Many trophy hunters pursue platinums because they crave a challenge. For these players, skill-based and grindy games are the cream of the crop due to their rarity. This list is a collection of some of the most difficult platinum trophies that are out there. If you would like to add more prestige to your trophy list, read on.
Table of Contents
10. Deep Rock Galactic
Deep Rock Galactic is one of the titles that fits into the “grindy” portion of difficult platinum journeys. This title is an online cooperative first-person shooter that can easily rack up 500+ hours for completionists. One big reason for that is every trophy hunter’s favorite aspect in video games: RNG.
In addition to completing 100 solo missions and 500 missions in total for “Bosco, You’re The Best” and “Legendary Miner” respectively, players also need to find three different elusive collectibles: 10 bittergems, 20 compressed gold chunks, and 5 mysterious alien artifacts. These items boast a roughly 1:21 chance, 1:3 chance, and 1:26 chance respectively of spawning in any given mission. Unlucky players may go many missions without seeing any of the items they need. Since just one mission can take 30 minutes, it is obvious why this game requires so much time from the player.
The trophy “Legendary Team” is also worth pointing out. It requires the player to reach gold rank with all four playable dwarves. It will take hundreds of hours to accomplish this, and there aren’t really any tips beyond just keep playing.
The most hardy players will have earned their title as “Management’s Favorite Employee,” and be one of only 365 others (0.64% of total players) on PSN Profiles that can say the same. Rock and Stone!
9. Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online is an MMO derivative title in Bethesda’s action roleplaying series. MMO games are well-known for extensive grinding as they often need to keep players engaged for years. Trophy hunters may want to steer clear of this type of game as a result, lest they wish to spend hundreds of hours dedicated to one game world. In this case, it is difficult to nail down a specific required timeframe to acquire the platinum trophy since much of it is up to RNG.
The most notable trophy in the Elder Scrolls Online is named “Emperor!” It simply states that the player needs to dominate the Alliance War battlefield and become the Emperor of Tamriel. This means you must be the top-ranking player in your alliance and control all six regions in Imperial City. In practice, you will likely have to play the game for 6-8 hours a day, for a month. This trophy can be made easier with the cooperation of your guild, but it will still take an ungodly amount of your time to get.
There are also 16 DLC packs that were released for the game, each dressed with their own set of trophies. Platinum achievers will be among only 568 other players on PSN Profiles, at a stark 0.18% of players. More hardened players seeking the 100% goal will only be joined by 155 players, an alarming 0.05% of all players on PSN Profiles.
8. Street Fighter 5
It probably isn’t too surprising that a fighting game made the cut for this list. These games generally require a high level of precision and mechanical skill to master. Perhaps more alarming for some trophy hunters is that these games also often require participation in online competitive modes. If you are a trophy hunter that finds online trophies painful, then you should likely steer clear of this title.
Street Fighter 5 will teach you the basics of gameplay in its story mode and then ask you to spend 90% of your time in online matches to earn its platinum. Players need to play and win 300 matches to get “Bam, Bam, Win!” Even worse, combatants can disconnect and invalidate your hard-fought victories, making it even more difficult to rack up the necessary wins.
Beyond that, you also need to reach the golden league, which is the 8th rank players can achieve. This level requires 4,000 points to obtain. To put it into perspective, players generally earn 65 points for winning against same-rank opponents and at least 10 points against those at lower levels. Losing against other players will result in the loss of points as well, meaning you must win more matches than you lose to increase your points. Optimistically speaking, this will still require hundreds of matches to reach. The competitive nature of this trophy will require mastery of the game and your selected character.
Only 0.90% of players on PSN Profiles bridged the distance of “The Never-Ending Path.” In the same way, the journey to complete difficult platinum trophies is also a never-ending endeavor!
7. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is an indie roguelike game with a dedicated following. Make no mistake—you will have to be extremely dedicated to snag this platinum trophy for yourself, too.
This title will likely put you through at least 50-100 playthroughs to complete. Of note is the trophy “Real Platinum God,” which requires you to see and do everything that the game has to offer. You must collect every item, view all endings, and find every secret (of which there are 178!). These requirements also have additional prerequisites, such as completing the hard mode with the Lost or completing all the challenges. It cannot be stressed enough that the game is difficult by design, so you will need to master its mechanics and floor layouts in order to stand a chance.
