Im playing on easy, but mostly because I cant stand QTEs, not to mention I find the combat system garbage, and the difficulty curve to be silly. Why make the beginning of the game hard and have it get easier until the end of the game is effortless? Theres no gratification in that, its just annoying, so I cant be bothered, Im playing still because I love the game world, graphics and the writing but wishing for TW1's combat system. Too much reliance on twitch and reflexes which is bad for a RPG about a established persona. It makes more sense to rely on player skill when your playing a character you created.
With this, I tried seeing the Strategy and Tactics but when your getting zerged in real time by 10+ enemies, it turns into a clusterfuck and its just a fight for survival that doesnt see tactics and strat being really realized. Still Im in chapter 2 and its finally getting easier at least.
I dont think hard is going to become the new normal anytime soon, the mainstream would never accept it and all the major US publishers know not to piss off the milk cows.