You Are Not a 'Fake Gamer' for Playing on Easy Mode

Listen, we need to talk about the elephant in the lobby.

With Ninja Gaiden 2 Black dropping last month, the hardcore community has been having their annual meltdown about difficulty settings. The discourse is exhausting. The gatekeeping is embarrassing. And frankly, I've had enough.

Let me be radically honest with you: I play games on Easy. Sometimes. Not always, but when I do, it's because I've learned something that the 16-year-old version of me couldn't grasp.

The "Git Gud" Trap

There's this toxic undercurrent in gaming culture that treats difficulty as a proxy for worth. If you play on Normal, you're casual. If you play on Easy, you're