. I'm always trying to get 100% in any game, regardless of whether it's tied to achievements / trophies or not, that also often incorporates challenges such as no-save or no-upgrade runs on the hardest difficulty, but I only ever commit to that task if I've done everything else and like the game so much, I need to explore new ways of squeezing fun out of it.

3. Noticeably more than in my younger days, I pick every single game apart whenever I write reviews on Steam and will point out even the smallest nuisance, should it catch my attention. Then I have to weigh certain aspects and come to a conclusion if it really is something I would either recommend or dismiss. I still try my best to see more of the good rather than actively seeking the bad and it takes a whole series of fuck-ups for me to dislike a game, so that's my take on that.

1. I usually always play games the first time on "Normal" difficulty, I almost never go higher or lower than that for a first run. If I happen to particularly like a certain game I might replay it on other difficulties; for example, my three BioShock Infinite runs were respectively on Normal, Hard and Easy (to try to get a bunch of achievements).

2. It's somehow a mix of both for me: I do tend to play games, especially longer ones, at a very fast pace, sometimes as if I was on a literal time attack; however, since I am a completionist at heart and I sometimes straight up refuse to advance the main story unless I've done everything or almost everything I can do in the game at that given moment (side quests, leveling, etc.) I always end up racking up pretty high completion times as a result.

3. I haven't had as much time on the forums or as many completions as most other people on here since I only signed up last November so I'm not really sure if my scoring criteria have changed over time, however compared to when I was younger (or even to 2/3 years ago) I definitely have a more critical eye and can see the faults in games more clearly (and sometime enjoy them regardless). I do usually tend to play games I have a particular interest and seldom adventure out of my genre comfort zone though, so most of my scores generally end up being over 8/8.5, with many of them being straight up 10s or, as I like to call them, "10 because the scale only goes up to 10".

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now? Usually normal but if I'm finding it too challenging (usually about 4 or 5 times failing to get to the next checkpoint) I'll drop it to easy.

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something? t really depends on the game and if I am enjoying it. I find that games like Mass Effect I've explored just about every nook and cranny just because it is an enjoyable thing to do. But other games that I'm bored or frustrated with I'll just whip straight through. I never go for 100% completion - I just aim to get to the credits and anything else is a bonus.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before? No, I am fairly consistent but I tend to score fairly favourably overall because I'm naturally picking games I think I'll enjoy. My filter if I can't decide if the game is good or not is this: If I didn't want the game to end because I was enjoying it so much, it's probably a great game and worthy of a high score of 8 or above (e.g. Mass Effect 2, The Last Of Us). If I couldn't wait for it to get to the end or didn't want to make it to the end, it's probably a rubbish game and deserves a score of 5 or below (e.g. Dante's Inferno on PSP). If I wanted to make it to the end but also wanted it to end, it's probably an average game and deserves a middling score around a 6 or 7 (e.g. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - don't hate me, the gameplay is crusty AF, Jeanne D'Arc).

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
Normal difficulty settings. I do not use cheats, and seldom save states (at the beginning of the stage for example)

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
Take my time. But I do not care to collect or discover 'everything', as long as I complete the game.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
The same. I was critical before and I still am.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
Pretty much Normal always. For certain games (like Ys) I sometimes consider dropping to Easy for time and energy, but I end up going Normal anyway.

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
Take my time. I'm not a completionist to the point of 100% usually, but I definitely go for extra stuff and in a lot of jrpgs go for all the sidequests I find. I also like to explore and talk to NPCs where applicable.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
Eh. I already don't use ratings 'cause I don't like to. If I like a game I like it, or love it. If I don't I don't. In terms of writing reviews I've only been doing that for that last year and I'm not sure how review-y they really are...
If anything has changed over the years in general, it's that my willingness to try other things has broadened.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
I always play on Normal. I feel like a wuss if I play on Easy, but I also don't want to be throwing my controller across the room on Hard.

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
I definitely take my time on the first playthrough. I don't make a point to do side quests or collectibles. or anything, but if I think they look interesting I will definitely do them.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
I'm wayyyy more critical. I remember playing this GBA game called DragonBall Z: Taiketsu. I got it when I was 8 or 9. It was a really crappy 3D street fighter where you could spam the crouch kick and win every time. I wanted soooo bad for it to be good because my brothers had a PS2 and played the Budokai games right in front of me. But now, since I have access to many more consoles and games, I'm much more critical of what makes a good game.

