Amazing Game, Crappy Trophy List

[CatHasTrophies]

I was disappointed too. I was fpcussed on collecting everything because thats how it always worked (in Ratchet and Clank, Sly, Jak and Dexter, Spyro,... in all thrse games).

 

When I found out that I only need 5 gold bolts I was really surprised. And there was no race like in the old games, where I struggled multiple times just to scream once I beat it.

 

But - in the same time there are trophy lists I hate more. If you look at the lost of Final Fantasy XIV as an example, you have to grind hundrets of hours without getting any reward (gather 8000 collectibles, craft 5000 collectibles. Thats much worse, really. Or some of the Resident Evil Trophy Lists where you have to beat the game 6 times ? Difficulty specific trophies are fine but 6 times is just boring imo. So yeah, the list isnt good but I guess it could be worse

 

 

[Cherrywood]

On 6/22/2021 at 6:01 PM, DrBloodmoney said:

What the hobby is less for, though, is the hypocrisy of those complaining about an easy trophy list being attached to the latest entry in a franchise that has always been aimed at a younger audience and has never trafficked in ‘challenge’ as a selling point.

 

Have you never platinumed a Ratchet and Clank game before?  Because none of them have a trophy list like this.  The other ones, if there's a Hard Mode, you have to replay the game on that Hard Mode and beat it.  If there are Gold Bolts, and there pretty much always are, you gotta find all of them.  All those cool weapons?  You have to hit max level with every single one of them.  But this game?  You don't want to upgrade all the weapons?  Don't worry because you don't need to.  25 Gold Bolts?  Don't worry, you only need to find 5 of them.  And sure, Ratchet has never been a particularly difficult franchise of games.  Hard mode in Ratchet was still never that hard....but if it was there then you had to do it.  If you were going to go for the Platinum trophy....you still had to "go" for the Platinum trophy.  If you want to just play the game, that's fine, but if you want to go for the Platinum, you gotta do everything.  It's similar to The Last of Us Part 2 compared to The Last of Us.  That second game?  You could just play through that game on the easiest difficulty setting with accessibility options turned on to an extent that the game was nearly playing itself...and you could still get the Platinum trophy.  And I'm of the opinion that that's not a good thing.  It feels like they're using the ease of the Platinum trophy as a marketing tactic for the game (which is the kind of mentality that leads to garbage like My Name is Mayo, in my opinion).  And I'm not saying that it makes the game bad.  I have the game but I haven't played it yet, replatinuming FF7 Remake right now, but I'm sure it's as wonderful as I've heard it is.  I'm sure it's an amazing game.  It just has a bad trophy list.

[AdruA]

Back in the day when i started trophy hunting, trophies felt more like 'played a game at its fullest' & sometimes even with some 'random stuff' added, it really felt good to 100% a game because you could literally say then 'this game has no secrets for me anymore'

 

Nowadays trophies are just a 'method to sell', some games make it sooo easy that it holds little value, whilst other games somehow forgot the definition of 'a challenge' & go ahead with 'grind diz shit' instead of real difficulty, i mean, imo 'do a backflip 360 with ur car in the air' sounds way cooler than 'drive 300 miles' or 'open ur car door'

 

However i might look like going 100% trophies on anything, i really dont focus on that anymore, trophies were the reason i became 'a completionist' but nowadays from time to time i find myself completing more than just the trophy list, i like to play a game to its fullest potential & thats exactly what i do

 

Tl;dr: dont focus on trophies, play until you are satisfied ??

[TheNarrator]

Total agree that this R&C list could have been a bit fuller or slighty more rewarding. No reason they couldnt have gone for all gold bolts/all lv5 weapons/all collectables/all challenges, and not asked for much more from the players, as we're more or less doing those anyway.

 

Maybe theyll add some NG+ dlc trophies for those, as they sometimes do with Sony games.

[Alatielko]

It's not about only the trophies though. They made the game even more casual than ever before. I mean, puzzles are way easier than in Crack In Time. Virus mini-game is also easy and as straightforward as it can be. Mini-Rifts - same: easy and straigthforward. No races/hoverboards/space missions, and they were almost always somewhat challenging. And as for main gameplay itself: yes, they added difficulty settings, saying "look, here is your challenge if you want that"... but do I want that, considering all that said before? It feels so uninspiring. Definitely miles away from being the best R&C game.

