The Last Guardian
The near decade long wait finally ended a couple of weeks ago as The Last Guardian was released. If you can ignore some technical issues, the long awaited game offers a moving story of companionship. What may disappoint people, however, is the terrible trophy list that features some seemingly unattainable trophies. The list is made up of 24 trophies, including nine bronze, seven silver, seven gold, and one platinum, yet you are only really guaranteed two bronze trophies for finishing the game – one for reaching the end and one for doing so in under 30 hours. Finishing in under 15 hours gets you a silver and it is also more than likely. A gold for “catching Trico in the act” is another trophy that the majority of players have unlocked, but neither are certainties.
There are far many more difficult trophies than there are manageable ones. There is one for finishing the game in less than five hours which seems impossible; one for reaching the end without a game over, which, considering how wonky the controls can be, will be really difficult; and one for feeding Trico every barrel. They are all really difficult demands that require huge levels of luck to complete. There is simply no balance between attainable and tricky trophies in The Last Guardian.
Dishonored 2
Many of the trophies in Dishonored 2 are easily unlocked and require little more than to play through the single-player story mode. However, just as in the original game, the list, which features 51 trophies (38 bronze, 10 silver, two gold, and one platinum), is littered with challenging trophies. The most difficult is one called ‘Clean Hands’ which requires the player to complete the game without killing anyone. While this does have its caveats, including which enemy types count, remaining non-violent for the whole game is quite a challenge. Another trophy requires you to not be spotted, something that can be frustrating and will inevitably lead to retrying areas again and again. The checkpoint system is generous so you won’t lose much progress, it will just feel frustrating to be seen at the most inopportune times. Just as was the case with the original game, Dishonored 2’s trophy list features some particularly difficult trophies.
Overwatch
Most Overwatch players have a few heroes that they stick to – maybe one or two of each type. However, unlocking Overwatch’s platinum trophy requires you to complete two or more objectives, of varying difficulties, with each and every character. Then there are additional trophies for reaching specific levels or getting a particular number of wins. Completing every character objective would take an incredible amount of play time and you would have to learn the strengths and weaknesses of every member of the game’s roster. The trophies for your favorite characters will come in time but you will have to put in some work to unlock the rest.
NBA 2K17
Sports games often have difficult trophy lists. The sheer number of modes, each of which have trophy requirements, makes achieving them a daunting prospect. One of the best in the genre, NBA 2K17, might feature an even more difficult platinum than previous years’ games. The trophy list features 50 trophies, including 36 bronze, 11 silver, two gold, and one platinum, and requires you to do certain things in every one of the deep modes, some of which are very vague in their description. There are also difficulty based trophies that will test even the most seasoned NBA 2K players.
XCOM 2
Excluding the DLC trophies, XCOM 2 features 51 trophies, including 38 bronze, 10 silver, two gold, and one platinum. Many of the trophies are tough but there a few particular ones that will require a lot of skill and many, many hours to dedicate to the game. As XCOM 2 is such a huge game, some of the trophies will slowly be unlocked over a long amount of play time. The hardest trophy is one gold called ‘Valhalla’ which requires the player to ‘Beat the game on Commander+ difficulty in Ironman mode’. Since the mode does not let you save more than once manually, if you fail the objective, you lose, along with potentially 20+ hours of progress. You need to be confident of your skills and be careful in every step and every decision because a wrong move can be costly. Unlocking XCOM 2’s platinum is time consuming and punishing at every step.
Street Fighter V
How attainable a fighting game’s trophy list is often depends on how good you are at the game in question. In Street Fighter V, that is certainly the case. The game features 45 trophies, including 35 bronze, five silver, four gold, and a platinum, some of which are essentially exclusive for the truly top level players. The hardest of all is the trophy called ‘Let’s fight someone strong’ which requires you to reach the gold league in ranked play. To reach the gold league, you need 4000 LP which is gained by winning matches and lost by being defeated. As you move up the leagues you gain LP and face harder opponents and if you can’t beat them, you don’t progress. Since it is the top level, only the best players will reach the gold league and considering the number of matches you need to play in order to even stand a chance, even some of the best many not be able to reach gold league. This isn’t the only difficult trophy in Street Fighter V but it is the one that’ll keep most away from the platinum.
Verdun
Verdun’s trophy list isn’t one of those trophy lists that includes one or two stupidly difficult trophies that keeps you from getting the platinum, it is one that requires an insane amount of playtime to unlock even some of the simpler trophies. Verdun features 56 trophies, including 44 bronze, ten silver, one gold, and a platinum. Trophies are awarded for milestones in online play such as 10,000 kills, 5,000 headshots, or for reaching level 100. However, since Verdun’s servers aren’t the most populated of online shooters, achieving these statistics is almost a pipe dream. There are different levels for each trophy requirement, whether it be kills or medals, so they do unlock slowly as you play, but the higher level ones will take true dedication.
Enter the Gungeon
Many shorter games that feature extensive trophy lists require multiple playthroughs and Enter the Gungeon is one of those games. Featuring 49 trophies (34 bronze, 12 silver, two gold, and a platinum), Enter the Gungeon’s list requires the player to keep so many things in mind when playing to reduce the number of full playthroughs that are required, while struggling with the difficulty of completing the game in beast mode for a bronze trophy. You may end up spending more time cleaning up after you have finished than you did playing the main part of the game but it is certainly worth it.
Eagle Flight
Most PlayStation VR launch titles had relatively easy trophy lists. Job Simulator’s was all gold, Batman: Arkham VR’s was short, and Thumper’s focused on completing levels and getting S ranks. However, Ubisoft’s Eagle Flight follows the trend of the publisher’s other games and opts for trophies that require multiplayer interaction and collectible hunting, just as you would expect from an Assassin’s Creed game. The game features 35 trophies, including 20 bronze, ten silver, four gold, and a platinum, and range from requiring players to fly a certain distance to getting three stars on every challenge. Considering most VR owners spend short periods of time playing each game, getting the platinum in Eagle Flight will take a huge number of sittings. Also, since the online lobbies are quite empty, winning 200 multiplayer games may be tough.
Darkest Dungeon
While your first playthrough of Darkest Dungeon will net you a fair number of trophies, the length of the game and the need for multiple playthroughs makes the trophy list extremely time consuming. One trophy requires you to finish the game in 99 weeks, which may be tough the first time playing, and another requires you to reach week 104 – two things that can’t be done in the same playthrough. You also have to complete new game plus, which will be tougher than the first time you play. You can try to unlock all the tough smaller trophies in two playthroughs but it is unlikely that you will succeed with every single one, so more playthroughs are inevitable. Darkest Dungeon’s trophy list may be the most time consuming of the year.