Thanks for a really cool post, OP!

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
I Used to do the hardest difficulty but the longer I go the less I can be be bothered with the way most companies deal with difficulty (make more enemies and take more damage) now I normally prefer to go for the developers recommended difficulty level. This is usually normal but sometimes that can be a different difficulty (i.e. it's hard in Alien Isolation((

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
I usually time my time. I will do most of the side activities in a game before moving on. Usually can mean long times in a game.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
I think it's dependent on the type of game. The more of a type of game I play the more critical. I feel i'm more critical of open world games then FPS as I play them more often then FPSs

1) Depends on the game. If it's a genre I know I struggle with I might dial the difficulty back a bit, but usually I play on the recommended mode. Generally normal, though I noticed while playing Alien Isolation this month that game recommends hard, so I played it on hard. If it's a game I know is skewed to be more on the easier side, I'll pick a harder difficulty. I look for a challenge but not to be stuck for hours because I can't get past a section being too difficult.

2) Also depends on the game. If I'm enjoying it I'll take my time, but if a game starts to drag or become less fun than it was I generally rush to finish. Some games I play with a guide, just so I don't have to backtrack/replay for achievements, but I always use a spoiler-free guide so I can still take my time to enjoy the story.

3) I feel like I'm very critical, but I also enjoy most games. There's rarely been a game I've played that I wouldn't recommend at least for the experience. A game really has to disappoint me for me to not recommend it. Though the level and reasoning of my recommendation varies.

My gaming style certainly has changed as I got older. Growing up meant getting a job and getting a job meant buying more games, so I went from having maybe 5 options to having over 1300. That alone was a big factor in changing how I play, because now I'm trying to get through my games and enjoy each experience rather than playing the same things over and over.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
I usually aim for whatever 'the developer has intended', except when I find myself loving the combat, then I try to play it on a harder difficulty.

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
Definitely take my time. I don't mind when there are sections/stages making me play on a timer just for a change of pace, but when the entire game is pushing to play in a hurry it's a turn off to me.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
I think generally not, I've been (over)thinking about games since pretty much childhood.

Nowadays I've started to see some value in more repetitive and so-called "podcast games", in a somewhat recent past I would rate those more poorly.

Oh and I still hate walking simulators and any narrative over gameplay kind of game. I often avoid rating those games because I think it would be unfair.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
Usually I try things on normal first, but I do change to easy depending on how

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
It depends on how much the game is entertaining me.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
Yes and no. My standards are higher, but I simply won't play anything I'd consider a 5/10 or below nowadays. Early on I used to play whatever dumpster fire that was labeled as "JRPG" (and I'd find it fun and give it a 8/10 as I had a lot of free time and didn't have lots of good game references). Now, if I the game doesn't seem at least a bit unique (or at least it doesn't look THAT generic) I give it a try. I mean, I'm not into spending 30+ hours on a game where I know exactly how each character is going be portrayed until the end of the game.

I'm pretty positive I can find plenty of games with these character's descriptions:
The skinny two-colored hair male protagonist.
The girl who's the male protagonist's classmate and has either blue or pink hair (and it's a healer).
The bad-ass guy who's edgier and people are scared of him but he's just a misunderstood good guy who suffered a lot during his childhood.
The either nerdy and shy or oversexualized and loud AF girl.
The antagonist who eventually becomes the fifth party member when the protagonist shows him the power of friendship.

What would kill the game for me is not the characters description per se, but how the game develop them. I think I could use Disgaea and Shining Resonance Refrain as examples of games that would fit the characters description I mentioned above. While Disgaea adds humor to the game and it's not predictable (often even breaking the 4th wall), the second one is just boring AF as all characters are going to do EXACTLY what you expect them to do for the whole 30 hours.