[knicksrulez220]

2 hours ago, Alatielko said:

It's not about only the trophies though. They made the game even more casual than ever before. I mean, puzzles are way easier than in Crack In Time. Virus mini-game is also easy and as straightforward as it can be. Mini-Rifts - same: easy and straigthforward. No races/hoverboards/space missions, and they were almost always somewhat challenging. And as for main gameplay itself: yes, they added difficulty settings, saying "look, here is your challenge if you want that"... but do I want that, considering all that said before? It feels so uninspiring. Definitely miles away from being the best R&C game.

I paid $70 for this game and don't regret it. I personally had a great time and felt like this was the first next-gen game I've gotten to experience. 

 

I had no issues with the combat, but what felt uninspiring to me was the story. There is rarely any tension between the characters and its all so cheesy. I don't remember Ratchet's character being so boring. The older Ratchet games were a bit edgy and I miss that. 

 

Here's hoping we get a PS5 Jak and Daxter game someday...

[bosstristan]

On 01/07/2021 at 8:23 PM, knicksrulez220 said:

I paid $70 for this game and don't regret it. I personally had a great time and felt like this was the first next-gen game I've gotten to experience. 

 

I had no issues with the combat, but what felt uninspiring to me was the story. There is rarely any tension between the characters and its all so cheesy. I don't remember Ratchet's character being so boring. The older Ratchet games were a bit edgy and I miss that. 

 

Here's hoping we get a PS5 Jak and Daxter game someday...

I also was disappointed by the chara design, Ratchet is watered down to the point where it's only dew.

[djb5f]

I understand the trophies are easier than some of the others in the series but we are talking about a kiddie game.  The equivalent of if a LEGO game was easier/quicker than the rest (which has probably happened). 
 

Sure, it’s possible I’ll get it one day down the road for $10 or less - or wait for it to come to PS Plus.

 

The only Ratchet game I owned was Tools of Destruction (received free as a giveaway way back when) and only played a few minutes of it before selling.  
 

Actually, I also have Ratchet & Clank 2015 from PS Plus but it is pretty far down my backlog and I’ll probably never get to it honestly.

[Patpear]

Here's the thing: I'm just a completionist in most games. The trophies are just another hurdle of completion, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna 100% this game fully. You can get the most out of your games without having a trophy list tell you how to do so. 

[emailking]

True, I'm playing challenge mode and trying to upgrade all of the weapons to level 10, just for the fun of it. Infinite ammo really helps here when you get all the gold bolts aha

[WildeNick]

I consider myself more of a casual trophy hunter and I still agree that this trophy list is very easy. It is not just easy, it feels meaningless. The main reason I got into trophies is that they point you toward game content that you might have missed. Like Souls games (beat all bosses) or Quantic Dream games, especially Detroit (different outcomes and all endings) or complete all side quests in open world games, especially when they are very well written (The Witcher 3 for example).

 

There is also another side of the trophies, the feeling from actually achieving something. Like beating a harder difficulty or doing something very skill based. Although I have to say, that high difficulty is not always balanced and done interesting. For instance The Last of Us shines on grounded difficulty, it becomes more interesting, smarter and generates hilarious situations when you end up in a room full of enemies with a single bottle/brick xD. But games like CoD: BO3 or Wolfenstein 2, in my opinion, are a pure frustration on highest difficulty. And there is also stuff like doing something silly and funny, discovering an Easter egg or using a game mechanic to its full potential.

 

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart's trophy list doesn't have anything from above. You get almost all the trophies halfway through the story without even noticing it. Ratchet & Clank 2015 was an easy plat, this one is much more easier. Don't have to collect all gold bolts, don't have to upgrade and level up all weapons. Don't have to complete puzzles in one life or with specific conditions. You don't have to do anything. Also I don't understand the way they used PS5 cards with hints. They created video hint for every collectible that is displayed on the map but no hints for a single collectible (bears) that isn't. I thought that the whole purpose of those cards is that you can save yourself some time by not searching YouTube or google. 

