I like to trophy hunt in my spare time. And I put the blame for my Platinum Trophy addiction solely on Telltale’s Batman. As you gain the Platinum Trophy for that game by doing literally nothing else but playing it to the end. It was the first Platinum I ever received, and I’ve only grown more obsessed with them as time has gone on.
As it stands right now, I have 36 Platinum Trophies. 10 of which I obtained in 2024 alone. Beating my previous record of 7 Platinum Trophies obtained in 2020. But I don’t trophy hunt in every game I play. I tend to only go for Platinum Trophies in games I either really enjoyed as a sign of just how much I loved it, or in games where the Platinum looks relatively painless. The whole purpose is defeated if I’m not having fun doing it.
However, I’m not against a good challenge here and there. So I’m going to break down the 10 games I got the Platinum Trophy in this year, ranked by how hard it was to do so. Starting with the easiest and ending with the hardest. Whether you’re a fellow trophy hunter, someone looking to start, or anywhere in between, this list should prove interesting.
Astro’s Playroom
Hardest Trophy: “Ready for the Proving”
Astro’s Playroom is not a very hard game. It’s a simple and enjoyable platformer made up of four mini worlds designed to show off the different advancements, functions, and processes of the PlayStation 5. Serving its purpose as a free pack-in game designed to entice you to buy more sweet PlayStation content.
On the trophy side, most of Astro’s Playroom‘s trophies are pretty straightforward for a platformer. Beat all the levels and obtain all the collectibles. However, there are a handful of very specific trophies that you probably won’t get unless you check the trophy list. Most of them are very easy, though.
In case you doubted me
The only other trophy that might slip players up is “A Grand Tour!,” which you get by obtaining all the puzzle pieces in the game. A lot of them are hidden within the hub’s gacha machine. So if you aren’t a kleptomanic like me who breaks everything to collect as many coins as possible, you might get stuck having to go through the levels again just to grind up currency. But even that isn’t challenging. Just a minor annoyance at most.
The Plucky Squire
Hardest Trophy: “Saviour of the Glitchbirds” / “Art Collector”
The Plucky Squire is pretty comfortably the most disappointing game I played in 2024. I had high expectations for it given the trailer. It seemed to combine two completely separate genres into one creative game concept in what was sure to be a smash success. Unfortunately, large sections of the game felt unfinished or unpolished. Leaving a lot of potential on the cutting room floor.
The Platinum Trophy for The Plucky Squire is nowhere near difficult, with only 21 trophies in total. Most of them are tied into story progression or collectibles. However, a development oversight makes two trophies way more annoying than they should be. Those being the trophies for obtaining all of the two types of collectibles. You can’t use Chapter Select after beating the game to get all the collectibles you missed.
I survived 2 playthroughs and all I got was this trophy
That means you have to get every single collectible in one run. Meaning you’ll most likely have to play through the entire game at least twice if you missed at least 2 of either collectible. You can simply follow a guide to get them all, so it’s not much of a challenge. Honorable mention goes to “Perfect Fish Grab.” Where you have to play a minigame over and over again until you win it first try.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
Hardest Trophy: “Kah-Rah-Tay King”
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Battle for Bikini Bottom came out when I was a kid. So of course I wasn’t going to miss its spiritual sequel: The Cosmic Shake. The game isn’t anything too spectacular. It’s mostly designed for kids, go figure. However, there are plenty of fun moments that kept me entertained throughout the adventure.
I’d say all the hardest trophies in the game are the ones tied into the boss fights. As each fight has a trophy for performing a certain objective. Usually related to not getting hit by a certain attack. However, one trophy requires you to complete an entire fight without getting hit a single time. It comes down to basic pattern recognition and precise timing. Though I don’t think anyone expects to do that in a SpongeBob game.
Ready to ring in a new year
I’ll also give an honorable mention to the trophy “SpongeBob JellyPants.” You unlock this trophy simply by having 10,000 of the game’s currency at one time. However, there is no in-game incentive to do this. So, if you don’t go into the game knowing you have to do this, it’s entirely possible you get stuck having to go through the levels again just to grind up currency. Huh. I feel like I said that already.
Sly 2: Band of Thieves
Hardest Trophy: “Master Thief”
The classic Sly Cooper series from the PlayStation 2 finally got some love for the first time in 11 years thanks to the first three games being ported directly to the PlayStation 5. Meaning, unlike other PlayStation classics on PS+, you don’t need an internet connection to play them. Futhermore, they also came with new trophy lists.
The HD version of Sly 2 had a very straightforward set of trophies that you were almost guaranteed to complete just by playing through the whole game. However, this new trophy list is completely revamped. Including a lot of weirdly specific trophies that, once again, you probably won’t get unless you look at the list. The hardest of which requiring you to sell 50 unique pieces of loot. Which can either be obtained by pickpocketing guards or finding treasures in each hub world.
Not every Platinum screenshot is a winner
The hub world treasures are easy enough to obtain, even if the timed ones are a little more stressful. Though the loot you pickpocket from guards is completely random. So, if you aren’t keeping track of which ones you’ve already sold and which ones you still need to get, it can quickly become a game of finding shiny, valuable needles in 8 different haystacks.
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
Hardest Trophy: “Bat’s all, folks”
Technically, this is one of the easiest Platinum Trophies I got this year. I got most of the trophies when I played LEGO Batman 3 back when it came out. So all I had to do was get through the story so I could complete all the bonus collectible stuff I never did.
However, that collectible stuff was a lot more of a slog than I expected. There are so many bonus side missions and random actions you have to perform in order to collect all the Gold Bricks and character tokens. And some of them can bug out and force you to start them all over again. Not to mention the races. While the controls are better than they were in LEGO Batman 2, it’s still a LEGO game. You aren’t getting precise vehicle controls.
