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13[[quoteright:260:[[VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolfenstein_levels.jpg]]]]
14
15Many video games have adjustable DifficultyLevels so as to provide more of a challenge to good players while allowing poor players the satisfaction of finishing and finding out how the story ends. Traditionally, they would just be called Easy, Medium, and Hard (or synonyms like Beginner, Intermediate and Expert). However, a recurring clever idea is to name them in a way reflecting of your game's style or plot. Another widespread trend is to make one of the difficulty settings a TitleDrop, typically the hardest one. One frequent convention is naming the difficulty levels after increasingly badass figures, and (optionally) naming the lower difficulty levels after something insulting.
16
17Of course, if you use more than one word, everyone will call them "Easy", "Medium" and "Hard", but it does help establish continuity and ''mise en scène''.
18
19Often overlaps with EasierThanEasy and HarderThanHard (which are not about the ''name'', but about the kind of challenge offered).
20
21Only unusual examples should be added to this article.
22
23See also EasyModeMockery, where the idiosyncracy extends to your treatment in the gameplay. For comments ''on'' your gameplay, see IdiosyncraticComboLevels.
24----
25!!Examples (listed in order from easiest to hardest):
26%%
27%%
28%% Please try not to go into details of gameplay differences between levels; they are irrelevant unless they are related to the name.
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30%%
31[[foldercontrol]]
32
33[[folder:Action-Adventure]]
34* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'':
35** Easy
36** Normal
37** [[HarderThanHard Hell]]
38* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'':
39** Very Easy
40** Easy
41** Normal
42** Hard
43** [[HarderThanHard Non-Stop Infinite Climax]]
44* ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2''[[note]]The first three only apply to the original Wii U version, not the Switch port[[/note]]:
45** 1st Climax -- Easy
46** 2nd Climax -- Normal
47** 3rd Climax -- Hard
48** ∞ Climax -- HarderThanHard
49* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'': The hardest difficulty levels in each ''God of War'' game refer to Kratos' allegiance in each respective game.
50** "Mortal" (''I'' and ''II'') / "Spartan" (''III'')
51** "Hero" (''I'') / "Spartan" (''II'') / "God" (''III'')
52** "Spartan" (''I'') / "God" (''II'') / "Titan" (''III'')
53** "God" (''I'') / "Titan" (''II'') / "Chaos" (''III'')
54** ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'' uses a different naming convention for its difficulty levels:
55*** [[StoryDifficultySetting "Give Me a Story"]]
56*** "Give Me a Balanced Experience"
57*** "Give Me a Challenge"
58*** [[HarderThanHard "Give Me God of War"]]
59* ''VideoGame/Killer7'':
60** "Normal": "Helpful hints and other features make the game proceed relatively smoothly."
61** "Deadly": "In addition to limitations on hints, expect some extreme combat."
62** "Bloodbath" ([=Killer8=] mode): "A new personality will awaken." Enemies have greater health and deal much greater damage, making all but two of the Smiths a OneHitPointWonder, and regular enemies' weak points can't be seen so blood for upgrades will be in short supply. Fortunately, you get a new persona with [[MoreDakka a Tommy gun]] and a ton of health.
63** "Face the Swarm" ([[EasterEgg Hopper7 mode]]): "A horrific Heaven Smile has awakened." Regular enemies are replaced with "[=HopperMen=]", guys wearing grasshopper costumes who die in one shot no matter where you shoot them. Only the first level can be played.
64* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
65** "Hero Mode" appears in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]] HD'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]] HD'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'', and the remake of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]''.[[note]]Generally, in Hero Mode enemies deal double damage and hearts do not appear[[/note]] Notably, in ''Skyward Sword'' and ''A Link Between Worlds'' it's only available after completing one normal playthrough.
66** "Master Mode" is available through the Master Trials DLC in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]''.[[note]]All enemies powered up by one level, are more perceptive, appear in more places, and can recover health.[[/note]]
67* ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsAragornsQuest'':
68** Hobbit
69** Ranger
70** King
71* ''VideoGame/{{Messiah}}'':
72** Disciple
73** Prophet
74** Messiah
75* The ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' series has:
76** Casual Mode[[note]]Only in ''Metroid Prime Remastered'', equivalent to Normal Mode on all Wii releases (''Corruption'', ''Trilogy'' and the [[NoExportForYou Japan-exclusive standalone]] versions of ''Prime 1'' and ''Echoes'').[[/note]]
77** Normal Mode[[note]]On the various Wii releases, this actually serves as an [[NonIndicativeName Easy Mode]].[[/note]]
78** Veteran Mode[[note]]Only found on the Wii releases, this is equivalent to Normal Mode in the original [[Platform/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] releases of ''Prime 1'' and ''Echoes'' as well as ''Prime Remastered''.[[/note]]
79** Hard Mode[[note]][=GameCube=] and standalone Wii releases of the first two games, as well as ''Prime Remastered''[[/note]]/Hypermode[[note]]''Corruption'' and all of ''Trilogy''[[/note]]
80* ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'': This particular select is also a ScrappyMechanic due to it looking like it's simply asking you if you want to see the tutorial, and the fact Old Hand means your ink will not regenerate.
81** "Greenhorn"
82** "Old Hand"
83* ''VideoGame/RememberMe'':
84** Script Kiddie (This is a derisive term for a hacker who has no real skill and uses scripts or programs devised by others for their activities)
85** Errorist Agent
86** Memory Hunter
87* ''VideoGame/SpiderMan3''
88** Sidekick
89** Hero
90** Superhero
91* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' uses TheAdjectivalSuperhero:
92** Friendly Neighborhood
93** Amazing
94** Spectacular
95** Ultimate
96* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
97** The ''Star Wars'' games for the Super NES have three difficulties:
98*** Easy
99*** Brave
100*** Jedi
101** ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediFallenOrder'':
102*** [[StoryDifficultySetting Story Mode]]
103*** Jedi Knight
104*** Jedi Master
105*** Jedi Grand Master
106** ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediSurvivor'' keeps the difficulties of ''Fallen Order'', but adds "Jedi Padawan" as its new Easy Mode while bumping up the other three. "Knight" is now Normal Mode, "Master" is Hard Mode, and Grand Master is HarderThanHard.
107* ''VideoGame/AnUntitledStory''
108** Simple
109** Regular
110** Difficult
111** Masterful
112** Insanity (same as Masterful but everything kills you in one hit)
113* ''VideoGame/AValleyWithoutWind'' has two sets of difficulty levels, one for platforming, and another for combat.
114** Combat:
115*** Featherweight
116*** Apprentice
117*** Adept
118*** Skilled
119*** Hero
120*** Master Hero
121*** The Chosen One
122** Platforming:
123*** I Have No Desire to [[VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy Be The Guy]]
124*** I'm Afraid Of Heights
125*** I Can Jump, Thank You
126*** I Get Mistaken for [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros A Certain Plumber]]
127*** I Am Not The Guy, but I Am Close
128*** I Am Already The Guy
129[[/folder]]
130
131[[folder:Action Games]]
132* ''Music/FiftyCent: Bulletproof'':
133** Playa - Very Easy
134** Hustla - Easy
135** Thug - Normal
136** Gangsta - Hard
137** G Unit Soldier - Very hard.
138* ''Alien Rampage'':
139** Like To Hide
140** Shoot And Run
141** Stand And Fight
142** Just A Psycho
143* ''Alley Cat''
144** "Kitten"
145** "House Cat"
146** "Tomcat"
147** "[[TitleDrop Alley Cat]]"
148* [[VideoGameAdaptation The flash game adaptation]] of ''WebAnimation/AnimatorVsAnimation'' has four [[ContinuityNod based on the potential names]] given to The Animation in the short film; uniquely, the difficulty level must be ''typed out on a keyboard'' in an Adobe Flash [[https://helpx.adobe.com/animate/using/symbols.html "convert to symbol"]] prompt:
149** victim
150** killer
151** [[BoldInflation BEAST]]
152** [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard The Chosen One]]
153* ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}: No Remorse'':
154** "Mama's Boy"
155** "Weekend Warrior"
156** "Loose Cannon"
157** "[[TitleDrop No Remorse]]" (original) / "No Regret" (sequel)
158* ''D.O.G./Dune Runner'':
159** Hard
160** Impossible
161** [[HarderThanHard Instant Death]]
162* ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'', from easiest to hardest:
163** Dive in the Park
164** Very Easy
165** Easy
166** Medium
167** Challenging
168** Very Challenging
169** Hard
170** Very Hard
171** Hard as Hell
172** Suicide Mission
173** Impossible
174** Helldive
175** An Exercise in Futility
176** The Definition of Insanity
177** The Inner Circle of Hell
178* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo''
179** "Novice" - "Easy"
180** "Beginner" - "Medium"
181** "Master" - "Hard"
182** "The One Mode" - "HarderThanHard"
183* ''VideoGame/{{Paperboy}}'' was one of the earliest video games to use this trope - your delivery routes are:
184** Easy Street
185** Middle Road
186** Hard Way
187* ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheSamurai'' names its difficulty levels after [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana Japanese swords]] of increasing length.
188** Tanto -- "for beginning players"
189** Wakizashi -- "for intermediate players"
190** Katana -- "for experienced players"
191** No-Dachi -- 'for master players"
192* ''That Dam Level'':
193** Dam Hard
194** Dam Harder
195** Dam Harderer
196** Damnation
197* ''{{VideoGame/TAGAP}}'':
198** Casual (''1'') / Easy (''2'') / Hard (''3'') / [[TakeThat Game Journalist]] (''4'')
199** Normal (named "Harder" in ''3'')
200** Hardcore! (named "Hard" in ''4'')
201** INSANE! (appears only in ''1'')
202** Necrophilissimo!
203** Challenge Overdose (appears from ''3'' onwards)
204[[/folder]]
205
206[[folder:Action [=RPGs=]]]
207* ''[[VideoGame/{{Gothic}} Arcania - Gothic 4]]'':
208** Normal
209** Easy
210** Hard
211** Gothic
212* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' and ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'':
213** Normal Mode
214** True Vault Hunter Mode (NewGamePlus)
215** Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (NewGamePlus +)
216* ''VideoGame/CrimsonAlliance'':
217** Easy
218** Normal
219** Hard
220** Immortal
221** Ridonkulous!
222* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' and ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided''
223** [[StoryDifficultySetting Tell Me A Story/Give Me A Story]]
224** Give Me A Challenge
225** Give Me Deus Ex
226** [[HarderThanHard I Never Asked For This]] (''MD'' only)
227* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'':
228** The regular missions
229*** Beginner/Prelude
230*** Standard
231*** Expert
232*** Master
233*** Nightmare
234*** [[HarderThanHard Omega 1-3]]
235** [[AprilFoolsDay Notte's Slumber Shot]]
236*** Sweet
237*** Sassy
238*** [[BulletHell Molassey]]
239* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'':
240** Novice
241** Apprentice
242** Adept
243** Expert
244** Master
245** [[HarderThanHard Legendary]]
246* ''VideoGame/{{FATE}}'':
247** Page
248** Adventurer
249** Hero
250** Legend
251** [[HarderThanHard Hardcore]]
252* ''VideoGame/GrimDawn''
253** Normal
254** Veteran
255** Elite
256** Ultimate
257* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'':
258** "Student"
259** "Master"
260** "Great Master"
261** "Jade Master"
262* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
263** Beginner (first appeared in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI I Final Mix]]'', where it was called "Final Mix: Beginner")
264** Standard (called "Normal" in ''I'' and "Final Mix" in ''I Final Mix'')
265** Proud (called "Expert" in ''I'' and "Final Mix: Proud" in ''I Final Mix'')
266** [[HarderThanHard Critical]] (first appeared in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII II Final Mix]]'')
267* ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'' gives you the Forbidden Tome after beating the [[FinalBoss Mana Goddess]] for the first time, which lets you increase the game's difficulty.
268** "Normal" (first playthrough)
269** "Nightmare" (enemies are 20 levels higher than normal)
270** "No Future" (all enemies are level 99)
271* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
272** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' and ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
273*** Casual
274*** Normal
275*** Veteran
276*** Hardcore
277*** Insanity
278** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' removes Veteran and adds [[StoryDifficultySetting Narrative]] below Casual. The multiplayer mode offers its own difficulty scale:
279*** Bronze
280*** Silver
281*** Gold
282*** Platinum
283** The Combat Simulator in the ''Citadel'' DLC has its own difficulty settings. While some additional modifiers can be turned on and off freely, the difficulty of the enemies goes as follows (except for the Mirror Match):
284*** Foot Soldiers
285*** Elites
286*** Super Elites
287* ''VideoGame/ResonanceOfFate'' has 10 difficulty levels with each more idiosyncratic than the one before.
288** Normal
289** Advance
290** Hard
291** Professional
292** [[ShoutOut Hurt Me Plenty]]
293** Ultimate
294** Supremacy
295** Legendary
296** Mythology
297** Zenith
298* ''VideoGame/StarOcean'' From ''2'' onwards:
299** "Earth"
300** "Galaxy"
301** "Universe"
302** "4D"(''Till The End Of Time'') / "Chaos" (''The Last Hope'' onwards)
303* ''VideoGame/TitanQuest'':
304** Normal
305** Epic
306** Legendary
307* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'':
308** [[StoryDifficultySetting Just The Story!]] (easiest)
309** Story and Sword! (normal)
310** Blood and Broken Bones (hard)
311** Death March (hardest)
312* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' only has a different ''name'' for its hardest difficulty, but each setting has a little one-liner to go along with it.
313** "Easy: Face the Noise"
314** "Normal: Erase the Noise"
315** "Hard: Hush the Noise"
316** "Ultimate: Crush the Noise"
317[[/folder]]
318
319[[folder:Adventure Games]]
320* ''VideoGame/CardShark'' has three difficulty modes:
321** The Dilletante: [[StoryDifficultySetting "Enjoy the story without losing a drop of perspiration."]]
322** The Gambler: "Looking for a challenge, are we?"
323** The Con Artist: "Join a high-stakes world where only the elite will thrive. [[[FinalDeathMode Death is permanent in this mode]]]"
324* ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' has Normal and Mega Monkey. The former is the simpler version of the game, while the latter has all of the puzzles and is described on the back cover of the game as having "more puzzley goodness".
325** In ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' you could choose between "Monkey Island 2" ("I want it all! All the puzzles! All the work!") and "Monkey 2 Lite" ("I've never played an adventure game before. I'm scared."). This is also described as being the "optional easy mode for children and magazine reviewers" on the back cover of the game.
326* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': Both these difficulty settings can be set for Logic and Action. ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' changes the labels to "Kind/Normal/Mean" but the differences remain the same.
327** Gentle: Logic -- Reduces number of Truth Bullets and possible Weak Points to pick through. Action -- Simplifies minigames by removing certain mechanics.
328** Kind: Baseline difficulty.
329** Mean: Logic -- Increases the number of Truth Bullets and possible Weak Points to pick through. Action -- Increases obstacles and game speed and makes mistakes more punishing.
330* ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'':
331** Genocide Mode: Super Ultra Pumper Genocide Jack Mode. [[StoryDifficultySetting For those who just want to enjoy the story.]] (Battery gauge quickly builds while playing as Komaru, thus the player can use the invincible Genocide Jack almost constantly.)
332** Komaru Mode: Working Hard for a Normal Girl Mode (The "normal" difficulty that gives you a good supply of ammo pickups.)
333** Despair Mode: [[TitleDrop Ultra Despair]] Mode (Offers none of the perks of the other difficulties.)
334* ''VideoGame/LeatherGoddessesOfPhobos'': Didn't affect game difficulty, just the text descriptions of the action.
335** "Tame"
336** "Suggestive"
337** "Lewd"
338* ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'': When starting the game, Shinigami gives you the following difficulty options.
339** "Lenient"
340** "Mean"
341** "Troublesome"
342** "Adorable"
343** After picking, she reveals that the choice was for how difficult she will be for you, and then admits the choice doesn't really matter since she embodies all 4 qualities at all times anyway.
344* ''Overboard'' for the Playstation 3 had difficulty levels sounding like this:
345** "Oohh!"
346** "Ooohhh!"
347** "OOOHHH!"
348[[/folder]]
349
350[[folder:Beat 'em Up]]
351* ''VideoGame/CyborgJustice'':
352** [[EasierThanEasy Relaxed]] (stops after Level 3-3)
353** Easy (stops after Level 4-3)
354** Normal
355** Hard
356** [[HarderThanHard Brutal]] (no continues)
357* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'':
358** The NES version of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII: The Revenge'' have fancily-named difficulty levels that, [[DifficultyByRegion in the English version]], affected not only the strength of the enemies and the movement of traps, but also the length of the overall game.
359*** Practice (which lasts only three stages)
360*** Warrior (which has all the stages except the final one)
361*** Supreme Master (the only difficulty where the final stage, and the ending, can be seen)
362** ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon'' has:
363*** Normal
364*** Dragon
365*** [[TitleDrop Double Dragon]]
366* ''VideoGame/MadnessProjectNexus2'':
367** Tourist
368** Normal
369** Tough
370** [[HarderThanHard Madness]]
371* ''VideoGame/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorldTheGame'':
372** Average Joe
373** Rough & Tough
374** [[VideoGame/DoubleDragon Supreme Master]]
375* ''VideoGame/ShrekTheThird'': The Charming and Grimm difficulties have to be bought in the gift shop before they can be used, and have unique descriptions, names and pictures:
376** [[EasierThanEasy Charming]] - "This bonus setting is Prince Charming's preferred difficulty - everyone is defeated with ease." Represented with a picture of [[SissyVillain Prince Charming]] wearing a goofy propeller hat and costs 15,000 coins.
377** Easy
378** Normal
379** Hard
380** [[HarderThanHard Grimm]] - "The hardest difficulty ever seen in the kingdom! Expert players are in for a grueling experience [[HardModePerks but receive double the coin rewards]]!" Represented with a picture of Shrek dressed as a GrimReaper and costs 1,500 coins.
381* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'':
382** [[EasierThanEasy Very Easy]] (2nd game only)
383** Easy
384** Normal
385** Hard
386** Hardest/Very Hard (Not in the Western version of ''3'')
387** [[HarderThanHard Mania]] (2nd and 4th game only)
388* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesShreddersRevenge'':
389** "Chill" (Easy)
390** "Okay" (Normal)
391** "Gnarly" (Hard)
392* ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'':
393** [[EasierThanEasy Sweet]] (UpdatedRerelease and [=PS2=] version only)
394** "Kids" (Easy)
395** "Adults" (Normal)
396** "V-rated" (Hard)
397** "Ultra-V-rated" ([[HarderThanHard nigh impossible]])
398[[/folder]]
399
400[[folder:Casual Games]]
401* ''VideoGame/ClubhouseGames: 51 Worldwide Classics'':
402** Normal
403** Hard
404** Amazing
405** Impossible
406[[/folder]]
407
408[[folder:Fighting Games]]
409* ''[[VideoGame/KillerInstinct Killer Instinct (2013)]]'':
410** ''[[EasyModeMockery Noob]]''
411** ''Easy''
412** ''Medium''
413** ''Hard''
414** ''[[HarderThanHard Killer]]''
415** ''Ultimate (Kyle)''
416* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
417** The PC port of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' changed the two extremes of the scale (which was a straight difficulty selector in all other ports): Very Easy becomes "[[EasyModeMockery Wuss]]" and Very Hard is named "[[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe Yeah, Right!]]". There is also the system of towers, which only basically changes the number of fights required to clear the game. Vanilla ''[=MK3=]'' has Novice (6 stages + bosses), Warrior (8 stages + bosses) and Master (10 stages + bosses).
