I always start with the default/normal difficulty. I very rarely play on Hard unless it's a game I really love and feel I'm good enough.

I gravitate toward difficult and consequential.
But, I do play a lot of sandbox "non-games" like SimCity and Animal Crossing; as well as RPGs and adventure games, which tend to be easy as eating pie while drunk.

I usually go for the normal or easier difficulties these days. I don't game as much or have the patience that I used to, and my skills in general have declined over the years, so opting for the easier side of things is best for me.

Iam done with these crazy difficult(soulaborne) games, i just dont want to spend hours on 1 boss or one section of the game becauze its so dkfficult, heck i played stellar blade on easy and struggled with some bosses.

I like my games with some teeth to them, so Normal or Hard.

I just finished Xenoblade Chronicles 2 after the Switch 2 upgrade was released. Very satistying to crush those super-monsters you were running from in the early game.

Easy, little or no story, just want to relax.

Only when it comes to puzzle games, puzzling places in particular, I go for the max amount of puzzle pieces (yet sectional, simple 400 or simple 1000) and rhythm games I always play on the hardest (master) difficulty. Racing games without assists but AI on easy so they're not in the way. Lumines Arise I play with no fall mode, I set the pace, not the game. Foundation (city building) I set to super easy so I don't need to worry about penny pinching or micro managing and can just have fun building. RPGs on easy since exploration is what I like there, not combat. I don't mind difficulty in platformers as long as you don't have to do sections over and over, more checkpoints or like Prince of Persia 2008 (you miss, you simply get put back where you missed). In GTA 5 I skipped the gun fights, wish more games had options to skip boss and gun fights. Stealth games also on easy, Hitman WoA for example, I also never used guns there.

Life is challenging enough, games to relax and unwind.

Hard but not frustrating. You die a handful of times on bosses, but you aren't stuck for hours.

Due to time constraints and the amount of games I want to play, I usually go for easy. More fun and less stress with difficult stages/bosses.

If I enjoy the game enough after first beating it, I will replay on harder difficulty settings.

I play fighting games so Rank is already very hard mode...

Jokes aside it depends on the game, for the more casual games i'll do hard/ very hard but for the really tough gruelling games I'll do normal/ hard. I rarely play shooters but if I do I'll play on normal because I suck at them lol.

Playing a fighting games is stressful enough as it is so when i play a single player game i just want to relax but with a little challenge.