 

Maybe they didn't have or didn't want to spend much time on trophies. In a way, for myself, I can justify the trophies for this game by the fact that everything is fun to do on its own. It is a very high quality game. It loads in no time, runs smooth and looks gorgeous on a 4k panel. Gameplay in general, but movement and shooting specifically, is extremely satisfying with DualSense. Gold bolts are actually useful. They give you something in return, so there is motivation to collect them all. And usually to get to them you have to use all movement tools you have. I leveled up and upgraded all weapons because I had much fun with adaptive triggers. Though I wish they utilized left trigger too. Playing regular PS4 game or anything with Dualshock 4 doesn't feel the same anymore.

 

I finished the game twice, upgraded and cleaned up everything. Very fun and enjoyable experience, totally worth its money, even with a lazy/meaningless trophy list.  

Edited July 9, 2021 by WildeNick

[AJ_Radio]

My reasons for gravitating more towards indies and niche titles is because they still offer some challenge and reward. Something that most AAA games in general haven't exactly done for years now.

 

31 minutes ago, WildeNick said:

Playing regular PS4 game or anything with Dualshock 4 doesn't feel the same anymore.

 

You're comparing two different generations. It's always hard to go back to older games, and here it's no different.

 

Seeing autopopped trophies on many PS5 games and the trophy lists being ridiculously easy for the most part is actually driving me away from a PS5, but mostly because it is too damn expensive.

[Alatielko]

Btw, Astro's Playroom's platinum is more rare than this now. It really tells everything about this game's trophy list.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Alatielko

[Deadly_Ha_Ha]

3 minutes ago, Alatielko said:

Btw, Astro's Playroom's platinum is more rare than this now. It really tells everything about this game's trophy list.

I've been watching the rarity diminish every day since release. It's crazy. 

[AJ_Radio]

Astro’s Playroom is a launch title that comes WITH the PS5, so the rarity drop is to be expected.

[emailking]

The R&C plat is still rare across all owners, it's just not rare amongst PSN Profiles members.

[Deadly_Ha_Ha]

1 hour ago, emailking said:

The R&C plat is still rare across all owners, it's just not rare amongst PSN Profiles members.

That's not really... Important though since we all are psnprofiles members. But by tomorrow when it's probably 64% that's so common it's hard to even wrap my mind around.

[DrBloodmoney]

14 hours ago, Alatielko said:

Btw, Astro's Playroom's platinum is more rare than this now. It really tells everything about this game's trophy list.

 

14 hours ago, Deadly_Ha_Ha said:

I've been watching the rarity diminish every day since release. It's crazy. 

 

11 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

Astro’s Playroom is a launch title that comes WITH the PS5, so the rarity drop is to be expected.

I will just say - having now platted both R&C and Astro’s Playroom (and enjoyed both) - that discrepancy is surprising to me too - for the simple reason that Astro’s is free to everyone, shorter, and a fundamentally better game than Ratchet is - as well as both being relatively simple to plat.

 

The only thing I can think is that because Astro’s is a free pack-in, and (at least on paper) a tutorial, some people don’t value it as much, since they didn’t specifically set out to purchase it.

More people probably started it that just don’t like 3D platformers (for example) generally, than would actively purchase and play something like a Ratchet and Clank 

[Slava]

100%-ing this game will probably feel the same way as 100%-ing a PS2 Ratchet game. Or even Spyro on  PS1. Insomniac titles have always had their in-game unlockables, skill points, and sometimes, in-game trophies (R&C3). In every R&C game you got something for full completion with or without trophies. So you can just ignore the trophy list and enjoy 100%-ing Rift Apart the same way. Bad trophy lists are not a big deal anyway.

 

I gotta be honest, some replies here were confusing to me.

 

"Do you want Rift Apart to be a super hard game with an UR platinum???"

No one said they want a hard platinum. Also, OP literally said this isn't about the plat being too easy.

 

"R&C have always been easy"

Yes. That was the point. They have been easy, so this change makes no sense. The trophies like "collect 5/25 gold bolts" are just weird. They remind me of the old meme "Luigi wins by doing absolutely nothing". You're likely to get the trophy even if you don't actively look for bolts.

 

"I don't want to grind for trophies"

Then don't do it. Trophies are optional, they're not blocking you from reaching the ending or anywhing like that. 