418** ''Ultimate [=MK3=]'' adds a second Master tower, and changes the formula a bit by adding endurance matches before the bosses, like in the first game:
419*** Novice (5 stages + 1 endurance match + bosses)
420*** Warrior (6 stages + 1 endurance match + bosses)
421*** Master 1 (7 stages + 1 endurance match + bosses)
422*** Master 2 (7 stages + 2 endurance matches + bosses)
423** ''Mortal Kombat Trilogy'':
424*** Novice (5 stages + 1 endurance match + bosses)
425*** Warrior (6 stages + 1 endurance match + bosses)
426*** Master (7 stages + 1 endurance match + bosses)
427*** Champion (7 stages + 1 endurance match + Goro or Kintaro + another endurance match + Shao Kahn)
428** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'' adds a fifth tower, Beginner, but goes back to naming both its final towers "Master" (with the second one even being called "Master II" in ''Gold''). In addition, the Warrior and both Master towers all have the same length (7 stages before Shinnok, with Goro added in before him on the home ports); Novice has 5 regular stages and Beginner, 6.
429** The Klassic Towers in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' return to being classified by their lengths (except for [[EndlessGame Endless and Survivor]]), with difficulty being chosen separately:
430*** Novice (5 stages)
431*** Warrior (8 stages)
432*** Champion (12 stages)
433* ''VideoGame/OneMustFall 2097'':
434** Standard CPU difficulties are:
435*** Punching Bag
436*** Rookie
437*** Veteran
438*** World Class
439*** Champion (first of the secret difficulty levels)
440*** Deadly
441*** Ultimate
442** The tournament mode has:
443*** Aluminum - The perfect difficulty setting for new players
444*** Iron - Think you're ready to fight with the big boys?
445*** Steel - To survive, you need ball bearings of steel.
446*** Heavy Metal - Prepare to be rocked!
447* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' has the following for such modes as Classic (up until the fourth installment, which uses an Intensity difficulty slider, seen in the ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' entry), Adventure, and Master Orders. Master Orders uses the ''Brawl'' difficulties.
448** [[EasierThanEasy "Very Easy"]] (''Melee'') / "Easy" (''Brawl'')
449** "Easy" (''Melee'') / "Normal" (''Brawl'')
450** "Normal" (''Melee'') / "Hard" (''Brawl'')
451** "Hard" (''Melee'') / "Very Hard" (''Brawl'')
452** [[HarderThanHard "Very Hard"]] (''Melee'') / [[HarderThanHard "Intense"]] (''Brawl'')
453* ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' can get pretty tongue-and-cheek:
454** AI difficulty:
455*** Sleeptrot - "Easy. Be nice... it's my first time!"
456*** Greenhorn - "Medium. Or do you prefer medium rare? Either way let's turn up the heat!"
457*** Contendor - "Hard. ThatsGottaHurt!"
458*** Champion - "Very Hard. You're entering a world of pain."
459*** ?NSP?KBL? - "Insane. [[VideoGame/XMen1992 Welcome to die.]]"
460** Salt Mines Levels:
461*** Level 1: Feelin' Fine
462*** Level 2: Almost Anxious
463*** Level 3: Slightly Spookified
464*** Level 4: Getting Ghostly
465*** Level 5: Halfway Haunted
466*** Level 6: Quite Quiversome
467*** Level 7: Tremendously Terrifying
468*** Level 8: Notably Nightmarish
469*** Level 9: OHGODMAKEITSTOP
470*** Level 10: [[HarderThanHard AAAAAAAAAAAAAA]]
471* ''VideoGame/{{Weaponlord}}'':
472** Adventurer
473** Warrior
474** Barbarian
475** Warlord
476[[/folder]]
477
478[[folder:First-Person Shooter]]
479* ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfSquare'':
480** "Totally Square"
481** "Let's Rocktangle"
482** "Ready to Rhombus"
483** "Quadrilateral Damage"
484** "[[HarderThanHard CUBULAR!]]"
485* ''VideoGame/AlienTrilogy'':
486** Acid Reign
487** Raging Terror
488** Xenomania
489* ''VideoGame/{{Apocryph}}''
490** Comfort Zone
491** Handful of Pain
492** Heaps of Corpses
493** Only Death Can Slow Me Down
494** Immortal and Eternal Reaper
495* ''VideoGame/AtomicHeart''
496** Peaceful Atom - "We are pleased to welcome you on [[StoryDifficultySetting an easy sightseeing tour]] of Facility 3826, comrade! Spectacular and dynamic battles with robots won't take too much effort or distract you from the narrative. Of course, you'll still have to fight, but only the plot will keep you on your toes." Demonstrated with an animation of a young boy watching TV, using a robot as a footstool.
497** Local Malfunction - "Do you like to overcome difficulties? That's admirable! We'll leave you to it. This is no walk in the park. Some combat situations may seem difficult, and objectives will require know-how. But you can always be inspired by a sense of your own superiority after completing each stage. Just try to stay more alive than dead!" Demonstrated with an animation of the boy walking along a path as robots frolic to the sides.
498** Armageddon - "Do you have a vivid imagination and dark thoughts? What can you do? That's just how it is. Buckle up: a real nightmare is in store, where you'll need experience, reaction speed, and the skills to properly manage your resources to survive. Save your bullets and always keep one in reserve... for yourself." Demonstrated by an animation of the young boy wrestling with a robot.
499* ''VideoGame/BioShock''
500** Easy
501** Medium
502** Hard
503** [[VideoGame/Bioshock1 Survivor]]/[[VideoGame/BioshockInfinite 1999]]
504* ''VideoGame/Blood1997'':
505** Still Kicking
506** Pink on the Inside
507** Lightly Broiled
508** Well Done
509** Extra Crispy
510* ''VideoGame/BloodIITheChosen''
511** Genocide
512** Homicide
513** Suicide
514* ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms: Hell's Highway'':
515** "Casual"
516** "Veteran"
517** "[[HarderThanHard Authentic]]"
518* The ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series most often has four settings in every game, with a few including an extra:
519** Recruit[[labelnote:*]]"Greenhorn" in [[VideoGame/CallOfDuty1 the first game]] and ''United Offensive'', "Easy" in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty2'' and ''3''[[/labelnote]] - "You will crush the enemy without effort." / "For players new to first person action games."
520** Regular - "Your abilities in combat will be tested."
521** Hardened - "Your skills will be strained."
522** Veteran - "You will not survive."
523** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' has [[OneHitPointWonder Realistic]] - "Brutally difficult and entirely unforgiving."
524** ''VideoGame/CallofDutyInfiniteWarfare'' has two more:
525*** Specialist - "Manage your health and inventory in order to survive. Only Elite Specialists accept this challenge."
526*** [[FinalDeathMode #YOLO]] - "No checkpoints, no room for error, no mercy."
527* ''VideoGame/ChopGoblins'':
528** Sightseeing: [[EnvironmentalNarrativeGame Explore the levels with no enemies or UI.]]
529** Imp: You're new to PC shooters or just want a chill experience.
530** Fiend: The intended balance for a first playthrough.
531** Goblin: [[VideoGame/IronLung You've played this game before.]]
532* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade''
533** "Recruit"
534** "Soldier"
535** "Commando"
536* ''VideoGame/TheConduit'', in keeping with its conspiracy/terror theme, uses the five levels of the Homeland Security Advisory System:
537** Low
538** Guarded
539** Elevated
540** High
541** Severe
542* ''VideoGame/Corridor7AlienInvasion'':
543** Corporal
544** Lieutenant
545** Captain
546** Major
547* ''VideoGame/CrueltySquad'':
548** Power in Misery
549** Flesh Automaton
550** Divine Light
551** Hope Eradicated
552* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' has "Delta Force" difficulty, with an Easter Egg file name of [[Series/TwentyFour Bauer]] for its most realistic, HarderThanHard setting.
553** ''VideoGame/{{Crysis 2}}'' featured "Private", "Seargant", "Delta" and "Posthuman Warrior".
554* ''Crysis Remastered'' also extends this to its graphical setting presets.
555** Low
556** Medium
557** High
558** Very High
559** [[AscendedMeme Can it run Crysis?]][[note]]As of February 2021: no, it can't. Not even a 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper with a Geforce RTX 3090 can squeeze 30 FPS at 4K out of Crysis Remastered on that setting.[[/note]]
560* ''VideoGame/DamageIncorporated'' names its difficulties for military conflicts the US participated in during the 20th century, with higher difficulties corresponding to longer conflicts:
561** Grenada
562** Desert Storm
563** Korea
564** World War II
565** Vietnam
566* ''VideoGame/DarkestOfDays'': After the standard Easy and Normal is a difficulty labeled "[[TestosteronePoisoning With Chest Hair]]".
567* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' is pseudo-military:
568** "Trainee" (EasierThanEasy)
569** "Rookie"
570** "Hotshot"
571** "Ace"
572** "Insane" (HarderThanHard)
573* ''VideoGame/{{Deadhunt}}''
574** Tourist
575** Recruit
576** Marine
577** Hero
578* ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'':
579** ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', ''VideoGame/DoomII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalDoom'': Early alpha builds of Doom called the easiest skill level "I Just Want to Kill" and the menu graphic filename M_JKILL was retained for skill 1 in the final version. The manual also had brief descriptions of what to expect.
580*** "[[EasyModeMockery I'm Too Young To Die]]": "An easy romp through the playground. Not many monsters here. This is good when you're learning the controls." The player takes halved damage and gets doubled ammo from every pickup, and monster spawns are at the lowest.
581*** "Hey, Not Too Rough": "This is good when you know how it works, but you still panic too much. Panic is a bad thing when you're surrounded by evil." Same spawns as ITYTD, but damage and ammo pickups are normalized.
582*** "Hurt Me Plenty": "The demons are out in force and they'll take great pleasure in hurting you as much as you let them." More monsters are placed in the maps.
583*** "[[Literature/AClockworkOrange Ultra-Violence]]": "So you think you're tough? Prove it!" Monsters are at their most numerous, including some monsters being replaced by higher-tier ones.
584*** The 2019 Unity ports added "Ultra-Violence+". Enemies move and attack faster, and extra enemies and pickups which normally only spawn when playing in co-op show up.
585*** v1.2 added "[[HarderThanHard Nightmare!]]": "This is for those times where killing a guy once just isn't enough. If you're lucky, you'll wake up..." In addition to the highest concentration of monsters from UV, they move and attack faster and [[RespawningEnemies respawn after a random period]]; in return, though, you get doubled ammo with every pickup like in ITYTD. Picking it brings up a second prompt asking "Are you sure? This skill level isn't even remotely fair."
586** ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' have these same difficulty levels, with the exception of "Hey, Not Too Rough". This is replaced with '''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Ultra-Nightmare]]''', which is Nightmare but turned into a FinalDeathMode.
587** ''VideoGame/Doom3''
588*** Recruit ("Easy--[[EasyModeMockery Try not to shoot yourself in the foot]]")
589*** Marine ("Normal--You can hit a moving target...usually")
590*** Veteran ("Hard--Shoot first, ask questions later")
591*** [[HarderThanHard Nightmare]] ("Nightmare--An unstoppable death machine")
592** ''VideoGame/Doom64''
593*** "Be Gentle!" Like in the other classic ''Doom'' games, the player receives doubled ammo from pickups on this difficulty.
594*** "Bring it on!"
595*** "I Own Doom!"
596*** "Watch Me Die!"
597** ''VideoGame/ChexQuest'' had their ''Doom'' versions renamed to fit the game.
598*** "[[{{EasierThanEasy}} Easy Does It]]"
599*** "Not So Sticky"
600*** "Gobs Of Goo"
601*** "Extreme Ooze"
602*** "[[{{HarderThanHard}} Super Slimey!]]"
603** The ''Samsara'' mod, which allows you to play as characters from other first-person shooters, gives each character their original game's difficulty levels, such as "[[VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D Can I Play, Daddy?]]" or "[[VideoGame/{{Marathon}} Kindergarten]]".
604** The ''{{VideoGame/Demonsteele}}'' mod has some extremely metal ([[ThemeNaming literally]]) difficulty level names, one set each for its two player characters (respectively Jung Hae Lin and Sun Shihong):
605*** [[Music/{{Testament}} Return to Serenity]]/Resurrection ("You have ten life tokens. Pray for long life.")
606*** [[Music/BlackSabbath Never Say Die]]/Come and Get It ("You have eight life tokens. Pray for good health.")
607*** [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Take No Prisoners]]/Into the Battle ("You have six life tokens. Pray for vast courage.")
608*** [[Music/OzzyOsbourne Facing Hell]]/Seek & Destroy ("You have four life tokens. Pray for iron will.")
609*** [[Music/JudasPriest Killing Machine]]/All Guns Blazing ("You have two life tokens. Pray for a quick death.")
610*** [[Music/{{Slayer}} Angel of Death]]/Armageddon Machine ("[[OneHitPointWonder Your prayers are in vain.]]")
611*** [[spoiler:A blank space]] ("Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.")
612** ''VideoGame/Grezzo2'': This blasphemous GameMod of ''Doom'' has, as idiosyncratic difficulty levels, random insults in Italian:
613*** "Se'n tonto" ("You're dumb")
614*** "Se'n toro" ("You're bull")
615*** "Manga la merda" ("Eat shit")
616*** "Maglial' che casino" ("What a piggy-fucking mess")
617*** "Tu se'l più tonto" ("You're the dumbest")
618** ''[[VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfMassmouth MassMouth 2]]'':
619*** [[VideoGame/BlazingStar You fail it]]
620*** I have my dignity
621*** [[Film/CrocodileDundee This is a knife]]
622*** Don't mess with me
623*** I'll eat your brain
624** ''[[http://it-he.org/doom.htm#coeurl VSB-doom]]'', a GameMod for ''Doom'' which allows you to play as the cat-like alien [[Literature/TheVoyageOfTheSpaceBeagle Coeurl]]. Note the inversion from the usual fare--rather than go "from wuss to badass", the levels go "from strong to weak".
625*** Cougar
626*** Tomcat
627*** Pussycat
628*** Kitten
629*** Mouse
630** ''[[http://it-he.org/doom.htm#blessed The Blessed Engine]]'', a GameMod for ''Doom'' that turns it NintendoHard.
631*** Ultra-Violence
632*** Nightmare!
633*** Certain Death.
634*** No Chance
635*** !
636** ''Zombies TC'', a GameMod for ''Doom'', based on ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'':
637*** Reporter
638*** Cop
639*** Coroner
640*** Undead
641*** Nightmare!
642* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' and ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'':
643** "Piece of Cake"
644** "Let's Rock"
645** "Come Get Some"
646** "Damn, I'm Good" (Same as Come Get Some, but enemies respawn on this level unless their bodies/corpses are destroyed completely.)
647* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem: Time to Kill''
648** "Wussy"
649** "Get Some"
650** "Let's Go"
651** "Death Wish"
652* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem: Land of the Babes'' has two:
653** "Come Get Some"
654** "Death Wish"
655* ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}'' [[note]]as of the latest version, you can also choose whether or not to play every level from a sickles-only start, called "Intruder Mode"; also, there is a question mark beside each difficulty level you can click on to see what to expect)[[/note]]:
656** Accessible[[labelnote:?]]Intended for players of any skill level.[[/labelnote]]
657** Go Easy[[labelnote:?]]Easy difficulty. Slow enemies and projectiles with minimal damage.[[/labelnote]]
658** I Can Make It[[labelnote:?]]Medium difficulty. Recommended for a first playthrough.[[/labelnote]]
659** Cero Miedo[[labelnote:?]]Hard difficulty. Enemies are fast and deadly and armor is less effective. Recommended for twitch shooter veterans.[[/labelnote]] ([[GratuitousSpanish Spanish for "zero fear"]])
660** Duskmare[[labelnote:?]]For masochists only. Enemies are ruthless and their attacks kill in one hit.[[/labelnote]] (Makes you a OneHitPointWonder)
661* ''Franchise/FarCry'':
662** ''VideoGame/FarCry1'' tells you what to expect for each difficulty level:
663*** Easy: A peaceful tropical island stroll. Enjoy your vacation.
664*** Medium: You will be challenged, but adventure requires a little danger, right?
665*** Challenging: Your enemies are smarter, more accurate, and really pissed off. Good luck. You'll need it.
666*** Veteran: Serious jungle madness. We hope you have a high tolerance for pain.
667*** Realistic: You must be amazingly skilled or incredibly foolish. Forget paradise - this is hell.
668** ''VideoGame/FarCry2'', after the standard Easy and Normal difficulties:
669*** Hardcore
670*** Infamous
671** ''VideoGame/FarCry3'' once again tells you what to expect with its difficulties:
672*** Adventurer: An easier experience for those who are new to first person shooters.
673*** Survivor: A first person shooter experience for seasoned gamers.
674*** Warrior: A challenge that will require you to master all of your abilities.
675*** Master: [[CallBack Worse than malaria.]]
676** ''VideoGame/FarCry4'' and ''[[VideoGame/FarCry5 5]]'' go for standard difficulty level names, though an update for ''5'' featured the return of ''2''[='=]s HarderThanHard "Infamous" difficulty.
677** ''VideoGame/FarCry6'' only has two, listed in the opposite order from usual:
678*** Action Mode: This is the classic Far Cry experience, recommended for most players. Enemies hit harder and health takes longer to recover. You will need strategy and creativity to survive.
679*** [[StoryDifficultySetting Story Mode]]: This is the Far Cry experience for players who focus on story and exploration. Engaging for any skill level. Take less damage and recover faster, so you can enjoy the action with less risk of death.
680* ''VideoGame/FashionPoliceSquad'': The harder difficulty descriptions will also include Desmond looking more badass and well-dressed.
681** I'm too young to dye - [[EasyModeMockery Desmond wears a shabby coat, and a fearful look.]]
682** Fashion is my passion
683** You reap what you sew
684** Make sure it's haute couture
685* ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' and ''VideoGame/GoldenEye2010''
686** "Agent" (1997) / "Operative" (2010) (Easy)
687** "Secret Agent" (1997) / Agent" (2010) (Normal)
688** "00 Agent" (1997) / "007" (2010) (Hard)
689** "007" (customizable difficulty level) (1997)
690** "007 Classic" (no RegeneratingHealth and {{body armor|AsHitPoints}} pickups added to mimic the original gameplay) (2010)
691* ''VideoGame/HalfLifeEchoes'' states "Select criteria for evaluation" when pesenting the difficulty selections, owing to its FramingDevice as one of the G-Man's candidate evaluations:
692** Relaxed (Easy)
693** Standard (Normal)
694** Stringent (Hard)
695* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': The descriptions are different across a few games, though ''The Master Chief Collection'' settled on reusing those from ''[[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Combat Evolved]]'' and ''VideoGame/Halo2'', which CallBack to those from the ''VideoGame/{{Myth}}'' series:
696** "Easy" - Your foes cower and fall before your unstoppable onslaught, [[EasyModeMockery yet final victory will leave you wanting more]].
697** "Normal" - Hordes of aliens vie to destroy you, but nerves of steel and a quick trigger finger give you a solid chance to prevail.
698** "Heroic" - Your enemies are as numerous as they are ferocious; their attacks are devastating. Survival is not guaranteed.
699** "Legendary" - You face opponents who have never known defeat, who laugh in alien tongues at your efforts to survive. This is suicide.
