Anyone else finding Survival difficulty pretentious and absurd? E-peen difficulty, would not recommend for first play through.
Spoiler
I'm analyzing the pros vs cons of Survival difficulty and it doesn't add up for the player, unless you enjoy playing the game like Dark Souls because you die a lot more. Whole building full of legendary or higher tier enemies can make it impossible of a fight if multiple enemies are targeting you at the same time. The difficulty is right up the alley for stealth based melee character builds. In my case I did not build my character around any specific play style the first time, just want to experience the game. My sibling pressuring me to give Survival a go was not enjoyable. He can enjoy it somewhat because he is making his character around stealth and melee with his chameleon leather right arm. Quicksaves come in handy.
No need to eat, drink, or sleep from New Vegas's hardcore mode definitely does not make Survival difficulty live up to it's namesake. It's honestly quite the opposite. You heal
a lot slower while taking more damage from enemies, who usually have bullet-sponge like health because higher level enemies spawn more. Frequently you will be hiding to heal at a snail-pace rate. The only good thing is you get much increased chances for good weapons and armor and even junk items. Weapons and armor obtained have a high chance to have one if not multiple mods attached to them when discovered.
I assume legendary enemies are not impossible to find on Normal, just lower chance of spawning. As I experimented changing the difficulty back and forth once legendary enemies spawn, they will stay it seems upon reload if already encountered. In my case a whole building full of legendary and higher tier Gunners guarding it even on Normal is a hellish firefight to gain any ground. It's near impossible with multiple enemies targeting you. With that test in mind I just reloaded.
Of course, if you had the perks for crafting weapons and/or armor you could craft these random treasures yourself with the junk items and requirements met. Most cases on the low levels all you get is pipe gun weapons and leather armor pieces. I wonder if the high risk, high reward loot can bypass the requirements from acquiring specific mods on a discovered weapon/armor.
The game is subjectively hard as-is the first play through even on Normal difficulty. Enemies all around are ready to mess the player up if unprepared. Heaven forbid I am not as willing to give myself the most challenging difficulty encouraged.
In short, if one chooses to play on Survival difficulty. Good for him/her. I'm not one to judge someone because they want a hard challenge, or not. I was simply analyzing what Survival difficulty is all about versus the following to consider. Survival difficulty is just not my cup of tea right now. The game just came out last week for Pete's sakes.