For those crazy enough to attempt this, a platinum with only 3,612 (2.92% of players) achievers awaits you. If you can’t get enough of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, there are also two additional DLC packs of trophies: Afterbirth+ and Repentance. These will likely run you up several hundred more hours for those inclined. Only 233 (0.19% of players) users on PSN Profiles have managed to unlock them all.
6. Devil May Cry 5
The Devil May Cry series has always been on the tougher side for most players. These thrilling action games regularly rate your performance in battle and grade you based on originality, time elapsed, and combos. The most stylish players can earn up to a SSS rank in missions, while more clumsy performances will result in a D rank. Devil May Cry 5 has taken this gameplay mechanic and ran with it, and it is no more obvious than when you look over its trophy list.
To obtain the platinum trophy, you must beat the game at least six times at increasing difficulty levels; all with shiny S ranks to boot. With 21 missions available in the game, that means you will need to play through and S rank at least 126 levels, not including any required practice or failed runs.
Hell and Hell mode is also required for the “Highway to Hell” trophy, and will likely be the most difficult part of the trophy hunting experience. Enemies are given considerable buffs to their stats in this mode—while the player character dies in only one hit. As if beating this mode wasn’t difficult enough, you also need to get S ranks to qualify for the trophy “Worthy of Legend.” That means you will have to play both safely and smartly, and you will become well acquainted with the various bonuses and penalties that can affect your score.
The most “savage” players can look forward to earning a platinum with only a 2.60% completion rate on PSN Profiles. For those that can’t get enough of this style of gameplay, Devil May Cry 4 is also similarly difficult and may be right up your alley.
5. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
This long-running first-person shooter series surprised many players with its trophy list. The previous entries were tough, but doable; they were great games to add to your trophy list if you liked a bit of a challenge. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was an entirely different beast. Fans of the series would need to hone their skills if they wanted the entire collection under their belt.
In order to get the platinum trophy, you will first need to beat the game’s story and grab some collectibles along the way. A few miscellaneous tasks and side quests are also needed but they are not particularly difficult. The trophy that bars the platinum for many, however, is aptly named “Mein Leben.” This achievement requires the player to beat the game on the highest difficulty setting without dying a single time. Should the player succumb, they will have to restart the entire game—that’s right, this trophy introduces permadeath.
For those willing to take the risk and attempt one of the most difficult platinum trophies out there, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will likely take anywhere between 50-100 hours to complete. Only 1,776 players (1.22% of all owners) on PSN Profiles have accomplished this feat.
4. The Evil Within
The Evil Within is a survival horror game with inspirations from classics such as the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. It was generally well-received upon its release in 2014, with some criticisms regarding its performance, especially in full-screen mode, and its somewhat clunky controls. For trophy hunters, these problems are especially significant, as they can easily spiral challenging but ultimately doable trophies into frustrating and unfair affairs.
To obtain the platinum trophy for this game, the player must complete at least 3 playthroughs: survival completionist, speedrun, and Akumu. The survival completionist run has many requirements, including collectibles, leveling up all of Sebastian’s characteristics, and various combat related challenges. The difficulty lies more in the planning than the execution of this stage, as it is easy to miss trophies if you are not careful.
The speedrun playthrough requires the player to beat the game in under five hours. As long as you skip any unnecessary fights and replay potential chapters that were slow, it shouldn’t take too much time or effort to complete this stage. Thankfully, you can use chapter select should you need it.
The real difficulty in this platinum awaits in the third playthrough: Akumu. This is a Japanese word that means “Nightmare” in English, and it is a very accurate description of the experience. At this difficulty level, the player character dies in one hit. While challenging in its own right, the various problems mentioned earlier (namely, performance and controls) become huge sticking points. Additionally, enemies act erratically, so it is difficult to have any amount of consistency in encounters.
Getting through this stage is likely to set you back anywhere between 300-500 deaths, and you will be very familiar with Sebastian’s ragdoll animations by the end of it. Special care should be taken on chapters six and eleven, which are widely considered to be the point where players either persist or give up.
If you find yourself persevering through this struggle, you will be among good company: 4.02% of players on PSN Profiles achieved this platinum. You can also take it to the next level by completing the two DLC stacks, which are much easier overall, and join an elusive 1.55% club.