700** "Mythic" or "LASO" ("Legendary All Skulls On") is a fan-made difficulty which requires turning on all of the various skulls that increase the difficulty of the game in addition to the normal hardships of Legendary difficulty:
701### [[CheckpointStarvation Level restarts on player death]]
702### Player shields only regenerate upon hitting enemies with melee
703### Enemies evade and throw grenades more often
704### No motion tracker
705### Reduced ammo
706### Enemy resistances increased
707### Double enemy health
708### Every enemy is a KingMook
709### Player [[FirstPersonGhost cannot see what weapon they are holding]]
710### Player has no reticle
711* ''[[VideoGame/HaloInfinite Halo Infinite: Multiplayer]]'' adds the ability to play against bots. These bots have difficulty levels which reference the hierarchy of UNSC forces:
712** Recruit
713** Marine
714** ODST
715** Spartan
716* ''VideoGame/{{Hellbound}}'', a ''Doom'' homage that proudly advertises itself as "the ultimate 90s FPS released in 2022", inevitably have these:
717** Noob
718** Normal
719** Old School
720** '''HELLMARE!''' [[note]]exclamation mark is in the title screen[[/note]]
721* ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}'' had YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe titles that are references to the ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' and ''Doom'' level names:
722** "[[EasierThanEasy Thou needeth a wet-nurse]]"
723** "[[EasyModeMockery Yellow-bellies R us]]"
724** "Bringeth them oneth"
725** "Thou Art A Smite-Meister"
726** "[[HarderThanHard The black plague possess thee]]"
727** The sequels to Heretic, ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}'' and ''Hexen 2'', had difficulties named after the player's chosen class, depending upon whether the player was a Fighter, Cleric or Mage.
728*** '''Fighter''': "Squire", "Knight", "Warrior", "Berserker", "Titan".
729*** '''Cleric''': "Altar Boy", "Acolyte", "Priest", "Cardinal", "Pope".[[note]]Novice, Missionary, Acolyte, Initiate, Mystic in the N64 version.[[/note]]
730*** '''Mage''': "Apprentice", "Enchanter", "Sorcerer", "Warlock", "Archmage".
731** ''Hexen 2'' had four character types: Paladin, Crusader, Necromancer, and Assassin, with the ''Portal of Praevus'' expansion adding the Demoness as the fifth type.
732*** '''Paladin''': "Apprentice", "Squire", "Adept", "Lord".
733*** '''Crusader''': "Gallant", "Holy Avenger", "Divine Hero", "Legend".
734*** '''Necromancer''': "Sorcerer", "Dark Servant", "Warlock", "Lich King".
735*** '''Assassin''': "Rogue", "Cutthroat", "Executioner", "Widow Maker".
736*** '''Demoness''': "Larva", "Spawn", "Fiend", "She Bitch".
737* ''VideoGame/IonFury'': Each level comes with a progressively bloodier picture of Shelly's face and a description.
738** First Blood (Easy difficulty. Great for new players or those who just want to have fun.)
739** Wanton Carnage (Normal difficulty. The intended experience for the average player.)
740** Ultra Viscera (Hard difficulty. A highly challenging mode for veterans.)
741** Maximum Fury (Hardcore mode. You die a lot [[RageQuit and then uninstall the game]]. Not for first timers...)
742* ''VideoGame/{{Incision}}'', another retro-style shooter, gives us this gem:
743** Barely Scratched
744** Fearless in the Face of Death
745** Overkill Through Overconfidence
746** Asking For It
747* ''VideoGame/KensLabyrinth'' has just two difficulty modes, "Don't touch me" (easy) and "OUCH!" (hard). The difference between the two modes, and what makes the names make sense, is that on easy mode, enemies generally don't use melee attacks (you can still run into them and take CollisionDamage), while on hard mode, they will actively ram into you.
748* ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'':
749** Beginner (''[=KF1=]'' only)
750** Normal
751** Hard
752** Suicidal
753** Hell on Earth
754* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'':
755** "Kindergarten"
756** "Easy"
757** "Normal"
758** "Major Damage"
759** "Total Carnage"
760** "[[SelfImposedChallenge Vidmaster]]" (unofficial)
761-->'''[[http://marathon.bungie.org/vidmaster/vidrules.html The Oath of the Vidmaster]]''', from the ''Marathon Trilogy'' [[AllThereInTheManual manual]]: "I pledge to punch all switches, to [[GrenadeSpam never shoot where I could use grenades]], to admit the existence of no level except [[HarderThanHard Total Carnage]], to never use Caps Lock as my "run" key, and to never, ever, leave a single Bob alive."
762* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorVanguard'':
763** "Recruit"
764** "Veteran"
765** "Elite"
766* ''VideoGame/MetalHellsinger'':
767** "Lamb"
768** "Goat"
769** "Beast"
770** "[[HarderThanHard Archdevil]]"
771* ''VideoGame/NervesOfSteel'':
772** Green Recruit
773** Trained Soldier
774** Seasoned Veteran
775** Killing Machine
776* ''VideoGame/Nitemare3D'':
777** "Be gentle!"
778** "I'm tough!"
779** "Let's party!"
780* ''VideoGame/OrionPrelude'':
781** Noob
782** Easy
783** Medium
784** Hard
785** Insane
786** Redikulous
787** Prehistoric - a highly customizable mode, where you can set your enemies' health and attack, change how many enemies you get, and change how many credits you are given or get over time.
788* Fitting the SpaghettiWestern theme, ''VideoGame/{{Outlaws}}'' goes [[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly "Good", "Bad" and "Ugly."]]
789* ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'':
790** "Daydream"
791** "Insomnia"
792** "Nightmare"
793** "Trauma"
794* ''PAYDAY'':
795** ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist''
796*** Easy
797*** Normal
798*** Hard
799*** Overkill
800*** Overkill 145+ (reserved for players whose rep level is 145 or higher)
801** ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2''[[note]]The original release had only four difficulty modes--Normal, Hard, Very Hard, and Overkill[[/note]]
802*** Normal
803*** Hard
804*** Very Hard
805*** Overkill
806*** Mayhem
807*** Death Wish
808*** Death Sentence (Formerly known as One Down before One Down became a modifier and the top difficulty was changed to allow players to go down more than once)
809** ''VideoGame/PAYDAY3'':
810*** Normal
811*** Hard
812*** Very Hard
813*** Overkill
814* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'': Bots in multiplayer mode also have various difficulty levels, ranging from Meatsims that almost always miss to Darksims that almost always hit, spawn near weapon spawn points, and [[OffscreenTeleportation can teleport when the player isn't looking]]. ''Zero'' adds "Dark Agent", and also gives each difficulty a short description:.
815** "Agent" - For novices and new recruits.
816** "Special Agent" (original) / "Secret Agent" (''Zero'') - Standard setting for moderately experienced agents.
817** "Perfect Agent" - Expert setting for highly qualified agents.
818** "Perfect Dark" (customizable like ''[=GoldenEye=]'''s 007 mode, original only) / "Dark Agent" (no RegeneratingHealth, [[CheckPointStarvation no checkpoints]] (except for the tutorial level) and no body armor pickups, ''Zero'' only) - [[HarderThanHard You're on your own now.]]
819* ''VideoGame/PoEd'', an FPS for the [[Platform/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3DO]] (US version only):
820** I like to watch (Easy)
821** I'm over 30, I have arthritis in my fingers (Medium)
822** I don't eat quiche (Hard)
823* ''VideoGame/Postal2'' took this to a ridiculous level. The officially-recognized "A Week in Paradise" mod takes this even further by adding the bottom two.
824** "Liebermode" (guns are replaced with shovels)
825** "Hestonworld" (everyone has guns, including civilians)
826** "Insane-o" (everyone has random weapons)
827** "[[FightMagnet They Hate Me]]" (everyone with a weapon attacks the player)
828** "Nightmare" (everyone has guns ''and'' attacks the player)
829** "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Really Fucking Hard]]" (same as Nightmare but with extra weapons from Insane-o—includes [[ThisIsGonnaSuck even more grenade types and high explosives]], up to ''miniature nukes'')
830* ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'':
831** ''VideoGame/QuakeI'' had more standard names than ''Doom'', but differentiated them by having a HubLevel where you picked a path to physically select a difficulty. Also like with ''Doom'', the manual gave short descriptions for them.
832*** Easy (leftmost path): "This is meant for little kids and grandmas."
833*** Medium (middle path): "Most people should start Quake at Medium skill."
834*** Hard (rightmost path): "Here at Creator/{{id|Software}}, we play Hard skill, and we think you should too, once you're ready."
835*** [[HarderThanHard Nightmare]] (take any portal, head for the Episode 4 start point, drop on the wooden beams and follow them to find a hidden lava portal): "This is so bad that the entry is hidden, so people won't wander in by accident. If you find it, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck don't say we didn't warn you]]."
836** ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena''
837*** I Can Win
838*** Bring It On
839*** Hurt Me Plenty
840*** Hardcore
841*** Nightmare[[note]]Each level colors part of logo to red with first having none colored, and 5th having special "logo". 5th also plays SFX.[[/note]]
842** ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'' was built on the engine powering ''VideoGame/Doom3'' and uses a similar 4-tier difficulty menu, only it uses military ranks.
843*** "Private" - [[EasyModeMockery Try not to shoot yourself in the foot]]
844*** "Corporal" - You can hit a moving target...usually
845*** "Lieutenant" - Shoot first, ask questions later
846*** "General" - [[RankScalesWithAsskicking An unstoppable death machine]]
847* ''VideoGame/QuantumOfSolace'': Difficulty level also carries over to achievements for completing the game.
848** "New Recruit", which unlocks "Film/{{Octopussy}}"
849** "Field Operative", which unlocks "Film/TomorrowNeverDies"
850** "Agent", which unlocks "Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice"
851** "007", which unlocks "TheNameIsBondJamesBond"
852* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' has three lists of names for its four difficulties (with a picture to go with each name).
853** First set:
854*** "I am a Chew Toy."
855*** "Will of Iron, Knees of Jell-O (TM)."[[note]]"Jell-O (TM)" is [[ProductDisplacement replaced with "Gelatin"]] in the ''Ludicrous Edition''[[/note]]
856*** "I'm in my Element: Lead."
857*** "Two Words: Reaper Man."
858** Second set:
859*** "The Enemy Will Devour Me."
860*** "Which Part is the Trigger?"
861*** "I Have Pet Names For My Grenades."
862*** "No One Shall Live."
863** Third set:
864*** "Dig My Grave. Now."
865*** "I Think I Left the Stove On."
866*** "I'm a Freight Train O' Death."
867*** "They Call Me 'The Cleaner.'"
868** Regardless of which list shows up, they're alternatively called "Easy", "Medium", "Hard", and "Crezzy Man" by the game.
869* ''VideoGame/DeathlessHyperion'', as a {{retraux}} to old sci-fi FPS games:
870** Intruder (Easier than easy)
871** Scout (Decent and reasonable, just a scouting mission)
872** Explorer (Hard, plenty of objectives to complete)
873** Scavenger (Very Hard, you'll need to salvage 20000 credits to complete the game)
874** Bounty Hunter (Just make it out alive!)
875* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'':
876** "Tourist"
877** "Easy"
878** "Medium"
879** "Hard"
880** "Serious"
881** "Mental"
882* ''VideoGame/SeveredSteel'':
883** Cold Steel
884** Tempered Steel
885** [[TitleDrop Severed Steel]]
886** Sharpened Steel
887** [[HarderThanHard Molten Steel]]
888* ''VideoGame/ShadowWarrior1997''
889** "Tiny Grasshopper"
890** "I Have No Fear"
891** "Who Wants Wang"
892** "No Pain No Gain"
893* ''Videogame/ShawsNightmare''
894** This Dream Is Easy
895** Not So Scary
896** Dews of God
897** Ultra-Frightening
898** SUPER NIGHTMARE!
899* ''[[VideoGame/SiN1998 SiN]]'' (1998):
900** "Rookie"
901** "Officer"
902** "[=HardCorps=]" (described in the manual as "not for the slow of mouse, weak of heart, or anyone else afraid of dying")
903* ''VideoGame/SlayersXTerminalAftermathVenganceOfTheSlayer'':
904** Not a real gamer
905** Normal gamer
906** I'm awesome
907** Inzane
908* ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune II''
909** Amateur: easy
910** Gun for Hire: medium
911** Consultant: hard
912** Soldier of Fortune: nearly impossible
913* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has the following difficulties for Mann vs. Machine missions:
914** "Normal": As long as your team has some idea of what they're doing, they'll be fine. The robots are manageable and special varieties aren't bad.
915** "Intermediate": A little trickier. Your strategy and teamwork will need to be better to deal with some of the tougher varieties.
916** "Advanced": Good teamwork and communication are even more important. Robots become even nastier, and giant robots become much more common. You'll need to know what and when to upgrade.
917** [[NintendoHard "Expert"]]: You'll need the best teamwork, communication, items, strategy, and money management to stand a chance. Robots come in especially nasty varieties and often have permanent critical hits. Just about every wave has giant robots.
918** "Nightmare" (only for [[BrutalBonusLevel Calignous Caper]]): Pain. Endless pain.
919* ''VideoGame/TurboOverkill'' has a bunch:
920** Virgin Blood
921** Regular Joe
922** Street Cleaner
923** Serve Me Pain
924** ''Murder Machine''
925* ''VideoGame/{{ULTRAKILL}}'' has six difficulties split across three categories:
926** Accessible:
927*** Harmless
928*** Lenient
929** Hard:
930*** Standard
931*** Violent
932** Very Hard:
933*** Brutal
934*** [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry ULTRAKILL Must Die]]
935* ''VideoGame/{{Unloved}}'':
936** Sliver of Mercy: "For the weak and inexperienced." Enemies spawn at a low rate and have low health and damage, while the player gets 50% more from any armor, ammo and health pickups they collect, though Karma and [[ExperiencePoints Q]] are also lessened and the player can only acquire Rank 1 trinkets.
937** No Hope: "If you can't fight them all, [[CoOpMultiplayer better bring someone along]]." Enemies' health and damage moderately increases, as do spawn rates, including for higher-tier enemies like the Faceless. Armor, ammo and health still grant 50% more, while Karma and Q is granted at a slightly higher rate, and you can find Rank 2 trinkets at a rare rate.
938** Kill Em All: "[[Literature/AmericanPsycho You feel a constant, sharp pain and you want to inflict it on others.]]" Enemies' health and damage increase noticeably further, and along with higher spawn rates you now have a chance of facing [[EliteMooks stronger "Rotten" versions]] of all enemies. Ammo, armor and health pickups are worth their normal amount now, but in return there's a moderate boost to Karma and Q earnings, as well as the rate at which you can find Rank 2 trinkets.
939** Time To Die: "Let go of the fear of death." The health and damage of enemies, as well as their spawn rates and the chance of seeing Rotten versions, all gain a very large increase, but in return so do your earnings of Karma, Q, and Rank 2 trinkets.
940** Beast Mode: "Pure insanity." An "endgame" difficulty, which boosts all of the above even further, including the possibility of finding Rotten enemies among hordes of other normal ones, but along with the player now having a chance of finding Demon Chests, whether pre-placed on the map or from collecting all three Card Pieces in one map, that will always grant a Rank 3 trinket or a ring.
941** Unearthly: "[[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar You are already dead]]." Even ''further'' boosts, to the point enemies may start spawning in faster than an unprepared player can kill them, especially now that all enemies can use the Witch's summoning ability to bring in even more enemies. In return, Karma and Q earnings get a similar boost, and there is now a chance to find up to two randomly-placed Demon Chests on every map.
942** Abyss: "The Abyss stares into you." [[HarderThanHard The greatest challenge the game can offer]] - the game won't even let you pick this one until you're at or above level 150 - further increasing enemy health, damage and spawn rates, including the introduction of Abyss Wanderers that will give even further boosts to health and other new abilities to nearby enemies. Karma and Q rewards are even higher, and now, if you manage to actually kill all three Abyss Wanderers in a map, the last one will drop an Abyss Chest that contains a Rank 4 trinket.
943* ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'':
944** The first ''VideoGame/UnrealI'' had four difficulties, which had a short tooltip describing them:
945*** Easy: [[EasyModeMockery Tourist Mode.]]
946*** Normal: Ready for some action!
947*** Hard: Not for the faint of heart.
948*** [[HarderThanHard Unreal]]: Death Wish.
949** ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' had bot skill levels with idiosyncratic names (which were reused for ''[[VideoGame/UnrealTournament2003 UT2003]]'', ''[[VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004 UT2004]]'', ''[[VideoGame/UnrealChampionship Championship]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/UnrealChampionship2TheLiandriConflict Championship 2]]'') and snarky descriptions of what each difficulty entails.
950*** Novice (They won't hurt you... much)
951*** Average (They know how to kill)
952*** Experienced (Don't get cocky)
953*** Skilled (You think you're tough?)
954*** Adept (You'd better be good)
955*** Masterful (I hope you like to respawn)
956*** Inhuman ([[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar You are already dead]])
957*** Godlike (I am the Alpha and the Omega)
958** The Platform/PlayStation2 port cut this down to four difficulty levels with an image of a competitor to demonstrate them.
959*** Novice: The competitor [[EasyModeMockery is a whimpering child]].
960*** Skilled: The competitor is an adult, but still clearly out of his element.
961*** Master: The competitor now sports a LanternJawOfJustice and a smug smirk.
962*** Inhuman: The competitor's face is heavily scarred, gritting his teeth as lightning erupts from his {{glowing eyes|OfDoom}}.
963** ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament3'' uses a different set, with longer descriptions for them.
964*** Casual: Don't feel bad playing on casual. At least you might live long enough to make a difference.
965*** Normal: So, you feel average today. That's fine. Get some practice, then try something more difficult.
966*** Hard: That's more like it. Now get in there and do some damage!
967*** Insane: ARE YOU INSANE? GIVE UP NOW!
968* ''VideoGame/{{Viscerafest}}'' has a few lists of names for its five difficulties that are picked each time a new game menu is accessed. The set below happens to be themed after ''relationship statuses''.
969** Just Friends: Medium: For the mediocre individual who does not enjoy dying.
970** Highschool Cruish: Hard: For those familiar with singleplayer arena shooters.
971** Dating Hard: Brutal: For the shooter veterans who want a challenge.
972** Getting Engaged: Extreme: For the [=FPS=] elite and those who can not swallow their pride and pick something easier.
973** Just Married: Nighmare: For those who indulge in masochism.
974* ''VideoGame/VivisectorBeastWithin'':
975** Inspection
976** Therapy
977** Surgery
978** Vivisection
979* ''VideoGame/TheWheelOfTime'' has standard difficulty names, but each have a tooltip comparing said difficulty to a specific character.
980** Easy: [[EasyModeMockery Wit Congar]]
981** Normal: [[BadassNormal al'Lan Mandragoran]]
982** Hard: [[TheDreaded Lews Therin Telamon]]
983* ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}'':
984** ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'': With accompanying mugshots of the hero B.J. Blazkowicz.
985*** "Can I play, Daddy?" - [[EasyModeMockery B.J. is wearing a baby bonnet and pacifier.]]
986*** "Don't hurt me." - B.J. has a ThisIsGonnaSuck look on his face.
987*** "Bring 'em on!" - B.J. has a neutral expression.
988*** "I am Death incarnate!" - B.J. is sporting a menacing SlasherSmile, a KubrickStare, and [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing red eyes]].
989** ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein2009'' had a double instance, using the old difficulty levels but with a "normal" name for them in parenthesis:
990*** Can I Play, Daddy? (Easy)
991*** Don't Hurt Me (Normal)
992*** Bring 'Em On (Hard)
993*** I Am Death Incarnate! ([[HarderThanHard Über]])
994** ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder''/''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheOldBlood'': Updated version of the classic formula, this time with added descriptions.
995*** [[EasierThanEasy "Can I play, Daddy?"]]: Very easy difficulty setting [[EasyModeMockery for the spineless gamer. - B.J. is wearing a baby bonnet and pacifier.]]
