First of all, let me clarify what I mean by "authentically" since it can be taken multiple ways. I don't mean in terms of "playing with the original cartridge, original console, original controller, CRT TV, etc" or anything like that. I just mean in terms of remasters, ports, QOL mods, hacks, etc.

An easy example I can think of is Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Many people know how unfair of a game it is, and a lot of people will suggest "if you must play it, use save states with virtual console or an emulator." And this is where my question lies.

Whether it be for a completionator entry or not, do you prefer "suffering" just to play the game the way it's designed, or would you rather use something like a remaster/port that modernizes things, QOL mods/hacks to fix some balance or archaic issues the game has, etc? If you do prefer the authentic experience, is save states something you allow, or do you even restrict yourself from using those and deal with the game, unfair or not?

I have no problem admitting emulation is superior in every capacity. Cheaper (teehee), only have to hook up one system, controller choice, better visuals, achievements, extra features like online and mods. As much as I enjoy the collection aspect of it I wouldn't rebuy everything if my house burned down.

I'm not completely opposed to making concessions to modern technology. I've played games from flashcart or via emulators and have copied certain games from disc to internal storage on some consoles (PSP and PS2-era stuff mainly) to circumvent insufferable loading times from disc. And I'll happily play a remaster or remake over an original version if it features new content that I really want or seems like a particularly interesting way to revisit an old favourite. But I actively avoid using things that have a meaningful effect on game balance like save states and assist features. And fun or miserable, I like to experience a game's challenges as they were originally designed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very much in favour of those options existing for people who want them, and think people should play games in whatever way they find fun. But I do feel using them can give a distorted impression of what a game is actually like. Being able to circumvent difficult spots completely or constantly reload without consequence can disguise really egregious game design issues, while also sometimes creating situations where something that's actually very well balanced seems unfair or insurmountable because the player has rapdily cheesed their way through with constant reloads instead of slowly building their proficiency to the point where they're ready for each new challenge as they reach it. I've seen folk online who use save states or cheats a lot both praise games that I know can be absolutely oppressive and unfun without the benefit of save states, and call bullshit on games they'd probably appreciate more if they took the time to gradually learn them over a longer period as intended instead of trying to power through them in a single half hour session by constantly reloading.

Like I say, I think all that matters is that you're having fun, however you play. And I totally get that struggling through games repeating the same content over and over isn't fun for a lot of folk, so I'm certainly not in the "save states / assists / difficulty settings are objectively bad" camp. Especially when they can function as accessibility options for many folk, and open games to audiences who might not normally be able to enjoy them. Still, I do think it's fair to say that playing with save states or assists often leads to materially different experiences to playing without. And for me personally, a big part of the enjoyment is in gradually figuring out a game and experiencing it as it was, even if it turns out to not be very good. So I don't really get any satisfaction out of clearing a game by sidestepping all of its hurdles. If I hit something that's genuinely too tough for me even with practice, I'm more likely to just drop the game and play something else than push through with save states for the sake of seeing all the content.

So yeah, TLDR I'm very much a "you do you" sort of person, but it's pretty much original all the way for me. I'll occasionally drop a save state as a one time temporary save if I'm wanting to stop for the night and continue the next day, but that's something you could accomplish by leaving the game running overnight anyway. And I don't think I've gone any further than that for a long time now.

Really good topic!! I am probably in between comfortably and authentically but think everyone should do what works for them! There is no shame in any of it. Like barleybap mentioned, I usually try to play the game as intended and face the challenge the best I can. I don't mind using save states or level select codes as a way of being able to turn off the game and take a break. For example, if I am in the middle of Sonic on Genesis but real life calls, I have no issue turning it off and using the level select menu or a Game Genie equivalent to bounce me back to where I left off.

If a game gets super tough and despite my best efforts, I can't get through it, I may use some more things just so I can see the rest of the game. I've dabbled with the rewind feature on some remasters at times to get through something that is extra frustrating but I don't abuse it. I avoid anything that takes all the challenge out such as invulnerability cheats etc. I haven't tried the remakes of JRPGs yet that add the auto/speed up battle function but that does feel like a good addition since time is a little more limited as you get older.

At the end of the day, for me the games are to have fun and see the world the designers built. So I will step my foot in the pool of comfort to keep moving forward if need be but tend to stay on the middle side of your poll!

For me using assists is dependent on whenever the developers intended them to be used. What I mean is that the assist has to be shipped with the game to be even considered to be used for me. When playing games for the first playthrough, I always abide by this and most of the time ignore assists I don´t need for me to "feel" more of the game and the challenge. People who use outside assists are robbing themselves of the fun that comes with beating a difficult obstacle by themselves, sure everyone should play how they want to do it but what is the point of that? Following this logic, why would you play the game in the first place and don´t play something that is intended to be played the way you find interesting. Imagine playing any Souls game with item spawning, invincibility or enemy 1hp mod after you die in the beginning or middle. The story and world tidbits are valued because you need to work for them, when laid out in plain text on some wiki or a video it is actually really boring, because non of the mentioned names matter to you, you never needed to to really fight them. Challenge is part of the game design after all.

The only thing I do advocate for, in terms of assists, are accessibility options for people who are impaired and couldn´t otherwise enjoy games. A good example would be the audio assists system in Forza Motorsports, it gives you audio feedback for where you are positioned on the track and how far and where other cars are in proxy to your vehicle, which gives people who are blind the opportunity to play a racing game!

After I finished the game though I do what ever I want with it, modding, hacking etc. Nothing bad about some dumb fun or shacking up the formula after I got what I wanted. Of course, If someone plays a game with the full intend to play it modded from the start more power to them.

In the end, people should play the game how they like it, but for the love of god, I hate people that go to forums to pestering the devs to include their "crutch" to the game so it gets down to their level.

I don't know if it has to do with intelligence or patience

But i'm allowing myself using save states. As it can make an extremely hard game more enjoyable to finish but only between each level or to train on a specific passage. Sometimes i try replay a game with using less save states than the previous time.
However, using cheats ruin the experience (i only did that for minecraft when i was 8 years old and super monkey ball 2 recently on ONE LEVEL i had regrets but i tried beating the level during 1-2 hours). Abusing save states works the same way.
I also don't use auto play as it is literally as useful as watching dry paint.

You have to accept the difficulty even if it takes 10 hours to beat a level, it doesn't mean you're dumb but you're just patient or trying every solution possible.
A recent example is F-Zero on snes, i use save states every 1-2 races only to avoid having to restart from the beginning as the game is extremely punishing and i want to finish and enjoy it.
But i try to cheat the less possible as it feels like dumb, idiot, shameful.