"Oh look at me, I'm making a forum post to wave my e-dick around about how cool I am playing the game on hardcore wheeeeee"

/sarcasm

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I'm just curious if anybody else is playing it on hardcore and what their thoughts are.

I personally don't like how playing it on HC turns the platforming into Super Meat Boy. Those god damned color mushrooms spew poison crap instantly with no delay, and there's no hitstun recovery on getting damaged by spikes so it's insta-death; you never get an opportunity to recover and jump out of the spikes.

Other than that, hardcore combat is really fun and I really enjoy the extra challenge it gives; it feels like it justifies the game by making me super powerful but still making my mistakes very punishing. I don't have any money because I keep needing health items for the single mistake I invariably make.

I jumped straight into hardcore and it took a bit to get any good. Dying in one hit was a bit discouraging, to say the least. That mushroom/spike part had me flipping out but that was really the only real stumbling block. I gotta say that going back to the earlier levels and just annihilating fools that gave me trouble before is super empowering. Especially those summoner mage jerks. First one took about 2 minutes, now it takes 5 seconds.

I'm at the last level and I've really enjoyed it so far. I probably still prefer the combat system in The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile when it comes to these sorts of games, but I'm glad I played it on hardcore. Really makes each battle a lot more intense.

I personally don't like how playing it on HC turns the platforming into Super Meat Boy

So it lives up to its name?

I played the demo on Hardcore and it was pretty fun, though I died a good number of times. I'd probably start it on the one right below hardcore if I ever bought it.

I just started a playthrough on the difficulty above 'normal' to get the last achievement. The save stations only heal you to 25%. You can still get one hit killed at the beginning before you get your stats up. I'm only at the blacksmith now so I'll see how the rest of the game goes.

I played through it on Tough and still found it to be challenging enough. I died a number of times. Great game though! Tempted to go back on hardcore just to get more out of it!

The game is pretty rough on hardcore, but I like how it really forces you to learn things about the combat system, the one hit kill on almost every enemy in the game can be brutal at some points but it makes you much better at the game. The final boss can be a tricky bastard too, although nothing feels better than slamming one of those exploding ships into his face.

One of the things I really liked about the difficulty structure was that my character was completely different at the end of all three of them, that's just something you very rarely get in games any more.

Yeah I've been playing on hardcore for my first playthrough, but then again I enjoy a good nutsqueezing in my games.

Aside from some cheap mushroom spew spike pit deathlocks, i'm enjoying it a lot. I like that you have to stay focused and continue to keep dodging, no zoning out allowed.

My main strategy atm is to make sure all monsters are on one side of me, then launch up the first guy that gets close, use fidget's projectiles and then aerial duststorm. Nice combo, really safe and good damage! But aerial grapple chain is fun too .. hmm :P