996*** "Don't hurt me.": Easy difficulty setting for the casual gamer. - B.J. has a ThisIsGonnaSuck look on his face.
997*** "Bring 'em on!": Normal difficulty setting for the average gamer. - B.J. has a neutral expression.
998*** "I am Death incarnate!": Hard difficulty setting for the experienced gamer. - B.J. has a DeathGlare[=/=]KubrickStare.
999*** [[HarderThanHard "Über"]]: Very hard difficulty setting for the heroic gamer. - B.J. is sporting a menacing SlasherSmile, and is covered in blood splatter.
1000*** [[FinalDeathMode "Mein Leben!": Only one life - game over if you die.]] (''The Old Blood'' only) - B.J. is reduced to a blood-splattered skeleton.
1001** ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'', for the most part, retains the difficulties and descriptions from ''The Old Blood'', with updated mugshots of B.J.:
1002*** [[EasierThanEasy "Can I play, Daddy?"]]: Very easy difficulty setting for the spineless gamer. - B.J. is still wearing a baby bonnet and pacifier.
1003*** "Don't hurt me.": Easy difficulty setting for the novice gamer. - B.J. has a ThisIsGonnaSuck look on his face.
1004*** "Bring 'em on!": Normal difficulty setting for the average gamer. - B.J. has a neutral expression.
1005*** "Do or die!": Hard difficulty setting for the experienced gamer. - B.J. has a cocky smirk.
1006*** [[HarderThanHard "Call me Terror-Billy!"]]: Very hard difficulty setting for the heroic gamer. - B.J. is grinning and covered in blood splatter.
1007*** "I am death incarnate!": Ultra hard difficulty setting for the fearless gamer. - B.J. is sporting a menacing SlasherSmile, a KubrickStare, and is covered in blood splatter.
1008*** [[FinalDeathMode "Mein leben": One life only - game over if you die.]] (unlocked once beaten on "I am death incarnate!) - B.J. is reduced to a blood-splattered skeleton.
1009[[/folder]]
1010
1011[[folder:Hack and Slash]]
1012* ''VideoGame/AfroSamurai'' has two difficulties, with the second unlocked after a complete playthrough.
1013** "Number Two Headband"
1014** "Number One Headband"
1015* ''VideoGame/AstralChain'':
1016** Casual
1017** Standard
1018** Ultimate
1019* ''VideoGame/BerserkAndTheBandOfTheHawk''
1020** Easy
1021** Normal
1022** Hard
1023** Berserk
1024* ''VideoGame/CrescentPaleMist'':
1025** "Pumpkin Knight ([[EasyModeMockery Easy]])"
1026** "Magic Knight (Normal)"
1027** "Sacred Knight (Hard)"
1028** "Terror Knight ([[HarderThanHard Fear]])"
1029** "Knight of Nightmare ([[NintendoHard Planeriel]])"
1030* ''VideoGame/DarksidersII''
1031** "Easy"
1032** "Normal"
1033** "Apocalyptic"
1034* ''VideoGame/{{Deadpool}}'':
1035** Genetically Superior (easy)
1036** Veteran (normal)
1037** Ultra-Violence (hard)
1038* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry''
1039** Main Continuity:
1040*** "Easy Automatic/Human" - Easy. ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' is notable for not having this difficulty level.
1041*** "Devil Hunter" - Normal.
1042*** "Son of Sparda" - Hard.
1043*** "Very Hard" - Unique to the [[UpdatedRerelease Special Edition]] of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'', added by Creator/{{Capcom}} in order to make the difficulty modes consistent across regions. [[note]]The initial Western release took the Japanese version's Hard mode and labeled it as the Western version's Normal mode, thus all difficulty modes in the latter were downplayed in-name-only by one rank.[[/note]]
1044*** "Must Die" - Prefixed by the playable character's name (though later games have this labeled only as "Dante Must Die"), this difficulty is notable for giving enemies their own [[SuperMode Devil Trigger]] state.
1045*** "[[RocketTagGameplay Heaven or Hell]]" - Everyone, including you, dies in one hit.
1046*** "[[OneHitPointWonder Hell and Hell]]" - ''Only you'' die in one hit.
1047*** "Legendary Dark Knight" - Available only to the Special Editions of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' (and the original PC port of ''[=DMC4=]''). It takes the "Son of Sparda" mode but fills the areas with loads of extra enemies.
1048** Unique to ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'':
1049*** "Nephilim" - Hard. Enemies have more health and deal more damage. Because this mode is only present in ''[=DmC=]'', this game's version of the "Son of Sparda" mode is equivalent to a Very Hard difficulty instead.
1050*** "Gods Must Die" - Exclusive to the ''Definitive Edition''. Similar to the "Must Die" difficulty, except enemies are always in Devil Trigger state. Items are also unusable.
1051*** "Must Style" - Exclusive to the ''Definitive Edition''. Dante/Vergil don't deal any damage to enemies unless the Stylish Rank is S or higher.
1052* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'':
1053** "Normal"
1054** "Nightmare"
1055** "Hell"
1056** "Inferno" (''III'' pre-2.0 only)
1057* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' from 2.0 onwards:
1058** "Normal"
1059** "Hard"
1060** "Expert"
1061** "Master"
1062** "Torment" followed by a Roman numeral from I to XIII
1063* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors''
1064** "Novice"
1065** "Easy"
1066** "Normal"
1067** "Hard"
1068** "Chaos"
1069* ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed''
1070** Apprentice
1071** Sith Warrior
1072** Sith Lord
1073** Sith Master
1074* ''VideoGame/KillerIsDead'':
1075** ''Easy''
1076** ''Normal''
1077** ''Hard''
1078** ''Very Hard''
1079** ''Nightmare'' (PC Version only) - Enemies can only be hurt or killed using [[FlashStep dodge bursts]] and instant executions.
1080* In ''VideoGame/MinecraftDungeons'', there are 3 main difficulty levels and an "add-on" difficulty. Players start out on the first and easiest difficulty, but can unlock the proceeding difficulties by beating the FinalBoss on each difficulty.
1081** Default
1082** Adventure
1083** Apocalypse
1084** [[HarderThanHard Apocalypse Plus]]
1085* ''VideoGame/MuramasaTheDemonBlade'':
1086** Muso - easy
1087** Shura - crushing even to the average gamer who's beaten Muso
1088** Shigurui - Shura, except OneHitPointWonder
1089* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'':
1090** "Ninja Dog" (''I'') / Acolyte (''II'')
1091** "Normal" (''I'') / "Warrior" (''II'')
1092** "Hard" (''I'') / "Mentor" (''II'')
1093** "Very Hard" (''I'' only)
1094** "Master Ninja" (''I'' and ''II'')
1095* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' & ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'':
1096** ''Sweet'': Perfect for beginners.
1097** ''Mild'': Many strong men await you.
1098** ''Bitter'': Extremely difficult.
1099* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'':
1100** ''Berry Sweet''
1101** ''Bitter''
1102** ''Spicy''
1103** ''[[HarderThanHard Carolina Reaper]]''
1104* ''VideoGame/{{Onechanbara}}'':
1105** ''Casual''
1106** ''Medium''
1107** ''Hard''
1108** ''Violent''
1109** ''Berserk'' - You are constantly in an [[TurnsRed Enraged State/Dare Drive/Xtatic]] and will gradually lose health, and take double the damage.
1110* ''VideoGame/RyseSonOfRome'':
1111** Recruit
1112** Soldier
1113** Centurion
1114** Legendary
1115* ''VideoGame/SamuraiJackBattleThroughTime'':
1116** Jack
1117** Samurai
1118** Master Samurai
1119** Master of Masters
1120* ''VideoGame/TransformersDevastation'': In addition, the [[HardModePerks higher the difficulty, the better weapons]] you obtain.
1121** ''Scout''
1122** ''Warrior''
1123** ''Commander''
1124** ''Magnus''
1125** ''[[HarderThanHard Prime]]''
1126* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' has descriptions along with accompanying pictures of Wonder-Red holding a controller and (presumably) playing the game.
1127** Very Easy: For those looking for an easy way out, that just want to get this over with already! - [[SecretIdentity Will Wedgewood]] is lying down against a pillow, holding a slice of pizza in one hand with a grin.
1128** Easy: For those looking to take their time and have some fun. - Wonder-Red is lounging in his chair, holding a donut in one hand with a smile.
1129** Normal: For those who stick to the book and like it that way. (original) / For those expecting the Platinum standard. (''Remastered'') - Wonder-Red is sitting in his chair normally, with a neutral expression.
1130** Hard: For those looking to add a little spice to their life. - Wonder-Red is leaning forward in his chair with a scowl.
1131** [[HarderThanHard 101% Hard]]: For those looking to see if they have what it takes to truly become a hero! - Wonder-Red is standing in front of his toppled chair in Unlimited Form.
1132[[/folder]]
1133
1134[[folder:Light Gun Games]]
1135* ''VideoGame/TheHouseOfTheDeadOverkill - [[UpdatedRerelease Extended Cut]]''
1136** Bitch
1137** Agent
1138** Motherf[[SoundEffectBleep ***]]er
1139* ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishmentStarSuccessor'''s difficulty descriptions:
1140** Easy - "You will be sheltered."
1141** Normal - "You will be tested."
1142** Hard - "You will be [[{{Pun}} punished]]."
1143* ''VideoGame/SoldierBoyz''
1144** Chump
1145** Punk
1146** Badass
1147[[/folder]]
1148
1149[[folder:Mecha Game]]
1150* The pilot selection screen in Freelance mode in ''VideoGame/{{Brigador}}'' works as a disguised difficulty setting. There's a large number of pilots with various differences in starting difficulty, increase per sector (if any), and payout. Lore-wise the differences are explained as being part of pilot reputation - the enemy won't send a lot of forces to fight new pilots who may very well faceplant their mech three steps in, while hardened veterans or nobodies who over the course of a mission might prove that they're dangerous will face increasingly stronger opposition. The pilot bios do a good job of explaining what to expect, while also functioning as a source of [[StoryBreadcrumbs worldbuilding and lore snippets]].
1151[[/folder]]
1152
1153[[folder:[=MMORPGs=]]]
1154* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' and ''City of Villains'' used to take this a step further. You can change your difficulty at special [=NPCs=] who, for a fee, will spread word about you, affecting your Reputation (heroes) / Notoriety (villains). This affects the missions you will receive.
1155** Heroic/Villainous (standard)
1156** Tenacious/Malicious (more enemies)
1157** Rugged/Vicious (harder enemies)
1158** Unyielding/Ruthless (both)
1159** Invincible/Relentless (standard sized spawns of even harder enemies).
1160*** The difficulty system was altered for Going Rogue. Now you can separately set what level the foes should be compared to you (from -1 to +4), how many foes should spawn in missions (from x1 to x8), whether you want to fight Bosses as Lieutenants, and whether you want to fight Archvillains as Elite Bosses.
1161* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' may start out with Normal and Hard, but the difficulties after that get even more intimidating to describe their difficulty in spite of being classified under different encounters.
1162** Extreme (Harder version of Trial bosses)
1163** Savage (Harder version of Raids)
1164** Ultimate (A themed BossRush with no checkpoints)
1165* ''VideoGame/GlobalAgenda'' ranked its PlayerVersusEnvironment missions as Low, Medium, High, or Maximum security. Later patches first added a new level [[HarderThanHard above maximum]] then removed the Low setting, leaving [[ArtifactTitle Artifact Difficulty Levels]] which are even more idiosyncratic. The current settings are:
1166** Medium Security
1167** High Security
1168** Maximum Security
1169** Ultra-Max Security
1170* ''Videogame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has difficulty levels for scenarios, dungeons, and raids (Note: this is in order with respect to the location only. Does not include time twisted difficulty)
1171** Raid Finder (raids only)
1172** Normal
1173** Heroic
1174** Mythic (dungeons and raids)
1175** Challenge mode (dungeons only)
1176[[/folder]]
1177
1178[[folder:Platform Games]]
1179* ''VideoGame/AdventureStory'':
1180** [[EasierThanEasy Zero]] (''[[CompilationRerelease Epic Battle Fantasy Collection]]'' exclusive)
1181** Easy
1182** Medium
1183** Hard
1184** [[HarderThanHard Epic]]
1185** [[HarderThanHard Extreme]] (''[[CompilationRerelease Epic Battle Fantasy Collection]]'' exclusive)
1186* ''VideoGame/AlleyCat'': Even though you can choose your difficulty at the start, you advance to the next every time you clear a level:
1187** Kitten (Easy)
1188** House Cat (Normal)
1189** Tomcat (Hard)
1190** [[TitleDrop Alley Cat]] (Very Hard)
1191* ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures''/''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdIIAssimilation'':
1192** Easy
1193** Normal
1194** [[NintendoHard Old School]]
1195** [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Hard As Balls]]
1196** [[HarderThanHard Fucking Impossible]]
1197** [[FinalDeathMode YOLO]] (''Adventures'' only)
1198* ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvoltSeries'' doesn't have traditional difficulty levels, but instead gives you a setting for keeping Kudos - special points that are converted into {{Scor|ingPoints}}e at checkpoints.
1199** Gutless - Kudos are not lost when you take a hit
1200** Cautious - Kudos are lost after you take three hits
1201** Fearless - Kudos are lost after one hit
1202* ''VideoGame/BerenstainBearsCampingAdventure'':
1203** Bear Cub (Easy)
1204** Brown Bear (Medium, the default)
1205** Grizzly Bear (Hard)
1206* ''VideoGame/BloodstainedCurseOfTheMoon'':
1207** Casual
1208** Veteran
1209** Legend (''2'' only)
1210* ''VideoGame/{{Celeste}}'' mods use this difficulty system, popularized by ''VideoGame/The2020CelesteSpringCommunityCollab''. Within these categories are "green", "yellow", and "red" to denote the relative difficulty (e.g. a "red Beginner" is considered hard by Beginner map standards, while a "green Intermediate" is harder than a "red Beginner" but easy compared to other Intermediate maps).
1211** Beginner
1212** Intermediate
1213** [[NintendoHard Advanced]]
1214** [[HarderThanHard Expert]]
1215** [[PlatformHell Grandmaster]]
1216* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': The CPU opponents in multiplayer modes could be set to one of the following:
1217** "Inbred"
1218** "Crap"
1219** "Normal"
1220** "Bastard"
1221** "Einstein"
1222* ''VideoGame/{{Crazd}}''
1223** Beginner Mode
1224** Awesome Mode
1225* ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty'':
1226** Beginner
1227** Veteran
1228** Hardcore
1229** Distorted
1230** Night Terror (3rd game only)
1231* ''VideoGame/DuckTalesTheQuestForGold'' uses money puns:
1232** Easy Money
1233** Standard Wages
1234** Hard Earned Cash
1235* ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Resurrection''
1236** Page
1237** Squire
1238** Knight
1239** Legend
1240* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}''
1241** Normal
1242** Hard
1243** Extreme
1244** [[HarderThanHard Ultimortal]][[note]]as in, [[ExpospeakGag ultimately deadly]][[/note]]
1245** [[UnwinnableJokeGame reallyjoel's dad]]
1246* ''VideoGame/KeroBlaster'':
1247** Zangyou Mode [[note]]"Zangyou" is Japanese for "Overtime work"[[/note]] (Hard Mode)
1248** Omake Mode (NewGamePlus)
1249* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
1250** ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' has a system in place with The Ultimate Choice, much like with ''Kirby's Avalanche'', where each difficulty level is represented by a level of spiciness. Kirby's expression changes from happy to determined, to shocked, to ''demonic'', to '''''soulless''''' as he drenches his curry in BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce:
1251*** Sweet Breeze
1252*** Mild Stroll
1253*** Zesty Expedition
1254*** Spicy Adventure
1255*** Sizzling Threat
1256*** Fiery Showdown
1257*** Infernal Crisis
1258*** Soul Melter
1259*** Soul Melter EX
1260** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'':
1261*** [[EasierThanEasy Spring Breeze Mode]]
1262*** Wild Mode
1263* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
1264** ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'':
1265*** "Normal"
1266*** "Hero"
1267*** "Super Hero"
1268** ''VideoGame/MegaMan11'':
1269*** [[EasierThanEasy Newcomer]]
1270*** Casual
1271*** Normal
1272*** Superhero
1273* ''VideoGame/{{Muri}}'': Four difficulty levels, with the hardest being called "Muri", which in a BilingualBonus, roughly means "impossible" in Japanese.
1274* The Platform/TurboGrafx16 port of ''VideoGame/NinjaSpirit'':
1275** [[OneHitPointWonder Arcade Mode]]
1276** [[HitPoints PC-Engine Mode]]
1277* Phone version of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia'' has:
1278** Spoiled Prince
1279** Mighty Warrior
1280** [[OneHitPointWonder Legendary Hero]]
1281* ''VideoGame/RabiRibi'' :
1282** [[EasierThanEasy Casual]]
1283** Novice
1284** Normal
1285** Hard
1286** [[HarderThanHard Hell]]
1287** Bunny Extinction
1288** Unknown ''(DLC only)''
1289** Impossible ''(DLC only)''
1290* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank''
1291** ''VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked'' has difficulty names based around its "gladiator battle television show" theme. Each difficulty also has an amusing description.
1292*** [[EasierThanEasy Couch Potato]] [[note]]So you want to be on [=DreadZone=]? Can you wield a blaster as well as you can handle your remote? Don't worry, we'll give you plenty of ammo and health. And we'll tell those big mean [=DreadZone=] exterminators to go easy on you. Have fun![[/note]]
1293*** Contestant [[note]]Welcome to [=DreadZone=], contestant. We'll make sure your weapons are hitting hard and have plenty of ammo. But don't expect any favours. Our Exterminators play for keeps.[[/note]]
1294*** Gladiator [[note]]You're one of [=DreadZone=]'s finest gladiators. You don't know the meaning of the word "capitulation". Well, [=DreadZone=] is going to make you wish you stayed in school. The warriors you'll be facing would turn an average contestant into Blargian fungus-toast. You'll need cunning strategy and lightning reflexes to survive.[[/note]]
1295*** Hero [[note]]Bad guys shake at the sound of your name and kids wallpaper their rooms with your face. Welcome to the big time! You'll be up against the meanest, deadliest, [=DreadZone=] combatants we've got and they'll all have Carbonox armour. You're not afraid, are you hero?[[/note]]
1296*** [[HarderThanHard Exterminator]] [[note]][=DreadZone=] fans want to see carnage, and we're gonna give it to them by the truckload. [[ArsonMurderandJaywalking You have no chance for survival, no hope of mercy and no dental plan.]] This difficulty level is flat out impossible. Turn back now. We're serious. You don't need this kind of pain.[[/note]]
1297** ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankRiftApart'':
1298*** [[EasierThanEasy Rookie Explorer]]
1299*** Rookie Recruit
1300*** Rebel Agent
1301*** Resistance Leader
1302*** [[HarderThanHard Renegade Legend]]
1303* While they do have a few differences in special moves, the teams in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' are basically difficulty levels, with Team Rose being easy, Team Sonic being normal, Team Dark being hard, and Team Chaotix usually having some sort of odd mission.