Why is Conan in this game?
While I would not say that getting the Platinum Trophy in LEGO Batman 3 was hard, it certainly was not as straightforward or quick as the other ones I’ve already mentioned have been. Thanks to the sheer volume of things you have to do all for a reward that isn’t even worth it. Why would I need a coin fountain if one of the steps to unlock it is buying everything in the game?
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Hardest Trophy: “Speedius Thievius”
Some people call this foreshadowing. Much like its successor Sly 2, the original Sly game’s HD edition had a very simple list of trophies that most players will complete without even trying. Though its PS5 port completely overhauls it and makes it much more of a challenge.
There are a few specific challenges that can be tricky to pull off, like completing a whole level without being spotted once, or without getting hit at all. But my pick for the toughest trophy in the game is tied into the Master Thief Sprints. Something you didn’t have to touch in the original trophy list. However, in order to get this trophy, you have to complete 10 of them. Meaning speedrunning 10 of the levels in the game.
I have not, in fact, returned
Fortunately, there are quite a few levels where you can manipulate the environment to your advantage, either intentionally designed or otherwise, and skip almost the whole level. Regardless, I hate anything where I’m timed. So almost any game with a speed-based trophy gets a Platinum pass from me. It’s a testament to my love of the franchise that I did it anyway.
Unicorn Overlord
Hardest Trophy: “Champion of the Coliseum”
Unicorn Overlord is one of those games that isn’t going to hand over its Platinum Trophy until you do every single thing there is to do in the world of Fevrith. Which, for the most part, is pretty standard by tactical RPG standards. Completing missions, unlocking characters, exploring the map, the like. Though there are a few that provide a bit more of a challenge.
Obviously the trophy for finishing the intentionally tough post-game bonus mission is naturally more of a challenge than most. Though my pick for the toughest trophy goes to the one for completing the Coliseum. A series of progressively tougher, and entirely optional, fights that test the strengths of the quartets you’ve put together. All culminating in a boss fight against the Coliseum Champion.
The world isn’t saved until you get a trophy for it
Fortunately, there’s at least a worthy reward in it for you at the end. Though a large element of Unicorn Overlord‘s challenge comes from your lack of direct control over each character’s actions. Which makes this more challenging than it otherwise would have been in a more standard RPG. Where you could go in with a specific set of moves to use against the boss.
Alan Wake II
Hardest Trophy: “Rustic Charm”
Sometimes it seems like I come up with list ideas that give me another excuse to talk about Alan Wake II. Though I promise that’s not the case. One of the most underrated aspects of Alan Wake II is how none of the collectibles are missable. Which is almost unheard of in a survival horror game. I’m looking at you, Resident Evil.
Alan Wake II has 3 main kinds of collectibles. So really you could pick any of the collectible related trophies as the toughest. As obtaining the Platinum in Alan Wake II isn’t difficult thanks to the trophy list, but thanks to the game itself not being a pushover. I picked the trophy for collecting all of the charms, because they’re rather small and some can be easy to miss. Even after you’ve completed the puzzle.
Like that movie with the dog
The trophy I actually got last was “Back to Life,” which you get by using one of the single-use Coffee Mug charms to revive yourself when you run out of health. I never used a single one of them throughout my entire run in favor of Charms that actually provided permanent boosts and weren’t single-use.
Astro Bot
Hardest Trophy: “The Golden Bot” / “Nowhere To Hide”
Oh look, it’s 2024 Game of the Year! A fully expanded realization of the core ideas of Astro’s Playroom, complete with a larger trophy list and some much harder trophies. Because if there’s one things platformers love, it’s throwing in at least one level way more painstakingly difficult than every single other level in the game. And Astro Bot has two of them.
First up is the Square Trial level Splashing Sprints. Which you’ll need to complete in order to save all the bots in the Camo Cosmos, which gets you the “Nowhere to Hide” trophy. The core item you need to use is unreliable at best and makes the precision jumps you need to pull off that much more tricky. And it’s inconspicuously sandwiched with other levels that are much more simple and delightful.
A better Uncharted 5 than Naughty Dog could ever make
Then there’s the Great Master Challenge. The final level of the game that you can only unlock by rescuing every bot in every level. And unlike Splashing Sprints, it actually makes sense that this level is hard. It’s meant to be the final obstacle that tests all the skills you’ve sharpened throughout the game. And the reward for beating it is a strange choice, to say the least.
Lollipop Chainsaw RePop
Hardest Trophy: “Go, Medal Racer, Go!” / “No Fear Of Heights”
This game has been on my radar for a long time. And not for the reason you may think. I have been a fan of James Gunn’s work with Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker. And I’m very much looking forward to his Superman film coming out in July. So learning that he co-wrote a video game where a cheerleader slaughters zombies with a giant chainsaw immediately made it something I had to experience.
Lollipop Chainsaw has a grand total of 51 trophies of all different kinds. Some are plot related, some are extra challenges in boss fights, and quite a few are speedrun related. However, there are two that stand out above the rest for being just plain annoying. In “Go, Medal Racer, Go!” you have to collect every single coin while Chainsaw Dashing across rooftops. As you can imagine, chainsaws can’t exactly turn precisely. And many coins are missable. Meaning you’re in for a lot of loading the last checkpoint to try the same stretch over and over.
You’ll never guess what trophy I got last
Then there’s “No Fear of Heights,” where you have to complete a tower climbing minigame without firing a single bullet to destroy the hazards enemies throw at you. This means it almost entirely boils down to luck. As you can very easily get screwed over by hazard timing and have to start all over again. Maybe I’m just bad at video games. But Lollipop Chainsaw RePop was easily the hardest Platinum Trophy I earned in 2024.
