Hard or Nightmare

[lord sandvich]

TLDR: Is nightmare too annoying to play a full game over just picking hard mode?

I want to play this game again but never tried nightmare. From others experience, is it fair or worth it? I loveeeee difficulty because it makes horror games more thrilling but when its not me getting frustrated over something dumb.

[Deluga]

I've played it on nightmare and yes, it is very difficult compared to normal or hard, but it is not that bad. There were sections where I really had a hard time, but overall because I knew the game and such, it wasn't too bad, I just had to think outside the box and use my items carefully. So I'd say go ahead and try nightmare.

[Magneo]

Originally posted by Deluga:

I've played it on nightmare and yes, it is very difficult compared to normal or hard, but it is not that bad. There were sections where I really had a hard time, but overall because I knew the game and such, it wasn't too bad, I just had to think outside the box and use my items carefully. So I'd say go ahead and try nightmare.

Yep - much fewer resources are found so you've got to up your stealth game. The Aliens seems a bit more tethered to you at some areas too, which can be a bit frustrated. Save whenever you can!

[NinthElement]

Hard is fine for a first playthrough. I mostly only play on nightmare now, but for a first-timer you might feel robbed of certain helpful features you normally have like the map and health gauge. I'd suggest Hard first then if you like it enough to replay it do it on Nightmare.

[Nostromo]

Of course there's no map, the tracker glitches and there are less resources but the only difference I found was that the working joes were much tougher and annoying... I didn't notice any difference in the xenomorph's behaviour.

[Formosandog]

Originally posted by lord sandvich:

TLDR: Is nightmare too annoying to play a full game over just picking hard mode?

I want to play this game again but never tried nightmare. From others experience, is it fair or worth it? I loveeeee difficulty because it makes horror games more thrilling but when its not me getting frustrated over something dumb.

If you want to play nightmare, I'd honestly suggest using the unpredictable alien mod, so it doesn't feel like the alien is tethered to you as much.

[DessIntress]

I've been playing it on Nightmare since I bought it on two platforms back then. (Nightmare came out in December and I bought it in Jan/Feb)
After all this time I've played on normal and hard, but Nightmare is clearly the better experience. It's just more authentic.

Unfortunately, it's impossible to say whether it's too hard for others these days. After all, we live in a time where people aren't able to read product descriptions or in-game content - and all games in which you're not completely overpowered are of course totally unfair. (A bit cynical again today)

[Cass]

Originally posted by Formosandog:

Originally posted by lord sandvich:

TLDR: Is nightmare too annoying to play a full game over just picking hard mode?

I want to play this game again but never tried nightmare. From others experience, is it fair or worth it? I loveeeee difficulty because it makes horror games more thrilling but when its not me getting frustrated over something dumb.

If you want to play nightmare, I'd honestly suggest using the unpredictable alien mod, so it doesn't feel like the alien is tethered to you as much.

I'd say Unpredictable Alien overcompensates. It's very easy in that mod to go for long stretches of time without encountering the alien at all. Which is fine if you're just there to absorb the excellent atmosphere, but removes a lot of the challenge that makes this game scary.

I recommend Bay's Alien Isolation Overhaul. It's a nice middle ground.

[Formosandog]

Originally posted by Cass:

Originally posted by Formosandog:

If you want to play nightmare, I'd honestly suggest using the unpredictable alien mod, so it doesn't feel like the alien is tethered to you as much.

I'd say Unpredictable Alien overcompensates. It's very easy in that mod to go for long stretches of time without encountering the alien at all. Which is fine if you're just there to absorb the excellent atmosphere, but removes a lot of the challenge that makes this game scary.

I recommend Bay's Alien Isolation Overhaul. It's a nice middle ground.

I haven't tried the overhaul mod, but with unpredictable, I actually find the game more tension-filled coming from the 'less is more' school of thought.

[danrt86]

From my experience, it's best to beat on hard and then nightmare.

I beat it on easy, hard, and then beat it on nightmare.

I wish I got an achievement for beating it on nightmare.

[Cass]

Originally posted by Formosandog:

Originally posted by Cass:

I'd say Unpredictable Alien overcompensates. It's very easy in that mod to go for long stretches of time without encountering the alien at all. Which is fine if you're just there to absorb the excellent atmosphere, but removes a lot of the challenge that makes this game scary.

I recommend Bay's Alien Isolation Overhaul. It's a nice middle ground.

I haven't tried the overhaul mod, but with unpredictable, I actually find the game more tension-filled coming from the 'less is more' school of thought.

Sure, and that was my thought process for a long time... until I got the One Shot achievement without trying to.