1304* ''VideoGame/TazWanted'':
1305** Standard
1306** Advanced
1307** Expert
1308* ''VideoGame/WoahDave'':
1309** "Easy"
1310** [[HarderThanHard "Bonkers"]]
1311[[/folder]]
1312
1313[[folder:Puzzle Games]]
1314* Indie puzzle game ''Chromashift'' has normal level numbers, but a different description for each:
1315** Level 1: For Beginning Players
1316** Level 2: A Fairly Safe Bet
1317** Level 3: Not Too Hard
1318** Level 4: Getting Fairly Difficult
1319** Level 5: Yeah, Good Luck With That
1320* ''VideoGame/CrashFever''
1321** Easy
1322** Normal
1323** Hard
1324** Expert
1325** Legend
1326** Wizard
1327** Ultimate
1328** [[HarderThanHard Spectre]]
1329** Omega
1330* ''VideoGame/GuiltyParty'' has:
1331** Rookie (Easy)
1332** Detective (Medium)
1333** Super Sleuth (Hard)
1334* ''VideoGame/KirbysAvalanche'' has difficulty levels named after degrees of food spiciness. [[note]]This is similar to, but not exactly, the naming scheme for gameplay difficulty of VideoGame/PuyoPuyo (see below), which, to this day, uses spiciness (specifically, of curry).[[/note]]
1335** "Mild"
1336** "Medium"
1337** "Spicy"
1338** "Hot"
1339** "Cajun"
1340* ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' series:
1341** The original game:
1342*** Fun
1343*** Tricky
1344*** Taxing
1345*** Mayhem
1346** ''Oh No! More Lemmings'':
1347*** Tame
1348*** Crazy
1349*** Wild
1350*** Wicked
1351*** Havoc
1352* ''VideoGame/Lit2009'' has two difficulties: "Light" and "Dark". The difference is that "Dark" is essentially a TimedMission where your light resources slowly dim over time.
1353* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' has two sets of levels, one for Versus play (curry spiciness, an allusion to curry being Arle and Carbuncle's TrademarkFavoriteFood), and one for Story mode in the ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever Fever]]'' [[VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever2 games]] (Japanese onomatopoieas).
1354** Versus:
1355*** Sweet
1356*** Mild
1357*** Medium
1358*** Spicy
1359*** Very Spicy/Hot
1360** Story:
1361*** [=RunRun=] (Easy/Tutorial)
1362*** [=WakuWaku=] (Normal)
1363*** [=HaraHara=] (Hard)
1364* ''VideoGame/SpinDoctor'':
1365** Pre-Med
1366** Intern
1367** Resident
1368** Specialist
1369* ''VideoGame/SuperHexagon'':
1370** Hexagon -- [[NintendoHard Hard]]
1371** Hexagoner -- {{Harder|ThanHard}}
1372** Hexagonest -- [[DiscOneFinalDungeon Hardest]]
1373** Hyper Hexagon -- [[HardModeFiller Hardester]]
1374** Hyper Hexagoner -- [[OverlyLongGag Hardestest]]
1375** Hyper Hexagonest -- [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Hardestestest]]
1376* ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'':
1377** ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster 2 PLUS'':
1378*** Normal
1379*** Master
1380*** T.A. Death
1381** ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster 3'':
1382*** Easy
1383*** Master
1384*** Shirase
1385** ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster 4'':
1386*** Konoha
1387*** Master
1388*** Rounds
1389** ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster ACE'':
1390*** Normal
1391*** Hi-Speed
1392*** Hi-Speed 2
1393*** Another
1394*** Another 2
1395* ''VideoGame/TrashPanic'':
1396** Sweets Course
1397** Maindish Course
1398** Hell Course
1399[[/folder]]
1400
1401[[folder:Racing Games]]
1402* ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'': The original created some controversy with its lowest difficulty setting, while ''Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now'' took things even further. ''Carmageddon TDR 2000'' made them less violent, then ''Reincarnation'' and ''Max Damage'' ramps it up again.
1403** "As easy as killing bunnies with axes" / "As easy as stamping on kittens" / "Sunday Driver" / "Pulping puppies with hammers"
1404** "Normal everyday carnage" / "Normal day-to-day depravity" / "Boy Racer" / "Normal rampant insanity"
1405** "As hard as French-kissing a cobra" / "As hard as fisting a Velociraptor" / "Speed Demon" / "Harder than rimming a rhino"
1406* ''VideoGame/DeathRally'':
1407** Speed Makes me Dizzy
1408** I Live to Ride
1409** I Got Petrol in my Veins
1410* ''VideoGame/FZeroClimax'', in Survival mode:
1411** Tour
1412** Challenge
1413** Battle
1414** [[HarderThanHard Violence]]
1415* ''VideoGame/FASTRacingLeague'':
1416** Neutron
1417** Proton
1418** Ion
1419* ''FAST Racing Neo''
1420** Subsonic
1421** Supersonic
1422** Hypersonic
1423* ''VideoGame/{{Forza}}'', starting from ''Motorsport 5'', has these difficulty settings:
1424** [[EasierThanEasy Tourist]] (introduced in ''Horizon 5'')
1425** New Racer
1426** Average
1427** Above Average
1428** Highly Skilled
1429** Expert
1430** Pro
1431** [[HarderThanHard Unbeatable]]
1432* ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' : All games in the series use engine powers to donate difficulty level, with each affecting kart speed and AI aggressiveness, with lower engine powers resulting in lower speed, but easier handling.
1433** 50cc
1434** 100cc
1435** 150cc (There's also Mirror Mode, which is at this engine power, but with the courses flipped.)
1436** 200cc (Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Only)
1437* ''VideoGame/ReVolt'' : Affects how the cars handle, as well as how accurate the game's collision detection is.
1438** Junior RC
1439** Console
1440** Arcade
1441** Simulation
1442* The original ''VideoGame/SanFranciscoRush'' has '''audio''' Idiosyncratic Difficulties based on which car you picked. Each car handling class is accompanied by a car alarm which gets gradually more intense the more a class traded handling for speed, topping off with Extreme's "''It's dangerous!''" followed by screaming. The N64 port added a few special cars that has difficulty levels of "Ooooh, yeah!"
1443* ''{{VideoGame/Wipeout}}'' normally has speed classes stand in for difficulty levels:
1444** [[EasierThanEasy Vector]]
1445** Venom
1446** Flash
1447** Rapier
1448** [[HarderThanHard Phantom]] (hidden difficulty in earlier games)
1449** ''Wipeout HD'' has AI difficulty levels in addition to speed classes:
1450*** Novice
1451*** Skilled
1452*** Elite
1453** ''Wipeout 2048'' has completely different speed classes due to being a prequel to the rest of the series:
1454*** D Class
1455*** C Class
1456*** B Class
1457*** A Class
1458*** A+ Class
1459[[/folder]]
1460
1461[[folder:Rail Shooter]]
1462* ''VideoGame/SmashHit'':
1463** Training
1464** Classic
1465** Mayhem
1466[[/folder]]
1467
1468[[folder:Real-Time Strategy]]
1469* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}} 2: Men of Courage'', where the difficulty levels are Normal, Difficult and Realist (for Very Hard).
1470* ''VideoGame/{{Desperados}} 2: Cooper's Revenge'' has Vaquero (CowBoy) for Normal and Pistolero ([[TheGunslinger Gunslinger]]) for Hard.
1471* ''Haegemonia'' uses the usual names but each has a subtitle:
1472** Easy - Come on! You are better than that!!!
1473** Medium - Correct decision...
1474** Hard - Are you completely sure???
1475* ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron''
1476** Normal, no changes.
1477** Complicate the game a bit.
1478** Difficult.
1479** [[BrutalHonesty Let the AI]] [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard cheat as much as possible.]]
1480* ''VideoGame/HostileWaters''
1481** Ensign
1482** Commander
1483** Admiral
1484* ''VideoGame/KingdomsReborn'' has seven difficulty levels, and each increases how many goods citizens consume. It starts off with the standard easy, normal, and hard, then goes into brutal, emperor, immortal, and deity.
1485* Bungie's post-''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'', pre-''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' [=RTSes=] ''VideoGame/{{Myth}}: The Fallen Lords'' and ''Myth II: Soulblighter'': The game had flavour text describing the difficulty levels.
1486** "Timid" (''"You will grow tired blunting your weapons on a poorly-led horde of mindless corpse-men; and once you have reduced them to so much sausage filler, the sweet taste of success will turn to ashes in your mouth"'')
1487** "Simple" (''"You will defy an army conscripted from the tombs of a thousand years; and when you are victorious, your very presence on the battlefield will cause the enemy to question the wisdom of opposing you."'')
1488** "Normal" (''"You will face an army led by creatures too horrifying to comprehend; but when you ultimately drive the Darkness back from whence it came, the bards will sing of your exploits for generations to come."'')
1489** "Heroic" (''"You will oppose an apparently infinite host of the undead that seems to grow stronger with each passing day; but if you win, lesser beings will tremble with fear at the mere mention of your name!"'')
1490** "Legendary" (''"You will brave the army of a Commander who has never known defeat, and the piled dead will reach the heavens; but should you succeed, in an age not yet dawned you will be spoken of as a god!"'')
1491* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'':
1492** "Casual" is EasierThanEasy effectively. Opponents are largely passive, and it doesn't take much effort to defeat them.
1493** "Normal" has the opponent start on equal footing with you in terms of upgrades. The enemy attacks you with only a modest army. However, some achievements are not available on this mode.
1494** "Hard" gives your opponents more difficult compositions, starting with one category of upgrades researched in advanced, and using more advanced units in their armies. Almost all achievements are available to earn on this mode.
1495** "Brutal" gives your opponents the greatest advantages, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard starting them even further ahead of you on upgrades]]. They also have higher-tier units available before you can unlock the same units and some enemy units are replaced with [[EliteMook mercenary equivalents.]] In addition, the [=AI=] has more advanced counter-play, priortizing your medics and repair units above your combat units and more effectively picking off key units.
1496* ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'': The bottom three describe the AI's behaviour.
1497** "Easy"
1498** "Normal"
1499** "Hard"
1500** "Swarm"
1501** "Tech"
1502** "[[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Cheater]]"
1503[[/folder]]
1504
1505[[folder:Rhythm Games]]
1506* ''VideoGame/{{Arcaea}}'':
1507** Past
1508** Present
1509** Future
1510** [[HarderThanHard Beyond]]
1511* ''VideoGame/BeforeTheEcho'' has the standard "Easy", "Medium", and "Hard", but above Hard is "Spasmodic". Additionally, each difficulty has a label:
1512-->Easy - For those musically challenged.\
1513Medium - For those musically challenged, yet stubborn.\
1514Hard - For those not musically challenged.\
1515Spasmodic - For those socially challenged.
1516* VideoGame/{{Bemani}} games tend to do this a lot.
1517** ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'', which is particularly notorious for changing its difficulty names. Currently there are typically five tiers of difficulty levels, three of which have changed names many times:
1518*** "Easy" (''1st'' to ''2nd'') / "Soft" (''3rd'') / "Beginner" (''DDR Extreme'' to present)
1519*** "Basic" (''1st'' to ''5th Mix'', ''[=SuperNOVA=]'' to present) / "Light" (''DDRMAX'' to ''DDR Extreme'') / "Standard" (''DDR USA'')
1520*** "Another" (''1st'' to ''3rd Mix'') / "Trick" (''4th'' to ''5th Mix'') / "Standard" (''DDRMAX'' to ''DDR Extreme'') / "Difficult" (''DDR USA'', ''[=SuperNOVA=]'' to present)
1521*** "Maniac" (''1st'' to ''2nd'' and ''4th'' to ''5th Mix'') / "Step Step Revolution" (''3rd Mix'') / "Heavy" (''DDRMAX'' to ''DDR Extreme'') / "Expert" (''DDR USA'', ''[=SuperNOVA=]'' to present)
1522*** "{{Oni}}" (Japanese games prior to ''[=SuperNOVA=]'') / "Challenge" (American games, ''[=SuperNOVA=]'' to present)
1523*** Prior to ''Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix'', each difficulty rating had its own name. In the very first game, it's Simple (1), Average (2), Novice (3), Expert (4), Professional (5), Genuine (6), and Hero (7). From the Internet Ranking version onward, the labels were changed to Simple (1), Moderate (2), Ordinary (3), Superior (4), Marvelous (5), Genuine (6), and Paramount (7), with two more added: Exorbitant (8) and Catastrophic (9). Since the labels were removed before 10-footers were introduced, they have never been officially given a name (though ''Universe'' sort-of did by reusing the labels for courses, with the 10-footer being named "Apocalyptic"). The remake of ''2nd Mix'' in ''Dance Dance Revolution X3 vs. 2nd Mix'' features two boss songs with the Expert charts rated "9" and "10" (in reality, they are both ten-footers, and the former is ''far'' harder than any nine-footers in the pre-DDRMAX era), but with the labels "Evolutionary" and "Revolutionary".
1524** ''VideoGame/{{Beatmania}} IIDX''
1525*** "BEGINNER"
1526*** "[=LIGHT7=]" (up to IIDX 11) / "NORMAL" (IIDX 12 onwards)
1527*** "7KEYS" (up to IIDX 11) / "HYPER" (IIDX 12 onwards)
1528*** "ANOTHER"
1529*** In ''beatmania IIDX 15 DJ TROOPERS'' ([=PS2=]), they introduced "KURO (BLACK) ANOTHER", which make the original ANOTHER charts look like [=LIGHT7=]s by comparison. Some songs that are revived in later games have these charts added as ANOTHER charts (usually with a new set of charts for the previous difficulties of the revival), or as "LEGGENDARIA" charts, see below.
1530*** ''beatmania IIDX 21 SPADA'' introduces the "†[[GratuitousItalian LEGGENDARIA]]" difficulty, similar to "KURO ANOTHER". New "harder than ANOTHER" charts from ''beatmania IIDX 22 PENDUAL'' onwards are labeled as '†' (note the lack of "LEGGENDARIA") difficulty.
1531** ''VideoGame/PopnMusic'':
1532*** 5-Button (phased out beginning in ''Sunny Park'')
1533*** Enjoy (renamed "Easy" in ''fantasia'', removed in ''Sunny Park'')
1534*** Easy (replaces 5-Button beginning in ''Sunny Park''; this is somewhat distinct from ''fantasia''[='=]s Easy mode)
1535*** Normal
1536*** Hyper
1537*** EX
1538** ''VideoGame/DrumMania'', ''VideoGame/GuitarFreaks'', and ''VideoGame/{{jubeat}}'' all currently use the names Basic, Advanced, Extreme.
1539*** The former two games used to call them Normal, Real, and Expert Real in early installments.
1540*** During the ''XG'' arc of ''Gitadora'', the difficulty names were changed to Novice, Regular, and Expert, and add [[HarderThanHard Master]]. Master was kept in future games, but the lower three levels were renamed back to Basic, Advanced, and Extreme.
1541** ''Keyboardmania'' had Light, Normal, and Real. Normal was renamed Light+ in 2nd Mix.
1542** ''Dance Mania X'' has Mild and Wild.
1543** ''VideoGame/ReflecBeat'' averts this for the most part, using the more traditional-sounding Basic, Medium, and Hard. However, some songs have a fourth chart, which are labeled as Special difficulty. ''Reflec Beat: The Reflesia of Eternity'' replaces Special with White Hard.
1544** ''Sound Voltex'' uses Novice, Advanced, [[HarderThanHard Exhaust]], Maximum, and [[SequelEscalation Infinite]][[note]]for harder-than-Exhaust charts introduced in ''Sound Voltex II -infinite infection-''[[/note]] / Gravity[[note]]for such charts introduced in ''Sound Voltex III: Gravity Wars''[[/note]] / Heavenly[[note]]for such charts introduced in ''Sound Voltex IV: Heavenly Heaven''[[/note]].
1545** ''[=BeatStream=]'' has Light, Medium, Beast ('''''Bea'''t'''st'''ream... get it?), and Nightmare.
1546** ''MÚSECA'' uses Green, Orange, and Red.
1547* ''VideoGame/{{Chunithm}}'':
1548** Basic
1549** Advanced
1550** Expert
1551** [[HarderThanhard Master]]
1552** [[GimmickLevel World's End]]
1553* ''VideoGame/CrossBeats'' uses them for its chart difficulties and LifeMeter difficulties:
1554** Charts:
1555*** Easy (''crossbeats REV.'' only)
1556*** Standard
1557*** Hard
1558*** Master
1559*** Unlimited (''crossbeats REV.'' only)
1560** Gauge:
1561*** Normal
1562*** Survival (''crossbeats REV.'' only)
1563*** Ultimate
1564* ''VideoGame/DanceCentral'' does name the difficulty levels for songs, but not the difficulty level you choose to play, meaning that even the "easy" routine for an "Off the Hook" song is '''not''' going to be easy.
1565** Warmup
1566** Simple
1567** Moderate
1568** Tough
1569** Legit
1570** Hardcore
1571** Off The Hook
1572* ''VideoGame/{{DJMAX}}'':
1573** Easy
1574** Normal
1575** Hard
1576** [[HarderThanHard Maximum]]
1577** Super Crazy
1578* ''VideoGame/DJMAXTechnika'': ''Technika 2'' switches out to slightly more traditional naming conventions.
1579** "Lite Pattern (LP)" / "Star"
1580** "Popular Pattern (PP)" / "Normal"
1581** "Technical Pattern (TP)" / "Hard"
1582** "Special Pattern (SP)" / "Maximum"
1583** "Extra" (''Technika 3'' only)
1584* ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'':
1585** "Breezin'"
1586** "Cruisin'"
1587** "Sweatin'"
1588** "Hard Rock!"
1589* The original ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' games, made by Harmonix before Creator/{{Activision}} took the license from them[[note]]Activision divides them up by the stage they appear in instead, and eschew that completely from ''World Tour'' onwards since song orders change in Career mode depending on the instrument[[/note]], had idiosyncratic song difficulty levels in addition to the Easy/Medium/Hard/Expert chart difficulty:
1590** Opening Licks
1591** Axe Grinders (first game only) / Amp Warmers (''II'' and ''Rocks the 80s'')
1592** String Snappers (''II'' and ''Rocks the 80s'')
1593** Thrash and Burn (''I'' and ''II'')
1594** Return of the Shred
1595** Fret Burners (first game only) / Relentless Riffs (''II'' and ''Rocks the 80s'')
1596** Furious Fretwork (''II'' and ''Rocks the 80s'')
1597** Face Melters (''I'' and ''II'')
1598* ''VideoGame/{{KALPA}}'':
1599** Thumb Mode:
1600*** Normal
1601*** Hard
1602*** Hard+
1603*** Abyss
1604** Multi-Finger Mode:
1605*** S. Hard (previously Arcade)
1606*** S. Hard+ (previoiusly Kalpa)
1607*** Chaos
1608*** Cosmos
1609* Many charts for ''Lunatic Rave 2'', a ''VideoGame/{{beatmania}} IIDX'' clone, often have custom difficulty names set by their creators rather than the standard "Normal", "Hyper", and "Another" difficulties. Perhaps the best-known example is "FREEDOM [=DiVE=]↓", which has chards labeled "EARTH", "GALAXY", "UNIVERSE", and, most infamously, [[ThatOneBoss "FOUR DIMENSIONS"]].
1610* ''VideoGame/{{maimai}}'':
1611** Easy
1612** Basic
1613** Advanced
1614** Expert
1615** [[HarderThanHard Master]]
1616** Re:Master
1617* ''VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan''[='=]s difficulty levels are commonly known to English-speakers as Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard/Insane. They are actually called:
1618** "Kigaru" (Light-hearted Cheer, which in ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'' was converted to "Breezin'")
1619** "Kakan" (Boldly Cheer, "Cruisin'" in ''EBA'')
1620** "Gekiretsu" (Fervently Cheer, which became "Sweatin'")
1621** "Karei" (Gracefully Cheer, a.k.a. "Hard Rock!")
1622* ''VideoGame/{{osu}}!'' allows players to use the standard difficulty names from its [[VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan derivative]] [[VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents games]], but beatmap creators can come up with their own chart names, like the ''Lunatic Rave 2'' example above.