3. Splasher
This indie 2D platformer is among the most challenging games to platinum, largely due to its obscene speedrun requirements. You will need to complete three different speedruns with extremely tight timers: Selfish, Standard, and Gotta Catch’em All!
The Selfish run requires the player to beat the game as quickly as possible (no strings attached). The Standard playthrough asks the player to rescue at least 80 out of the total 154 Splashers on their way to beating the game. Finally, the Gotta Catch’em All run, as the name dictates, requires the player to find and save all 154 Splashers during the game. All three of these playthroughs must be completed with Platinum rank times, which will require careful routing and lots and lots of practice.
If you manage to get through the gauntlet of speedruns, you will be greeted with the “Ninja Runner” trophy. To obtain this one, you have to beat the game without dying a single time. Given the difficulty, this is likely to take you many attempts to complete. Only 71 players have obtained this platinum trophy, which amounts to 4.69% of players on PSN Profiles.
2. Super Meat Boy
Yet another 2D indie platformer makes its mark on this list! Super Meat Boy is iconic for its “getting over it” level of difficulty. Players will die, a lot, while playing this game casually. Trophy hunters will need to complete both speedruns and deathless runs, just like they had to for Splasher in the previous entry.
There are 12 different worlds with 20 levels each that you must beat without dying. The one saving grace is you may tackle them in any order you wish, so it is possible to do the most challenging levels early to give yourself the best chance of success. Even so, these trophies are likely to take hundreds of hours depending on your skill level at the game.
Players should take caution when going for the Cotton Alley dark world, as it is especially challenging. This world sees you playing as Bandage Girl rather than Meat Boy. It also brings together all the challenges of the previous worlds into one neat package, except for a boss. This will bring all of your skills to the test and may result in a few blisters if you’re not careful.
Only 979 trophy hunters (0.38% of players) on PSN Profiles have conquered Super Meat Boy and gotten the platinum trophy.
1. Crypt of the NecroDancer
Any conversation regarding difficult platinum trophies would be incomplete without mentioning the Crypt of the NecroDancer. This game is notorious in the community for its immense difficulty and unforgiving platinum requirements. As of this writing, only 26 players (0.09% of all owners) on PSN Profiles have achieved this platinum. For the uninitiated, Crypt of the NecroDancer is a roguelike rhythm game that requires players to move their character in time with the beat. The game itself is fairly difficult in its own right, but the platinum is in a whole other league.
So, what is required to obtain this elusive holy grail? While trophy hunting for this game, you will become well acquainted with all nine characters and their unique playstyles. You will have to beat all stages with each character, in a row, without dying a single time to achieve the trophy “Polyamorous.” If that wasn’t already difficult enough, succeeding will unlock a new character named Coda.
Coda combines the most challenging aspects from the other characters: the beat moves twice as fast, lowering the multiplier at all will end the run, and stepping on any gold on the grid will result in a game over. Furthermore, attempting a run with Coda means that all enemies will drop at least 1 gold, and you cannot increase your health beyond its starting value. Against the odds, if you do somehow make it through the All Zones mode as Coda, you will unlock the aptly named trophy “Impossible, Right?”
And yes, there is more. The trophy “Lowest of the Low” harkens back to “Polyamorous,” but with even more restrictions. In order to obtain this trophy, you need to again complete the All Zones mode with all nine characters (not including Coda). Like before, this must be done in a row and without dying. The difference here is that the player cannot pick up any items or use any shrines to gain abilities. This means that the player cannot increase their defense, heal themselves in any manner, or obtain any spells.
Keep in mind that the entire journey is likely to take over 1,000 hours to obtain the required level of mastery. In fact, doing so pretty much necessitates the use of a keyboard instead of a controller. Succeeding here means you will truly be the “NecroMaster!!”, as the platinum trophy dictates.
Conclusion
That was 10 games with difficult platinum trophies that are likely to keep even the most diligent of trophy hunters up at night. What hard platinums are missing? Are there any games on this list that you would like to get the platinum trophy for? Let us know in the comments! And if you’d like to go for some less intense platinum trophies, consider checking out our list of some of the best games for new trophy hunters.
Leave a Reply