1. Mostly normal, but newer AAA games on hard cause they usually a bit on easier side if choosing Normal.
2. Explore as much as feels right without ruining the pacing. Not looting everything in games where loot is everywhere and resources aren't scarce. Icons making me less motivated to explore and mostly playing quite linear or semi-linear games. Never trying 100% cause usually it involves busy work or looking at guides outside of game. It feels great to randomly stumble on secret by own curiosity
3. No more rating games much at all. There will always be opinions in head, but doesn't feel need to do reviews or put ratings. Prob enjoying games a bit less than years ago (or just enjoying in different way), but somehow am less critical too. Keeping opinions to myself or only share when someone asks what think about specific game.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
I used to play mostly on easy, but now I find myself playing games on Normal just because I'd like to experience the difficulty the way that the developers intended. I think if I was trying to get through my backlog quickly I'd drop to easy, but I'm okay going through at a slower pace. Usually when I replay a game I play on a harder difficulty, for instance I'm doing that with GRiD right now as well as Alan Wake

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
Honestly... depends on the game haha!
If I'm enjoying a game a lot I will really take my time and not worry so much about beating it quickly as possible. If the game is throwing lots of things at me that I find frustrating or boring then I'll just play through as quick as I can to beat it and move on

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
I used to review games back in like 2013/14 so I went to have a look back and I'd say honestly that I'm still about the same when it comes to this. Very hesitant to give anything a real 10/10 unless it's super special. I always put a score for the games I beat on here so it helps with the stats.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
I almost always play on normal, sometimes I switch to hard on second playthroughs and maybe I play on easy just if I get too overwhelmed with the quantity of game mechanics.
2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
It depends,usually if a game has a more or less repetitive gameplay loop I usually skip some extra content and rush a bit more, however if not I definitely take my time.
3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
Maybe? I would rather say I got better at identifying what I like/dislike and expressing it, sure I had a lot of experiences that I couldn't imagine back when I started playing games, but ultimately I still enjoy most of the games I liked in my childhood in a similar way, not changing much no matter how many games I play.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
I used to play on Normal or Easy mode it used to be my comfort zone until I broke it with the TLofU2. I played it on hard mode, really enjoyed the whole experience. I almost shed a tear when I noticed the developers adding New Game + mode. I also squealed with pure joy when I saw I could play TLofU2 in 8-Bit mode.

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
I like to take my time on my first play-through and explore the areas then on my second play-through I will go for a collectable/trophy run usually on easy mode.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
I don't ever review/rate/critique my video games.

I noticed that now that I am older I just want to experiment with my games now, either by putting my own limitations on a game like 1 hour play, ramping up the difficulty, taking off the health bar from the HUD or going for the platinum on a video game I truly enjoy.
I realized when I was younger I would just rage quit a game if I was stuck on a difficult part and forget about it for years.

1. What Difficulty do you usually play games on now?
FPS games I'm familiar with is hard or hardest. FPS games I'm not, normal.
Horror games, normal.
Turn based RPGs, normal.
RTwP RPGs, easy.
RTSs, easy.

2. Do you like to take your time or go fast when playing something?
Take my time as I don't have much of that anyway.

3. Are you more critical of how you rate/review/critique games than you were before?
Insanely more critical but more forgiving all the same. I know what I value in a game and its genre and what my expectations are/were after playing it. I am also more forgiving of design that I can understand why it was made. If something is poorly designed, I still dislike it but sometimes it's obvious the developers did not want to include it or felt that they had to. Either way it's detrimental but it doesn't make me outright hate a game. I also forgive smaller bugs but glaringly obvious ones that I can easily find in Google with hundreds of reports and it's still not being fixed a month later? That's a bit much.

Budget, time, and team size also play a factor into how forgiving I am of certain things. Some studios cannot handle things the best. Others have way too big of a budget and backing to excuse it, even if it's ultimately the publisher's fault. I can sympathize with it but at the end of the day, I put my time and money into something and I'm not getting the serotonin/dopamine/satisfaction that I paid for.

1. Same as always, on normal mode. If I find things are too difficult, I'll lower it to easy mode. In the past, I probably woulda never considered that. I had waaay too much gamer pride in my skills ha ha.

2. Trying to take my time with games a lot more and appreciate the details. But sometimes it's difficult with really engaging story focused games (I always wanna know the whole story or get to the next exciting tidbit). I find going a lot more slowly lets me have a more balanced perspective on the game.

3. Oh definitely! I think I was more lenient or at least very quick to judge a game when I was younger. I was also very easily swayed by opinions back then. I think as I've played more games and expanded on my preconceived ideas of games, I've become more critical. I've found a way to meet a game halfway, recognize what does and doesn't work for me.