1623* ''VideoGame/ParadigmReboot'':
1624** Detected (DET)
1625** Invaded (IVD)
1626** Massive (MSV)
1627* ''VideoGame/PowerGigRiseOfTheSixString'':
1628** Recruit
1629** Disciple
1630** Master
1631** Virtuoso
1632** Legend
1633* ''VideoGame/PumpItUp'': Normal, Hard, Crazy (for single-pad charts); Freestyle, Nightmare (for double-pad charts)
1634** Beginning on Fiesta however, it is completely averted, as rgw difficulty levels are no longer given names, and are instead referred to in-game by their level number.
1635* ''RAVON'':
1636** Enjoy
1637** Handzup
1638** Core
1639** Overnight
1640* ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven Megamix'' does this with its Gatekeeper challenges, with each gatekeeper representing a particular difficulty level.
1641** Saffron (yellow, easiest)
1642** Saltwater (blue, moderate)
1643** Paprika (red, hardest)
1644* The ''VideoGame/RockBand'' series has a three-dimensional matrix of difficulties. Two of those dimensions are simply named: modes available (guitar, bass, drums and mic; ''3'' adds keys, Basic[[note]]the usual fret button format[[/note]] and Pro[[note]]emulating real-life song tabs, requires Pro instruments closer to the real thing[[/note]] modes for the instruments, and Vocal Harmonies[[note]]for 2 or 3 singers[[/note]] for the mic), chart difficulties available are Easy, Normal, Hard, and Expert, but the third dimension, the difficulty for a given song on a given instrument, follows this scale:
1645** Warmup
1646** Apprentice
1647** Solid
1648** Moderate
1649** Skilled (first game only)
1650** Challenging
1651** Blistering (first game only)
1652** Nightmare
1653** Impossible
1654* ''VideoGame/SixtarGate'':
1655** Comet
1656** Nova
1657** Supernova
1658** Quasar
1659** Starlight (course-exclusive charts only)
1660* ''VideoGame/ToneSphere'':
1661** Easy
1662** Normal
1663** Hard
1664** [[HarderThanHard Expert]]
1665** [[GimmickLevel Spherical]]
1666* In ''[=UNiSON=]'' on the [=PS2=], instead of selecting a difficulty, you pick a character to play as.
1667** Trill (Normal)
1668** Cela (Hard)
1669** Chilly (Very Hard)
1670* ''VideoGame/WorldDaiStarYumeNoStellarium'':
1671** Normal
1672** Hard
1673** Extra
1674** Stella
1675** Olivier
1676[[/folder]]
1677
1678[[folder:Roguelike]]
1679* ''VideoGame/BeneathAppleManor'':
1680** A Pushover
1681** Too Easy
1682** Beginners Only
1683** A Safe Trip
1684** Average
1685** Some [[RougeAnglesOfSatin Challange]]
1686** Tricky
1687** Touch And Go
1688** Very Dangerous
1689** You're Nuts!!!
1690* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'':
1691** Radiant
1692** Darkest
1693** Stygian[[note]]replaced by Bloodmoon if the ''Crimson Court'' DLC is enabled[[/note]]
1694* ''VideoGame/DungeonsOfDredmor'':
1695** Elves Just Want to Have Fun (Easy)
1696** Dwarvish Moderation - a practical approach to dungeoneering (Normal)
1697** Going Rogue - because [[VideoGame/DwarfFortress losing is fun!]] (Hard)
1698* ''VideoGame/{{Elona}}'':
1699** "Overdose" (Skill grinding progresses 20 times as fast)
1700** "Advancing" (No bonuses, no restrictions)
1701** "Natural" (SaveScumming is forbidden and players who do it incur a penalty)
1702** "No Future" (Natural, plus enemies getting stronger and more aggressive from the beginning)
1703** "Inferno" (Permanent Death mode)
1704* In ''VideoGame/LuckBeALandlord'', apartment floors serve as levels. Each floor adds another layer of challenge over the floors below it, which can be higher rents, fewer tokens, or more Dud symbols that clutter up the reels without directly offering anything in return.
1705* ''VideoGame/OneWayHeroics'':
1706** Walk in the Park
1707** Afternoon Stroll
1708** Grueling Campaign
1709** Inhumane Odyssey
1710* A ''Touhou'' fangame, ''VideoGame/RiverbedSoulSaver'', has difficulty names based off of periods of the Ice Age:
1711** Easy: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Würm_glaciation Würm]] Level
1712** Normal: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riss_glaciation Riss]] Level
1713** Hard: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindel_glaciation Mindel]] Level
1714** Lunatic: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunz_glaciation Günz]] Level
1715** [[BrutalBonusLevel Extra:]] [[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Letty_Whiterock Letty]] Level
1716** [[SerialEscalation Phantasm]]: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_Earth Snowball Earth]] Level
1717** Overdrive: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturtian_glaciation Sturtian]] Level
1718* ''VideoGame/RiskOfRain'' and its sequel have this for both static and scaling difficulty levels. The static difficulty modifiers are named after weather phenomena (Drizzle, Rainstorm, and Monsoon for easy, normal, and hard respectively), while the scaling difficulty meter starts at "Very Easy" and goes from there:
1719** Very Easy
1720** Easy
1721** Medium
1722** Hard
1723** Very Hard
1724** Insane
1725** Impossible
1726** [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou I SEE YOU]]
1727** [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou I'M COMING FOR YOU]]
1728** HAHAHAHA
1729* ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' lets you set the speed at which enemy shots travel. The settings are "Normal," "Measured," and "Stately."
1730[[/folder]]
1731
1732[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]
1733* ''VideoGame/BraveHeroYuusha'': The "Hard" difficulty is called "Brave" in this game.
1734* ''VideoGame/CorruptionOfLaetitia'':
1735** Playground
1736** Garden of Eden
1737** Hellish Yard
1738* ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'':
1739** Easy
1740** Medium
1741** Hard
1742** Insane (Not that uncommon in other games, but remember who the protagonist is...)
1743* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin'' and ''[[VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII Original Sin II]]'':
1744** Explorer Mode
1745** Classic Mode
1746** Tactician Mode
1747*** [[FinalDeathMode Honor Mode]]
1748* The ''Franchise/DragonAge'' games:
1749** Casual
1750** Normal
1751** Hard
1752** [[HarderThanHard Nightmare]]
1753*** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has different names for its multiplayer difficulties:
1754*** Routine
1755*** Threatening
1756*** Perilous
1757*** [[HarderThanHard Nightmare]]
1758*** Heartbreaker
1759* ''Empire of Sin'':
1760** Associate
1761** Made
1762** Lieutenant
1763** Underboss
1764** Boss
1765
1766* The ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'' series names its HarderThanHard difficulty Epic, and its EasierThanEasy difficulty Zero, for each main series game.
1767** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy2'' adds some flavour text for each difficulty:
1768*** Zero Difficulty: "Play this if you want to rush through the game super fast." (''[[CompilationRerelease Epic Battle Fantasy Collection]]'' exclusive)
1769*** Easy Difficulty: "Play this if you're a noob or don't have much time."
1770*** Medium Difficulty: "Play this if playing for the first time, probably."
1771*** Hard Difficulty: "Play this if you are too cool for the easier modes."
1772*** Epic Difficulty: "Play this if you have no life."
1773*** The Epic Battle Fantasy Collection also features three difficulties higher than Epic - these are labelled "Masochist Options", with flavour text warning "There are no [[AchievementSystem medals]] for beating these. Only pain."
1774** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy3'' does the same:
1775*** Easy: "For people who want a stress-free experience."
1776*** Normal: "For people familiar with turn-based [[EasternRPG JRPGs]]."
1777*** Hard: "For people who want a challenge."
1778*** [[HarderThanHard Epic]]: "For people who have mastered [=EBF3=]."
1779** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy4'' and ''[[VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5 5]]'' also have Challenge options to increase the difficulty even further on top of the normal hardships of Epic mode, allowing for the fanmade [[SelfImposedChallenge ACE (All Challenges Epic)]] difficulty. Unlocking a boss achievement on Epic with all challenges turned on will also add a star icon to the achievement picture.
1780* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''
1781** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'':
1782*** [[StoryDifficultySetting Story Focused]]
1783*** Action Focused
1784*** [[NewGamePlus Final Fantasy Mode]]
1785** The difficulty levels of the Duel Colosseum in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' take their names from the airships in the series:
1786*** Airship (with enemies at levels 1-30)
1787*** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Falcon]] (30-60)
1788*** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Invincible]] (60-90)
1789*** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Lunar Whale]] (90-120)
1790*** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Blackjack]] (100-150)
1791*** The Japanese rerelease features a HarderThanHard level by adding on the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII Dreadnought]].
1792** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'':
1793*** [[MilitaryAcademy Cadet]] (exclusive to the HD rerelease)
1794*** [[RankScalesWithAsskicking Officer]]
1795*** [[TheChosenOne Agito]]
1796*** [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Finis]] (unlocked after clearing the main story once)
1797** ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy'':
1798*** [[EasierThanEasy Beginner Score]] (''All-star Carnival'' only)
1799*** Basic Score
1800*** Expert Score
1801*** [[HarderThanHard Ultimate Score]]
1802*** Transcendence Score (''All-star Carnival'' only)
1803** ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015 Dissidia Final Fantasy NT]]''[='=]s player rankings also determine the difficulty of single-player (mainly Gauntlet) mode battles:
1804*** Bronze
1805*** Silver
1806*** Gold
1807*** Platinum
1808*** Mythril
1809*** Adamant
1810*** Diamond
1811*** Crystal
1812*** Nightmare
1813*** Chaos
1814* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFuckboys'' (the original only):
1815** Night X
1816** Night XX
1817** [[UnwinnableByDesign Night XXX]]
1818* ''Five Nights at Fuckboy's 2''
1819** Normal
1820** Proud
1821** Critical ([[Franchise/KingdomHearts sound familiar?]])
1822* ''VideoGame/HeartsLikeClockwork''
1823** Clockwork Lullaby
1824** Ambitious
1825** Meltdown
1826** Abstract Nonsense
1827* ''VideoGame/{{Kenshi}}'' does not have difficulty ranks per se, but has different starting situations that make your early game easier or harder and have a subjective difficulty ranking. More starting scenarios are also available as {{Game Mod}}s. You are also offered a series of sliders to fine tune the game's actual difficulty, such as how fast you become hungry (faster makes the game harder on account of having to acquire more food), how quickly your body parts lose HP due to a wound (faster makes death more likely), and how much predator nests and bandit camps spawn around the world (more makes the world more dangerous).
1828** Nobodies (Easy): You start with a crew of 5 people, which makes your early game easier on account of simply not being alone and being able to do 5 times more work.
1829** Wandering Trader (Easy): You start with a backpack and a pack animal. Pack animals also double as very strong guard animals capable of inflicting much more damage than yourself in early game.
1830** Wanderer (Normal): You start out alone, in a lone town amid the wilderness, with a basic weapon, some clothes and some money to last you a day or two. This is the "officially standard" starting scenario.
1831** Son of a Captain (Normal): You start out as the descendant of an United Cities captain, which makes you an enemy of the Holy Nation but also a respected member of the United Cities. You have no money, but you do have a decent katana.
1832** Empire Citizen (Normal): You were an average joe until an United Cities nobleman felt like taking away your job and your house. You have no option but to leave and find another place where you can sustain yourself.
1833** Holy Nation Citizen (Normal): You're an average citizen of the Holy Nation, which will leave you alone as long as you don't miss Prayer Day and show obedience to the nation's priests and paladins. However, just living under the Holy Nation is holding you back from being successful, so you decide to venture out into the world.
1834** Guy with a Dog (Normal): You're a hungry drifter and suddenly found an abandoned puppy. Dogs eventually grow into fierce attackers capable of dealing great damage, but starting out hungry also makes the early game harder.
1835** Cannibal Hunter (Dodgy): You start in cannibal territory and must fend off a cannibal attack right after clicking "Begin".
1836** Hive Exile (Hard): You start as a Hive race character in the harsh wetlands, with no food or equipment, far away from Hiver-friendly civilizations, surrounded by the ridiculously aggressive and vicious Beaked Things that can kill even an entire crew of badasses.
1837** Slave (Hard): You start out enslaved by the Holy Nation, toiling hard to build a massive statue. To progress, you have to somehow liberate yourself and escape towards another foreign nation or meet the rebels up north from your starting point... but slavery is a respected institution in this game and the world is lurking with Slave Traders who will be more than happy to return you for a beating.
1838** Holy Sword (Hard): You start with a very powerful sword. But at the same time, you're a very wanted criminal with a multi-myriad bounty on your head and every single nation-state in the game world hates you.
1839** Rock Bottom (Very Hard): You start in the middle of a desert lurking with strong, ferocious predators, naked, hungry, with an arm missing.
1840** Freedom Seekers (Variable): You start out with a band of 6 people and a bunch of construction materials, ready to get out of the oppressive United Cities and settle into the freedom of the wilderness. The difficulty here depends on where you choose to settle, and how good you are at managing your extra personnel.
1841* ''VideoGame/LabyrinthOfRefrainCovenOfDusk'':
1842** Gentle World
1843** Ordinary World
1844** Nightmare World
1845* Microprose's adaptation of ''VideoGame/MagicTheGathering'' used wizard ones:
1846** Apprentice - start with 10 life, one color, enemies have X life
1847** Magician - start with 8 life, two colors, enemies have X+Y life
1848** Sorceror - start with 6 life, three colors, enemies have X+2Y life
1849** Wizard - start with 4 life, four colors, enemies have X+3Y life
1850** You could further adjust difficulty by choosing your color; red, green, and white were easier than black and blue, just because of the low life totals.
1851* ''VideoGame/MarySkelterNightmares'':
1852** Dream
1853** Normal
1854** Horror (renamed "Fear" in the remake and sequel)
1855* ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'':
1856** Story mode
1857** Easy mode
1858** Normal mode
1859** Challenging mode
1860** Hard mode
1861** [[HarderThanHard Unfair mode]]
1862* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersPirates'':
1863** "Apprentice"
1864** "Journeyman"
1865** "Adventurer"
1866** "Rogue"
1867** "Swashbuckler"
1868* ''Regions of Ruin'':
1869** [[ElvesVsDwarves Elvish]]
1870** Human
1871** Troll
1872** [[ElvesVsDwarves Dwarf]][[note]]Unlocked after beating the game[[/note]]
1873* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
1874** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV''
1875*** Fellow
1876*** Prentice
1877*** Master
1878** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse''
1879*** [[EasierThanEasy Paradise]] (DLC)
1880*** Skirmish
1881*** Conflict
1882*** War
1883*** [[HarderThanHard Apocalypse]] (DLC)
1884** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 [[UpdatedRerelease Record Breaker]]''
1885*** "Blessed"
1886*** "Apocalypse"
1887* ''Videogame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'' does this twice: The skin tone slider for the character creator screen goes from Easy to Very Difficult, with your skin color getting darker as you slide it towards the latter. Cartman helpfully notes that this doesn't affect combat, just "every aspect of your life" (IE, how much money you make in-game as well as NPC reactions). The actual combat difficulty is ranked as:
1888** Casual
1889** Heroic
1890** Mastermind
1891** Diabolic (added later in a patch)
1892* ''Franchise/StevenUniverse'':
1893** ''VideoGame/AttackTheLight''
1894*** Normal
1895*** Diamond
1896** ''VideoGame/UnleashTheLight'':
1897*** Normal
1898*** Hard
1899*** Diamond
1900* ''[[VideoGame/TalesSeries Tales]] of Phantasia'', ''Destiny 2'', ''Symphonia'', ''Rebirth'' and ''Abyss'':
1901** "Simple"
1902** "Second"
1903** "Mania"
1904** "Unknown"
1905* ''VideoGame/Wasteland3'':
1906** Rookie
1907** Wastelander
1908** Ranger
1909** Supreme Jerk
1910* ''VideoGame/WeirdAndUnfortunateThingsAreHappening'': Dream-related titling, as seen [[https://rpgmaker.net/media/content/games/8394/screenshots/choose_your_difficulty.png here]], from easiest to hardest:
1911** Daydream: "I just want to relax and enjoy the weird and unfortunate events."
1912** Lucid Dream: "I like how things have been so far. Don't want it super hard."
1913** Bad Dream: "I'd like a bit more challenge, please. That'd be cool."
1914** Nightmare: "Basically, I'm not happy unless I'm at a constant risk of death."
1915[[/folder]]
1916
1917[[folder:Sandbox Games]]
1918* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': When it's in [[TalkLikeAPirate pirate speak]], WebOriginal/LOLCats, or [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe Shakespearean English]].
1919** "Smooth Sailin'/Cake (Peaceful)"
1920** "Deckswabber/Meh (Easy)"
1921** "[=RegulARRRR=]/Cheezburger/Usual (Normal)"
1922** "True Pirate/Double Cheezburger (Hard)"
1923** "Aimless Sailing/HAX/Omnipotent (Creative)"
1924** "Swashbuckler/SIRVIVL/Mortal/Extra Hard (Survival)"
1925** "Captain/1 LIEF INSTED OF 9 ([[FinalDeathMode Hardcore]])"
1926* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' has two different types of difficulty settings: player difficulty and world difficulty, each with their own labelling system.
1927** Player difficulty:
1928*** Journey (Journey characters start with extra equipment. Can only be played on Journey worlds.)
1929*** Classic / Softcore (Classic characters drop money on death.)
1930*** Mediumcore (Mediumcore characters drop items on death.)
1931*** [[FinalDeathMode Hardcore]] (Hardcore characters die for good.)
1932** World difficulty:
1933*** Journey (Unearth your creativity)
1934*** Classic / Normal (The Standard Terraria Experience)
1935*** Expert (Far Greater Difficulty & Loot)
1936*** Master (Brutally hard, for the truly brave)
1937*** Legendary[[note]]A secret difficulty achieved by combining Master mode and either the 'for the worthy' or 'get fixed boi' seed.[[/note]]
1938[[/folder]]
1939
1940[[folder:Shoot 'em Up]]
1941* ''VideoGame/AirZonk'':
1942** Sweet Mode (5 lives)
1943** Spicy Mode (3 lives)
1944** Bitter Mode (1 life)
1945* ''VideoGame/AlienSoldier'' has only two difficulty levels.
1946** "[[BlatantLies Supereasy]]"
1947** "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Superhard]]"
1948* ''VideoGame/BlazingLazers'' has a difficulty selector that is only available via a [[GuideDangIt secret code at the opening of the game]].
1949** "Normal Dog"
1950** "Hard Human"
1951** "Super Mania"
1952** "God of the Game"
1953* ''VideoGame/BlueRevolver'':
1954** Normal
1955** Hyper
1956** Parallel
1957* ''VideoGame/BlueWishResurrection'':
1958** Heaven
1959** Original
1960** Hell
1961** Accel, in which bullets ''accel''erate as they move further. Changed into a setting in the options menu in ''Blue Wish Resurrection Plus''
1962* ''VideoGame/BulletHeaven2'':
1963** Normal
1964** Hard
1965** [[HarderThanHard Heavenly]]
1966* ''VideoGame/CrimzonClover'':
1967** Simple -- Simplified scoring system and no [[SuperMode Break Mode]].
1968*** The arcade port swaps out Simple for '''Boost''' mode, which is a new mode altogether.
1969** Original
1970** Unlimited
1971* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'': Simple fills in for Easy, shortening the battles but not yielding access to the last two bosses. Regular is the normal difficulty, granting access to all the levels and the ending. Expert Mode unlocks after completing the game, which serves as an equivalent to Turbo Mode from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', while also giving bosses a little more health and in some cases altering their attacks slightly.