[AJ_Radio]

9 hours ago, Slava said:

"R&C have always been easy"

Yes. That was the point. They have been easy, so this change makes no sense. The trophies like "collect 5/25 gold bolts" are just weird. They remind me of the old meme "Luigi wins by doing absolutely nothing". You're likely to get the trophy even if you don't actively look for bolts.

I forgot about that meme. Mario Party 2 brings back so many memories. I thought only people in my age group were familiar with it. 
 

The list doesn’t make sense either. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales still has you doing New Game Plus as well as finding all collectibles. Why couldn’t Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart have the same list. 
 

This is one of those few times that I wish I had a PS5.

[FocusDR]

Not disappointing personally but yeah maybe it was too easy/quick. I think it was a great way to kick off next generation games. 

[offdutysuperhero]

the same people that claim its silly to not buy a game because of an easy trophy list are the same ones that avoid games that have a hard trophy list. hypocrisy much.

 

money isnt an issue for me, but buying rift apart i have buyers remorse still.

[WildeNick]

On 7/9/2021 at 11:37 AM, AJ_Radio said:

You're comparing two different generations. It's always hard to go back to older games, and here it's no different.

I wasn't really comparing two generations, well at least I didn't want to. My point was that R&C: Rift Apart is very fun and enjoyable game, and all these new generation features add up to that enjoyment from playing. That's why I think the game deserves to be completed 100% no matter what the trophy list says or how good/bad/easy/boring it is.

 

For me the trophy list is usually very dependent on general game quality and how interesting it is for me to play that game. The better a game is and the more fun it is for me to play it, the less important its trophy list becomes. Because if I am having a great time with that game, I know that I will probably do everything this "peace of software" has to offer. On the other hand, if a game becomes boring very fast, I immediately look into trophies and will only do what's necessary for platinum/100%. 

 

As an example, after I've completed R&C: Rift Apart I started Maneater. Got it from PS Plus. I knew that it is not a AAA Blockbuster or something, but I also didn't think that I will get bored so quickly. I don't think the game is bad or anything, it just didn't work for me. So after 4-5 hours into the game I got bored, but unfortunately for me, if you want to get plat, you have to 100% it. So in this case I wouldn't mind if trophy list didn't require you to collect everything. Thank goodness the game isn't long.

 

To be honest, I don't think that for a lot of people on PSNP the "quality" of a trophy list is a major factor. More often than not, it is all about statistics. To get +1 to your plat collection, to get your profile completion rate as close to 100% as possible, to get a higher place on leaderboard tables. There is no fun/challenge in My Name is Mayo or Slyde. Nothing exceptional about stacking Sound Shapes 6 times. I have a few of those cash grabs myself. Literally spend 1€ or 2€ to slightly boost my completion and country rank. Why though?...

 

What I'm trying to say (OMG...I guess I'm trying to say a lot...), is that a game should not be judged, and especially avoided, only because of its trophy list.  

Edited July 14, 2021 by WildeNick

[AJ_Radio]

On 7/14/2021 at 1:35 AM, WildeNick said:

I wasn't really comparing two generations, well at least I didn't want to. My point was that R&C: Rift Apart is very fun and enjoyable game, and all these new generation features add up to that enjoyment from playing. 

Yes you did. You said going back to PS4 games with a Duelshock 4 controller doesn’t feel the same anymore. 
 

As much as I love the old Ratchet & Clank games, they definitely show their age. They were a product of their time, just like Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time. Most people who look at that nowadays will see how old and dated it feels. 

[dieselmanchild]

35 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

As much as I love the old Ratchet & Clank games, they definitely show their age. They were a product of their time, just like Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time. Most people who look at that nowadays will see how old and dated it feels. 

If you don’t care too much about graphics then IMO the old R&C games actually hold up surprisingly well despite their age, and are still very fun and satisfying to play. I’ve played through most of them by now and I think I’d probably say the original trilogy is still my favourite at this point.
 

The only one I’d say maybe did age poorly is the very first game, mostly because of the inability to strafe in combat. It really changes the entire dynamic of combat and causes many of the encounters feel clumsy and awkward. With Ratchet 2 and onwards they really improved the controls and expanded the gameplay. 
 

Luckily for me I started with R&C 1 and worked my way through the series, but I would imagine that anybody going back to R&C 1 from a subsequent entry in the series would probably have a bad time.