1972* ''VideoGame/{{Darius}}burst Another Chronicle'' and its UpdatedRerelease ''Another Chronicle EX'' have difficulty designators for each of their starting stages, with the latter three only available in ''ACEX'':
1973** Easy (Zone A)
1974** Normal (Zone B)
1975** Hard (Zone C)
1976** [[SequelEscalation Expert]] (Zone O)
1977** [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Extreme]] (Zone P)
1978** [[HarderThanHard Exceed]] (Zone Q)
1979* ''VideoGame/DeadNation''
1980** Braindead
1981** Normal
1982** Grim
1983** Morbid
1984** Undead
1985* ''VideoGame/DeathSmiles Mega Black Label'':
1986** Level 1
1987** Level 2
1988** Level 3
1989** Level 999
1990* ''VideoGame/DonPachi'':
1991** ''[=DoDonPachi=] Dai Fukkatsu Black Label'':
1992*** Bomb Style - More bombs.
1993*** Power Style - More firepower.
1994*** Strong Style - Same bomb capacity as Bomb Style, most firepower, but hardest enemy patterns.
1995** ''[=DoDonPachi=] Saidai Oujou'':
1996*** Shot - Strong shot, weak laser.
1997*** Laser - Weak shot, strong laser.
1998*** Expert - Strong shot, strong laser, and most importantly, enemy patterns dramatically increase in difficulty.
1999* The NES conversion of ''VideoGame/DragonSpirit'' doesn't have a conventional difficulty selection - instead the game makes the player go through a prologue that is essentially a recreation of the arcade version's final stage. If the player clears the prologue it proceeds through "Blue Dragon" mode, which is the normal difficulty level. However, if the player dies during the prologue, it instead starts "Gold Dragon" mode, in which the player has as a max health gauge and auto-fire, but the numbers of stages are reduced and the ending is different.
2000* ''VideoGame/{{Genetos}}'':
2001** Beginner
2002** Standard User
2003** Programmer
2004** Hacker
2005** Creator
2006* All of the games in the ''VideoGame/GundemoniumSeries'' have this in one form or another. The first two games adjust the limits of the DynamicDifficulty.
2007** ''Gundemonium (Recollection)''
2008*** Novice
2009*** Revised
2010*** Unlimited
2011*** Demonic
2012** ''[=GundeadliGne=]''
2013*** Novice
2014*** Standard
2015*** Advanced
2016*** Demonic
2017** ''Hitogata Happa''
2018*** Euridice
2019*** Nobilimente
2020*** Allemande
2021*** Doomsday
2022* ''VideoGame/{{Hellsinker}}'' has three axes of difficulty.
2023** Level ([[DynamicDifficulty Stella]] range, stage select only):
2024*** Unplugged
2025*** Limited (Lv.1 minimum, Lv.6 maximum)
2026*** Compressed (Lv.4 minimum, Lv.A maximum)
2027*** Distorted (Lv.7 minimum, Lv.A maximum)
2028** Way of Life (Maximum number of lives);
2029*** Drastic (5 lives)
2030*** Moderately (6 lives)
2031*** Prudently (7 lives)
2032** Bootleg Ghost (Auto-bomb behavior):
2033*** Aspirant
2034*** Solidstate
2035*** Adept
2036* ''VideoGame/HyperPrincessPitch''
2037** "Trainee"
2038** "Combat Lady"
2039** "Battle Princess"
2040** "War Queen"
2041** "Goddess of Explosions"
2042** "[[spoiler:Reallyjoel's Mom]]"
2043* ''VideoGame/JamestownLegendOfTheLostColony'':
2044** Normal
2045** Difficult
2046** Legendary
2047** Divine
2048** Judgement
2049* ''VideoGame/JetsNGuns'':
2050** "[[EasyModeMockery Too Fat To Die]]"
2051** "Normal"
2052** "Hard"
2053** "Nightmare"
2054** "Total Mayhem"
2055** "Inhuman"
2056** "Series/MissionImpossible"
2057* ''VideoGame/KeioFlyingSquadron'':
2058** Monkey
2059** Human
2060** Super Human
2061* The Platform/Atari2600 game ''VideoGame/LaserBlast'':
2062** Cadet
2063** Lieutenant
2064** Captain
2065** Commander
2066* ''VideoGame/{{Loaded}}''
2067** Players Are Fairies
2068** Players Are Boring
2069** Players Are Confident
2070** Players Are Brutal
2071** Players Are [[TitleDrop Loaded]]
2072* ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama'' and its sequel:
2073** Original
2074** Maniac
2075** Ultra (in ''Mushihime-sama Futari Black Label'', this is replaced by God)
2076* The ''VideoGame/PrincessRemedy'' series:
2077** ''VideoGame/PrincessRemedyInAWorldOfHurt'':
2078*** Normal
2079*** Hard
2080*** [[HarderThanHard Master]]
2081*** [[UnwinnableJokeGame reallyjoel's dad]]
2082** ''VideoGame/PrincessRemedyInAHeapOfTrouble'':
2083*** Normal
2084*** Hard
2085*** [[HarderThanHard DEATH]]
2086*** [[spoiler:[[UnexpectedGameplayChange REALLYDAD]]]]
2087* ''VideoGame/RType Final'':
2088** "Baby"
2089** "Kid"
2090** "Human"
2091** "Bydo"
2092** "R-Typer"
2093* ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}}'':
2094** ''Raiden Project'':
2095*** Captain (Easy)
2096*** Major (Medium)
2097*** Colonel (Hard)
2098*** General (HarderThanHard)
2099** ''Raiden IV'':
2100*** Practice (EasierThanEasy, the only bad thing is no BulletHell for you)
2101*** Very Easy
2102*** Easy
2103*** Medium
2104*** Original (arcade)
2105*** Hard
2106*** Very Hard
2107*** Ultimate (Harder than HarderThanHard)
2108* ''VideoGame/RaptorCallOfTheShadows'':
2109** Rookie -- "This is the equivalent of easy."
2110** Veteran -- "This is medium difficulty."
2111** Elite -- "This is the hard level."
2112* ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom [[VideoGameRemake EX]]'':
2113** [[EasierThanEasy Wussy]]
2114** Easy
2115** Normal
2116** Hard
2117** [[HarderThanHard Crazy]]
2118* ''Shining Shooting Star'', a ''Touhou'' fangame, uses the names of prominent stars, several of which were pole stars.
2119** Easy: Altair
2120** Normal: Vega
2121** Hard: Arcturus
2122** Lunatic: Sirius
2123** Extra: Polaris
2124* ''VideoGame/SpaceMegaforce'': The bottom two difficulties, which cause enemies to fire back when destroyed, are selected by pressing left (as if selecting an easier difficulty).
2125** "Normal"
2126** "Hard"
2127** "Hyper"
2128** "Tricky"
2129** "Wild"
2130* ''VideoGame/{{Stargunner}}''. Good luck beating the game even on the easiest difficulty.
2131** Ensign
2132** Captain
2133** Admiral
2134* ''VideoGame/{{Stellavanity}}'':
2135** Easy
2136** Normal
2137** Arcade (previously Normal-Ex)
2138** Hard
2139** [[HarderThanHard Nightmare]]
2140** [[SerialEscalation Pandemonium]]
2141* ''VideoGame/SuperchargedRobotVulkaiser'':
2142** Bullet Sponge
2143** Glory Hunter
2144** Legendary Hero
2145** Savior of the Universe
2146* ''VideoGame/{{Symphony}}'', a music player vertical ShootEmUp, uses sheet music loudness notation for its difficulty levels:
2147** Pianissimo
2148** Piano
2149** Mezzo-piano
2150** Mezzo-forte
2151** Forte
2152** Fortissimo
2153* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' games, of which there are many, have the standard Easy, Normal, Hard, and [[HarderThanHard Lunatic]], and above ''that'' is the unlockable [[BrutalBonusLevel Extra Stage]]. In addition, in all games the difficulty level comes with a subtitle, with Easy usually being toted as "for Sunday gamers" and Lunatic/Extra generally being titled "for weird people" or "not suited for anyone". In the second Windows game, ''Perfect Cherry Blossom'', an exclusive ''[[SerialEscalation Phantasm]]'' stage served as the HarderThanHard counterpart to the Extra Stage.
2154** ''VideoGame/TouhouEiyashouImperishableNight'', whose plot centers around a stolen full moon are named after specific phases of the moon:
2155*** Easy: "Shingetsu", New Moon
2156*** Normal: "Mikazuki", Third Day Moon (waxing crescent)
2157*** Hard: "Uetsu Yumihari", Upper Bowstring Moon (waxing half-moon)
2158*** Lunatic: "Matsuyoi", Waiting Evening (waxing gibbous, specifically the day just before a full moon)
2159*** Extra: "Mangetsu", Full Moon [[note]]Fitting, as it takes place in the wee hours of the morning after you restore the true full moon to Gensokyo[[/note]]
2160** ''VideoGame/TouhouKaeidzukaPhantasmagoriaOfFlowerView'' has difficulties named for different types of plants/flowers:
2161*** Easy: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loropetalum_chinense Daruma Grass]] ''(Loropetalum chinese var. rubrum)''
2162*** Normal: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_poeticus Pheasant's-eye Narcissus]] ''(Narcissus poeticus)''
2163*** Hard: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia_sasanqua "Sazanka" Camellia]] ''(Camellia sasanqua)''
2164*** Lunatic: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoris_radiata Red Spider Lily]] ''(Lycoris radiata)'', but it also known as the ''higanbana'', where ''higan'' is the border of the afterlife in Japanese myth.
2165*** Extra: [[https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Saigyou_Ayakashi Saigyou Ayakashi]], the EldritchAbomination tree sealed in the Netherworld.
2166** ''VideoGame/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism'' also has its own naming scheme, based off of various mythological creatures that [[MonsterGirl various characters]] are based off of:
2167*** Easy: Fairy Class
2168*** Normal: Kappa Class
2169*** Hard: Tengu Class
2170*** Lunatic: Oni God Class
2171*** Extra: Idol Class
2172** ''VideoGame/TouhouShinreibyouTenDesires'' has prayers for stuff that supposedly ranges from easy to impossible to achieve:
2173*** Easy: Pray for health and long life
2174*** Normal: Pray for traffic safety
2175*** Hard: Pray for business prosperity
2176*** Lunatic: Pray for IT data security
2177*** Extra: Pray for protection from [[BulletHell danmaku]]
2178** ''VideoGame/TouhouKishinjouDoubleDealingCharacter'' has the difficulties named after gemstones:
2179*** Easy: Emerald Level
2180*** Normal: Aquamarine Level
2181*** Hard: Ruby Level
2182*** Lunatic: Hope Diamond Level
2183*** Extra: Magnesium Level
2184** ''VideoGame/TouhouKanjudenLegacyOfLunaticKingdom'', like ''Imperishable Night'', also names its difficulties after moon phases, but with the description describing mochi firmness instead:
2185*** Easy: New Moon - easy to chew
2186*** Normal: Crescent Moon - nice amount of firmness
2187*** Hard: Half Moon - so firm it makes your jaw tired
2188*** Lunatic: Full Moon - do not eat
2189*** Extra: Dark Moon - some people like this
2190** ''VideoGame/TouhouTenkuushouHiddenStarInFourSeasons'' uses seasonal weathers:
2191*** Easy: Spring Sprinkle
2192*** Normal: Summer Shower
2193*** Hard: Autumn Typhoon
2194*** Lunatic: Winter Hibernation
2195*** Extra: The Fifth Season
2196** ''VideoGame/TouhouKikeijuuWilyBeastAndWeakestCreature'' patterns the difficult levels after animals:
2197*** Easy: Lamb Level
2198*** Normal: Shiba Level
2199*** Hard: Saber-Toothed Tiger Level
2200*** Lunatic: Dinosaur Level
2201*** Extra: [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious Cryptid Level]]
2202** ''VideoGame/TouhouKouryuudouUnconnectedMarketeers'' names its difficulty settings after social classes, based on how easy life is for them:
2203*** Easy: Nobility Level
2204*** Normal: Commoner Level
2205*** Hard: Vagrant Level
2206*** Lunatic: Nihilist Monk Level
2207*** Extra: Free Markets & Open Guilds Level
2208* ''VideoGame/{{Vectorman}}''
2209** Lame
2210** Wicked (''1'')/Cool (''2'')
2211** Insane (''1'')/Wicked (''2'')
2212[[/folder]]
2213
2214[[folder:Simulation Games]]
2215* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'', from ''[[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies 04]]'' on up, featured unlockable difficulty modes after beating it on Hard.
2216** [[EasierthanEasy Casual -Easy-]] (''[[VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown 7]]'' only)
2217** [[HarderthanHard Expert]]
2218** Ace
2219* ''VideoGame/{{Aerobiz}} Supersonic'' featured:
2220** Glider
2221** Prop
2222** Jet
2223** Jumbo Jet
2224** Supersonic''
2225* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster'' ''Shiny Festa'', ''Platinum Stars'' and ''Starlight Stage'' all share a common set of difficulty levels:
2226** Debut
2227** Regular
2228** Pro
2229** Master
2230** Master+ (only in ''Starlight Stage'' for event songs)
2231* ''VideoGame/LoveNikkiDressUpQueen'':
2232** Maiden
2233** Princess
2234* ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail'': The 1978 version has five different difficulty levels for the shooting minigame[[note]]where you need to quickly type "BANG" or a similar word on the keyboard--the time limit is different depending on the level[[/note]]:
2235** Shaky Knees
2236** Need More Practice
2237** Fair to Middlin'
2238** Good Shot
2239** Ace Marksman
2240* The Flash version of ''VideoGame/OrganTrail'' frames its difficulty levels as being the career the PlayerCharacter had before the ZombieApocalypse happened. (The [[VideoGameRemake Director's Cut]] just uses normal Easy/Normal/Hard/[[HarderThanHard Suicide]] labels.)
2241** Cop
2242** Clerk
2243** Lawyer
2244* ''Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon'':
2245** "Investor"
2246** "Financier"
2247** "Mogul"
2248** "Tycoon"
2249* ''[[VideoGame/{{PlagueInc}} Plague Inc.]]'' has four difficulties for both standard mode and cure mode, each with descriptions that describe how people would react to a plague:
2250** Casual
2251** Normal
2252** Brutal
2253** Mega Brutal
2254* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' applies difficulty levels to its "storytellers", which create the random events that shape your colony and your civilization's history. The default difficulty levels, from easiest to hardest, are:
2255** Peaceful (easiest): No external threats, and your colonists get extra buffs; wildlife doesn't attack humans, weather is always fair, colonists are extra happy, and gathering resources has a bonus yield.
2256** Community Builder (easy): Minor threats to make the game slightly tense and more interesting. Most threats are enabled except human-eating predators and extreme weather, and you still have personal happiness and resource gathering buffs.
2257** Adventure Story (normal): Threats have slightly diminished scale, all threat kinds are enabled, and your colonists have minor buffs.
2258** Strive to Survive (hard): Standard difficulty setting with all difficulty sliders in neutral position and no advantages or disadvantages. That's Rimworld-ese for "hard", because Rimworld is NintendoHard.
2259** Blood and Dust (very hard): Now your colonists have de-buffs to happiness, harvesting yield, and disasters are 55% stronger.
2260** [[VideoGame/DwarfFortress Losing is Fun]] (impossible): The Storyteller personally hates you, and will throw disaster after disaster at you until your colony is wiped out.
2261** Custom: For tinkering with the game's individual difficulty sliders, which control aspects such as threat scale, colonist mood buffs, or chances of suffering illness.
2262* ''VideoGame/RollerCoasterTycoon 3'' didn't have selectable difficulties but each scenario had three different objective sets of increasing difficulty:
2263** Apprentice
2264** Entrepreneur
2265** Tycoon
2266* ''Stampede'' (Platform/Atari2600), from [[AllThereInTheManual the manual]]:
2267** Sidekick
2268** Pilgrim
2269** Cowpoke
2270** Wrangler
2271** Top Hand
2272** Trail Boss
2273** Rancher
2274** Cattle Baron
2275* ''VideoGame/{{Vigilante 8}}'':
2276** "Unleaded"
2277** "Super Unleaded"
2278** "High Octane"
2279[[/folder]]
2280
2281[[folder:Sports Games]]
2282* ''VideoGame/{{FIFA|Soccer}}'' has traditionally had the levels Amateur (Easy), Professional (Medium) and World Class (hard), with other difficulty levels being added or removed throughout the series' history. As of ''FIFA 21'', there are seven levels:
2283** [[EasierThanEasy Beginner]]
2284** Amateur
2285** Semi-Pro
2286** Professional
2287** World Class
2288** [[NintendoHard Legendary]]
2289** [[HarderThanHard Ultimate]] (only available on Ultimate Team)
2290* ''Skate or Die'': The CPU difficulty for your opponent is determined by the characters:
2291** Poseur Pete
2292** Aggro Eddie
2293** Lester
2294[[/folder]]
2295
2296[[folder:Stealth-Based Games]]
2297* ''Sid Meier's VideoGame/CovertAction'':
2298** Local Disturbance
2299** National Threat
2300** Regional Conflict
2301** Global Crisis
2302* ''VideoGame/{{Gloomwood}}'':
2303** "Crescent"
2304** "Half Moon"
2305** "Full Moon"
2306** "Blood Moon"
2307* ''VideoGame/HeatSignature'' only has Easy, Normal and Hard at first, but liberating stations opens up three more difficulties, with descriptions upon unlocking them:
2308** Audacious [[labelnote:Description]]Audacious missions are the kind everyone assumes can't be done. They need specialized equipment, meticulous planning, and [[XanatosSpeedChess the capacity to come up with a different meticulous plan when your meticulous plan goes catastrophically wrong.]] They pay very well.[[/labelnote]]
2309** [[HarderThanHard Mistake]] [[labelnote:Description]]These missions are so wildly difficult that you need to be brilliant, superbly equipped, and a little bit stupid to take them on. They pay the kind of money you have to pay a professional for something that will probably kill them.[[/labelnote]]
2310** '''[[SerialEscalation Glory I-V]]''' [[labelnote:Description]]The hardest missions in the galaxy are the ones you do just to prove you can. No-one pays you for Glory missions, the real reward is the top spot in the Living Legends list.[[/labelnote]]
2311* ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'':
2312** In the first game, "Fetish" and "Hardcore".
2313** In the second game, "Sane" and "Insane".
2314* ''VideoGame/MetalGear''
2315** In the [[RegionalBonus Japanese and PAL versions]] of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', the player is asked whether they played the first ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' or not and if they want a lot of action or not. The first three answers will start the game on the Tanker chapter, while the last two choices will skip to the Plant chapter.
2316*** "I've cleared the previous game multiple times, so bring on the action!"
2317*** "I managed to clear the previous game, but action isn't my strong point!"
2318*** "I didn't clear the previous game myself, but I watched everything!"
2319*** "I didn't clear the previous game, but bring on the action!"
2320*** "I didn't clear the previous game, and action isn't my strong point!"
2321** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' names its difficulty levels after the series characters.
2322*** "[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Liquid]] Easy"
2323*** "[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Naked]] Normal"
2324*** "[[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid]] Normal"
2325*** "[[VideoGame/MetalGear Big Boss]] Hard"
2326*** "[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater The Boss]] Extreme"
2327* ''VideoGame/SniperElite''
2328** Rookie
2329** Cadet
2330** Marksman
2331** Sniper Elite
2332[[/folder]]
2333
2334[[folder:Survival Horror]]
2335* ''VideoGame/FearAndHungerTermina'' has three of these.
2336** Easy(er) Mode halves the amount of damage enemies cause, improves loot drops, removes environmental traps, allows the player to utilize the God of Fear and Hunger's saving power three times per statue, and removes several more challenging enemies from the game.
2337** Fear & Hunger Mode is the game's "normal" mode. Environmental traps and more challenging enemies are present, and the God of Fear and Hunger's saving power can only be used once per statue.
2338** Masochism Mode doubles the amount of damage enemies cause and halves the amount of damage the player can deal. In addition, the mode automatically starts on Night 3, meaning the player cannot save the game by sleeping at a bed, and it is impossible to recruit other playable characters, who are all either moonscorched or dead. Several challenging unique enemies are present in this difficulty, as well as new environmental challenges.
2339* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII'' provides a few more options than [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUs its predecessor]], along with including a {{Permadeath}} mode:
2340** [[EasierThanEasy Very Light]]
2341** Light
2342** Moderate
2343** Hard
2344** [[HarderThanHard Survivor]]
2345** Grounded
2346* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'':
2347** Easy [[note]]Zombies have low health and deal less damage, friendly fire damage from bullets are disabled[[/note]]
2348** Normal
2349** Advanced [[note]]Stronger enemies, more aggressive zombie AI, stronger friendly fire damage[[/note]]
2350** Expert [[note]]Enemies deal massive damage, friendly fire deals full damage, Tank punches instantly incapacitates you, Witches kill you instantly, enemy AI is extremely aggressive, and the AI director will spawn hordes frequently[[/note]]
2351* ''VideoGame/TheLongDark'':
2352** Pilgrim (Easy) - [[TruthInTelevision Wolves will avoid you rather than attack you]], plentiful resources and a hardier player character ensure a relaxed experience with minimal danger, more focused on exploration than survival.
2353** Voyager (Medium) - wolves will chase and hunt the player and resources are slightly harder to come by.
2354** Stalker (Hard) - wolves and bears are more numerous and determined and resources are scarce, a more challenging survival experience.
2355** Interloper (Very Hard) - extremely aggressive bears and wolves will chase you relentlessly, less starting resources, no rifles or knives/hatchets spawn on the map and very few resources, this is hardcore street.
2356* ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'':
2357** "[[BlatantLies Easy]]"
2358** "[[NintendoHard Medium]]"
2359** "[[HarderThanHard Nightmare]]"
2360* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve2'' has a few and each one gives bigger bonus multipliers at higher difficulties.
2361** "Replay Mode"[[note]]The "Easy" mode and NewGamePlus rolled into one. Enemies are weaker and all unlockables from previous playthroughs are found here. Points earned are cut in half.[[/note]]
2362** "Bounty Mode"[[note]] The "Hard" mode of the game where [[EliteMook Golems]] are encountered at the start of the game and some groups of enemies are replaced with stronger variants. Points earned are doubled.[[/note]]
2363** "Scavenger Mode"[[note]] An alternate take of "Hard" mode where enemy types aren't changed from the original difficulty, but better items are much more scarce and items in shops are too expensive to buy. Aya's base MP is 10 instead of 30. Points earned are multiplied by five.[[/note]]
2364** "[[HarderThanHard Nightmare Mode]]"[[note]] The hardest difficulty which combines Bounty and Scavenge mode together. Instead of Aya's MP being reduced, her base HP is cut in half and she is also much weaker in attack and defense. Points earned are multiplied by ten.[[/note]]
2365* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
2366** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'':
2367*** In the original Playstation game, your character is the difficulty select; Jill is “Easy” and Chris is “Hard,” although they are only directly labeled as such in the Japanese version. It’s the only game in the series to do this - later games with a character select, including the first game’s [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRemake remake]], have some differences between characters that can give a slight edge to one or the other but mostly keep them on the same footing. This has the unfortunate effect of people who played the remake before the Playstation game thinking the latter is either [[ItsEasySoItSucks too easy]] or [[NintendoHard too hard]] because they don’t know how dramatically different the characters are in difficulty - made worse because subsequent releases had an ''entirely separate'' but more conventional difficulty select layered on top of that (which is, for the record, “Advanced,” “Standard,” and “Training” with a secret fourth difficulty activated by highlighting Advanced and holding right on the d-pad).
2368*** In the Remake, difficulty is instead officially based on if you like "Hiking" or "Mountain Climbing,” with the UpdatedReRelease also including “Walking.” This only applies when you start a new save - “It’s “Easy,” “Normal,” and “Very Easy” on subsequent playthroughs, with the unlockable “Hard” mode not getting an outdoorsy analogy.
2369** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'': Picking a character for Mercenaries mode affects your difficulty.
2370*** "Mikhail" (easy; has shotgun, magnum and rocket launcher)
2371*** "Carlos" (normal; a customizable handgun and an assault rifle)
2372*** "Nicholai" (standard handgun and knife)
2373** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'': The game also features a gun called [[LittleMissBadass Mathilda]]. For extra pun, the main character of ''Film/TheProfessional'' is named Léon.
2374*** "Easy"
2375*** "Normal"
2376*** "[[Film/TheProfessional Professional]]"
2377** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'':
2378*** Assisted: Active aim assist, weaker zombies, higher ammo yields from crafting with gunpowder, and limited health regeneration (from Danger to Caution).
2379*** Standard: The normal difficulty level. Zombies are of moderate strength, ammo yields are smaller, and no health regeneration or aim assist.
2380*** Hardcore: Autosave is disabled after the introductory sequence. Saving at typewriters requires ink ribbons (just like in the older games). Zombies are more durable and stronger. Inventory expansion items are cut by half.
2381[[/folder]]
2382
2383[[folder:Tactical [=RPGs=]]]
2384* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':
2385** Easy (from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' to ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'')
2386** Normal (from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' onward)
2387** [[ArtificialBrilliance Clever]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' only)
2388** Hard/Difficult (from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' onward)
2389** Maniac ([[DifficultyByRegion Japanese]] ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]'' only)
2390** [[HarderThanHard Lunatic]] (from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]'' to ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
2391** [[NintendoHard Maddening]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
2392** [[ActionInitiative Lunatic Reverse]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]'' only)
2393** [[FakeDifficulty Lunatic+]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' only)
2394** [[OhCrap Infernal]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'' only)
2395** [[SerialEscalation Abyssal]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'' only)
2396* ''VideoGame/GensouShoujoTaisen'', a VideoGame/SuperRobotWars-styled Touhou fangame has difficulties named after actual ''Super Robot Wars'' games;
2397** Easy: [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Alpha]]
2398** Normal: [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Alpha Gaiden]]
2399** Hard: [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars4 F Final]]
2400** [[NintendoHard Lunatic]]: [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsEX EX]]
2401* ''VideoGame/GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter''
2402** "Realistic"
2403** "Ultra-Realistic"
2404* ''VideoGame/GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter2'':
2405** "Low Risk"
2406** "Guarded Risk"
2407** "Elevated Risk"
2408** ''Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars/Future Soldier'':
2409*** "Rookie" (''SW'')/"Recruit" (''FS'')
2410*** "Veteran"
2411*** "Elite"
2412* ''VideoGame/ShiningForceII''
2413** Normal
2414** Hard
2415** [[HarderThanHard Super]]
2416** Ouch!
2417* ''VideoGame/{{Wildermyth}}''[='s=] "Combat difficulty" options are named after authors and scale based on how GrimDark their stories' worlds are. From easiest to hardest:
2418** Creator/CSLewis
2419** Creator/JKRowling
2420** Creator/GeorgeRRMartin
2421** Creator/HPLovecraft
2422* ''VideoGame/ExpeditionsRome'' are, fittingly for a game centering around UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, named after the most well-known Roman emperors
2423** Augustus (Easy)
2424** Caesar (Normal)
2425** Pompeius (Hard)
2426** Crassus (Insane)
2427[[/folder]]
2428
2429[[folder:Third-Person Shooter]]
2430* ''VideoGame/EatLeadTheReturnOfMattHazard'' and ''Matt Hazard: Blood Bath And Beyond'':
2431** "Minimum Hazard" / "[[EasyModeMockery Wussy]]"
2432** "Major Hazard" / "Damn This is Hard"
2433** "Maximum Hazard" / "Fuck This Shit"
2434* ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters2003'' has two different lists of difficulty levels, one on the main menu when you start a new game and a second one giving a description of it that is also listed when you go to load a saved game.
2435** "Demonstrator": A walk in the park
2436** "Rebel": Have a blast
2437** "[[TitleDrop Freedom Fighter]]": You got what it takes?
2438** "Revolutionary": Against all odds
2439* ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame'':
2440** For the Realistic versions:
2441*** Casual
2442*** Experienced
2443*** Professional
2444** For the Stylized versions:
2445*** Rookie (Slimer)
2446*** Buster (Librarian Ghost)
2447*** Gozerian (Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man)
2448* ''VideoGame/KaneAndLynch: Dead Men'':
2449** "Aspirin"
2450** "Codeine"
2451** "Morphine"
2452* ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' uses a difficulty slider from 0.0 to 9.0, with the difficulty fine-tunable to 0.1 increments. This scale would later be reused in Classic Mode of the fourth ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' (except starting from 1.0). In addition, each 1.0 increment has its own name:
2453** 0.0-0.9: [[EasierThanEasy Effortless]]
2454** 1.0-1.9: Easy
2455** 2.0-2.9: Standard
2456** 3.0-3.9: Tougher
2457** 4.0-4.9: Challenging
2458** 5.0-5.9: Heatin' Up
2459** 6.0-6.9: Extra Spicy
2460** 7.0-7.9: Infernal
2461** 8.0-8.9: White Hot
2462** 9.0: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Nothing Harder!]]
2463* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'':
2464** "Fugitive" (''[[VideoGame/MaxPayne1 1]]'') / "Detective" (''[[VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne 2]]'')
2465** "Hard Boiled"
2466** "Dead on Arrival" (very hard, limited saves per level)
2467** "Old School" (''[[VideoGame/MaxPayne3 3]]'': Last Stand is disabled, so you must use Pain Killers manually as with ''1'' and ''2''.)
2468** "New York Minute" (time attack)
2469** "Dead Man Walking" (insane one-room enemy-spawning survival mode)
2470* ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'':
2471** Easy
2472** Medium
2473** Hard
2474** Fecking Hard
2475* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'':
2476** Walk on the Beach
2477** Combat Op
2478** Suicide Mission
2479** [[HarderThanHard FUBAR]][[note]]for those unfamiliar, it means "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"[[/note]]
2480* ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'':
2481** Casual Auto
2482** Casual
2483** Normal
2484** Hard
2485** [[HarderThanHard God Hard]]
2486* Old-school Ravensoft TPS ''VideoGame/TakeNoPrisoners'' has four settings:
2487** Recruit
2488** Mercenary
2489** Commando
2490** Legionnaire
2491* ''VideoGame/{{Wet}}'':
2492** Cake Walk (easy)
2493** Hired Gun (normal)
2494** Fixer (hard)
2495** FemmeFatale (very hard)
2496** Golden Bullets ([[RocketTagGameplay one-hit kills for everyone]])
2497[[/folder]]
2498
2499[[folder:Tower Defense]]
2500* ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'':
2501** Easy
2502** Normal
2503** Hard
2504** Veteran
2505** Expert
2506** Insane
2507** Deadly
2508** Merciless
2509* ''VideoGame/BloonsTowerDefense'':
2510** Easy
2511** Medium
2512** Hard
2513** [[HarderThanHard Impoppable]]
2514** CHIMPS (It actually uses the tower prices from Hard Difficulty and not Impoppable, but it also starts on Round 6 and ends on Round 100, [[OneHitPointWonder does not allow any leaks]], and it disables continues, incomes, monkey knowledges, powers and selling, making it live up to its description of "The true test of a BTD master")
2515[[/folder]]
2516
2517[[folder:Turn-Based Strategy]]
2518* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'':
2519** "Citizen"
2520** "Specialist"
2521** "Talent"
2522** "Librarian"
2523** "Thinker"
2524** "Transcend"
2525* ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'' has difficulty settings named marked by units of different levels and mostly named after them, ''customized per campaign'':
2526** "Horseman (Beginner), Knight (Challenging)", "Fighter (Easy), Commander (Normal), Lord (Challenging)", "Spearman (Easy), Swordsman (Normal), Royal Guard (Challenging)" or "Peasant (Easy), Outlaw (Normal), Fugitive (Difficult)" - Human; also "Civilian (Beginner), Recruit (Easy), Soldier (Normal)"
2527** "Fighter (Beginner), Hero (Normal), Champion (Challenging)", "Fighter (Beginner), Lord (Normal), High Lord (Challenging)" "Soldier (Easy), Lord (Normal), High Lord (Hard)" - [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elvish]].
2528** "Fighter (Easy), Steelclad (Normal), Lord (Challenging)" - [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarvish]].
2529** "Grunt (Challenging), Warrior (Difficult), Warlord (Nightmare)" - [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcish]].
2530* ''Sid Meier's VideoGame/{{Civilization}}''
2531** Original series:
2532*** "Settler" (''IV'' and ''V'')
2533*** "Chieftain" (''I'' to ''V'', ''Revolution'')
2534*** "Warlord" (''I'' to ''V'', ''Revolution'')
2535*** "Noble" (''IV'')
2536*** "Prince" (''I'', ''II'' and ''V'') / Regent (''III'' and ''IV'')
2537*** "King" (''I'', ''II'', ''V'' and ''Revolution'') / Monarch (''III'' and ''IV'')
2538*** "Emperor" (''I'' to ''V'', ''Revolution'')
2539*** "Demigod" (''III: Play the World'', Conquests mode)
2540*** "Immortal" (''IV'' and ''V'')
2541*** "Deity" (''II'' to ''V'', ''Revolution'')
2542*** "Sid" (''III: Play the World'', Conquests mode)
2543** ''Sid Meier's VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth''
2544*** "Sputnik"
2545*** "Mercury"
2546*** "Gemini"
2547*** "Vostok"
2548*** "Soyuz"
2549*** "Apollo"
2550* ''VideoGame/{{Colonization}}'':
2551** "Discoverer"
2552** "Explorer"
2553** "Conquistador"
2554** "Governor"
2555** "Viceroy"
2556* ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations'': The individual races can be set to any of Fool, Dunce, Beginner, Sub-Normal, Normal, Bright, Intelligent, Gifted, Genius, Incredible, Godlike or Ultimate; Intelligent is the only one that's fair, with the earlier ones cheating in your favour and the later ones [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard simply cheating]]. The game ''as a whole'' has the following difficulties:
2557** Cakewalk
2558** Easy
2559** Simple
2560** Beginner
2561** Normal
2562** Challenging
2563** Tough
2564** Painful
2565** Crippling
2566** Masochistic
2567** Obscene
2568** Suicidal
2569* ''VideoGame/MarioPlusRabbidsSparksOfHope'':
2570** Relaxed
2571** Average
2572** Demanding
2573* ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion II'' provides pictures of hand gestures on the game setup screen to give the player an idea of what to expect:
2574** "Tutor" - [[EasyModeMockery a baby's hand reaching for an adult's]]
2575** "Easy" - An "OK" gesture
2576** "Average" - A thumbs-up
2577** "Hard" - A clenched fist
2578** "[[HarderThanHard Impossible]]" - [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Hands clasped in prayer]]
2579* ''Old World'':
2580** The Able
2581** The Just
2582** The Good
2583** The Strong
2584** The Noble
2585** The Glorious
2586** The Magnificent
2587** The Great
2588* ''VideoGame/{{Pendragon}}'':
2589** Anecdotal
2590** Theatrical
2591** Melodramatic
2592** Dramatic
2593** Heroic
2594** Mythical
2595** Devastating
2596* ''VideoGame/ScorchedEarth'' has AI skill and tactics levels, although there was no clear hierarchy of easiest to hardest beyond that Morons played like, well, morons, and the Cyborg had better aiming skills and virtually always hit whatever he aimed at.
2597** "Moron" (Shoots at random; randomly changes its aim following a miss.)
2598** "Tosser" (Shoots at random; adjusts aim following a miss, but not very well)
2599** "Lobber" (Tends to high, lobbing shots)
2600** "Chooser" (Picks a target, stays on it, corrects aim fairly effectively)
2601** "Shooter" (Picks a target, corrects aim very well)
2602** "Poolshark" (Tends to make bank, bounce and wrap shots)
2603** "Spoiler" (Takes out damaged opponents, steals kills, ruins your shot)
2604** "Cyborg" (Very good aiming, virtually always hits what it aimed at, always corrects effectively in the rare case of a miss)
2605** "Unknown" (One of the first eight types was chosen at random and clicking on the tank did not reveal which one it was.)
2606* ''Space Tanks'' (Similar to ''Scorched Earth'', but in [[RecycledInSpace space]])[[note]]Yes, [[AllLowercaseLetters all these are in lower case.]][[/note]]
2607** please don't hurt me!
2608** child's play
2609** basic
2610** simple
2611** almost normal
2612** standard
2613** complex
2614** pretty difficult
2615** quite heavy
2616** super sophisticated
2617** incredibly awkward
2618* ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} Academy'':
2619** Waifu Mode
2620** Helper Mode
2621** Normal Mode
2622** Hard Mode
2623** Space Whale Mode
2624* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}''
2625** ''Enemy Unknown'' and ''Terror from The Deep''
2626*** Beginner
2627*** Experienced
2628*** Veteran
2629*** Genius
2630*** Superhuman
2631** ''Enemy Unknown 2012''
2632*** Easy
2633*** Normal
2634*** [[NintendoHard Classic]]
2635*** [[HarderThanHard Impossible]]
2636** ''VideoGame/XCOM2''
2637*** Recruit
2638*** Veteran
2639*** Commander
2640*** Legend
2641[[/folder]]
2642
2643!!Non-video game examples:
2644[[folder:ComicStrips]]
2645* In the comic strip ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Roger Fox tries playing online poker with the usual disastrous results. The early warning signs were when the site he went to asked him to describe his level of gameplay between the three options:
2646** Expert
2647** Semi-Expert
2648** [[SchmuckBait Fool who]] '''[[SchmuckBait THINKS]]''' [[HarderThanHard he's an expert, but is about to learn a cruel lesson]]
2649--->'''Roger:''' [[TooDumbToLive Expert!]]
2650* One [=StickManStickMan=] [[http://stickman.qntm.org/comics.php?n=198 comic strip]] has a swordfight training robot that has difficulty settings including the following. [[note]]We don't learn about the names of the easier levels.[[/note]]
2651** Expert
2652** Master
2653** Impossible
2654** Combine Harvester
2655** No Seriously, Give Up Now
2656[[/folder]]
2657
2658[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
2659* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': Before the final scaring exam, which involves scaring a mechanical dummy, Professor Knight mentions that its sensitivity level will gradually be raised from "Bedwetter" to "Heavy Sleeper".
2660[[/folder]]
2661
2662[[folder:Sports]]
2663* In skiing and snowboarding, the difficulty of trails is [[https://signsofthemountains.com/blogs/news/what-do-the-symbols-on-ski-trail-signs-mean graded]] by color and shape. The following are the North American standards for labeling, with European and Japanese ones noted where applicable.
2664** Green circle: beginner trails. Typically wide open, well-groomed, and pretty flat, with a grade of less than 25%. "Bunny slopes" are green circles by default. (Same in Japan, but Europe uses a blue circle instead.)
2665** Blue square: intermediate trails. Typically well-groomed with a grade between 25-40%. (Europe and Japan use a red circle instead.)
2666** Black diamond: expert trails. Grade steeper than 40%, and may or may not be groomed, with some having moguls and/or deep powder. (Europe and Japan use a black circle instead.)
2667** Double black diamond: [[HarderThanHard experts only.]] Often extremely steep, narrow, and containing [[ObstacleSkiCourse dangerous obstacles]].
2668** Orange oval: terrain park filled with ramps, half-pipes, rails, and boxes for stunts.
2669[[/folder]]
2670

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