What are the platinum thoughts for this game? It came to PS Now this month

[xBenlander]

Just curious what everyone thinks of this game. It has a very low platinum rate. 

[OriginZen]

It looks interesting. I don't know much about it but I'll be trying it cause it's up my alley, if I enjoy it I might write a trophy guide on it.

[DrBloodmoney]

I liked it - here’s my review I wrote back when I played it:

 

 

Through the Darkest of Times

 

Set across 4 chapters, each taking place during a significant point in the rise and fall of the Nazi party and the Third Reich in Germany, Through the Darkest of Times is a game that does not approach history with any flights of fancy. The player is not going to have any opportunity to change or improve the course of history. 
They guide their small band of randomly generated resistance members through 1933, with the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor and the burning of the Reichstag, then 1936, through the German Olympic games and Hitlers (largely successful) masking of the true state of Germany to the outside world, then 1941, with the war in full effect, then through 1945, during the downfall of the Third Reich and the implementation of the final solution.

 

The purpose of this game - it should be stated clearly - is not to have fun. It is to educate. In that regard, it succeeds, and does it in a way that is fairly stylish in its minimalistic, signature visuals, and deft in its use of overbearing odds and difficulty as both a gameplay and narrative mechanic.

The game treats history as set in stone. The nuance of success and failure within the context of the game is, in the grand scheme, small. A wholly successful playthrough of the game is measured by the ability of the group to stay alive, out of prison, and without descending into abject despair and dissolution in the face of overwhelming odds. If they are able to help some people along the way, that is great, but even the most successful playthrough will likely do one of a few key things. Perhaps destroy a few weapons stashes. Maybe help smuggle a few people (10-15 maximum) across the border to some relative safety. Possibly even broadcast some information about the internal atrocities to the outside world - but never more than that. 

Even those modest successes are tricky to achieve, and fraught with potential disaster for the members of the group. Most likely, the first few playthroughs of the game will not even manage these outcomes. Either the group will simply manage to survive, achieving little else, or will end up disbanded, arrested, in a concentration camp, or dead.

Where the game excels, is in these early playthroughs. 

The story of the rise and fall of the Third Reich is well known to virtually every person on the planet at this point. Indeed, it forms part a major part of high-school history curriculums in most European countries, however, what lends Through the Darkest of Times its potency is not in the retelling of historical fact writ large, but by telling, with extreme specificity and careful nuance, how these events felt to those in Germany at the time. The game's best parts are its narrative elements, and these are intercut throughout the strategic gameplay at a steady rate. Every turn (each chapter consists of 19-20 turns) has some form of minor conversation between the members of the residence group themselves, but every second or third turn is also broken up with motion comic images and textual, choice-based narrative storytelling, wherein friends, neighbours and ordinary Germans are interacted with. These sections do an excellent, often chilling job of showing different aspects of how a great country descended into fascism. 
The people who support the Nazi's are not presented as monsters - to do so would be to demean history, and to fail to learn from it. Instead, they are polite, nice people. They share cake. They break bread. They wave hello. They discuss politics and religion and socialism, but the creeping way in which a borderline messianic figure like Adolf Hitler has an effect on different people, and the slow justifications of peoples support of his policies, and the way such politics play into existing fears and biases is handled with care and consideration - making the entire narrative claustrophobic and sobering. 
Because we, as players, have the benefit of historical knowledge, the sometimes, naive, sometimes hopeless, sometimes desperate or misguided indications given by citizens we meet have a gnawing, gut-churning horror to them, and the game knows this. It is a testament to the writers and the game developers that they do not tend towards accenting these instances with overwrought effects or hanging narrative lanterns. That they are unaccented and unassuming is the most horrifying part of all.

 

In terms of mechanics, Through the Darkest of Timesstates, right in the cover art, what it is - A Historical Residence Strategy Game. That format - a title, and a wordy description - is unusual in the marketing of videogames, but is actually common to another genre - tabletop games. 
That is, I think, no accident. Through the Darkest of Times feels very, very much like a tabletop game, and if it were not for the deeply problematic element that would come from one player having to assume the role that the CPU takes in this case - that of the Nazi regime  - I would imagine the game would completely work as a tabletop venture. 

The actual game elements, aside from the narrative, choice-based sections, is very much a resource management, dice-roll-based game of percentages. The players little band of resistance  members use what little resources they have to complete missions - shown as simple icons on a still map of Berlin - in order to receive other resources in return, with a risk reward structure that works very much on a Dungeons and Dragons +1-style roll system. Each member has various stats (Secrecy / Strength / Empathy / Propaganda etc.) as well an affiliation (Social Democrat / Communist / Catholic Conservative etc,) a job, specific positive and negative traits, and of course, an age and gender - and each of these elements can make them more or less suited to specific tasks. If trying to raise funds from the Christian community, for example, the most efficient method may be to send a fellow Christian, however, a Social Conservative with a higher Propaganda and Empathy skill may be the better option.

 

Those kind of decisions are common, however, there are other factors that are a constant source of issues too. Every task, from the most risky to the most benign, comes with the risk of being seen. Amass too much notoriety, and the gestapo may come calling - unless you are able to go into hiding, or make your records disappear. If arrested morale in the group will plummet. Some other members may be able to break you out, but that's taking them away from other things, and risks their own capture - and every day counts. With every new day, more atrocities happen, and the group is suffering a constant drip-drip-drip of declining morale, declining support, and declining funds, which can only be alleviated with constant, careful action. Simply holding things together is a task, in and of itself.

This can lead the game to feel oppressively crushing and overwhelmingly bleak. And it is. It's meant to be. Living in Germany at that time was. The game does a fascinatingly good job of making simple survival, even without achieving anything else, difficult. It is incredibly easy for one poor decision, or bad roll to start a domino effect that means the group goes from planning a big mission, to simply fire-fighting and struggling to even make it to the end of a chapter. That may make the game sound less than fun, and... well... I can't help that. It's true. That isn't fun. It's desperate, crushing, difficult and not prone to any kind of fist pumping victory. 
Even if everything goes perfectly, and a mission is achieved, there is a good chance some members will be arrested or killed for their efforts. Actually managing to pull off one of the 'special' bigger missions without it tipping the group over the edge of ruin requires a huge amount of planning, luck and the right people, but the game does not treat that as some world-changing event. At best, the group survives to struggle the next chapter, back to square one.

 

In some very real ways, the game put me in mind of This War of Mine. That game also was about normal people simply trying to survive abnormal events out of their control, and in its best moments, Through the Darkest of Times can actually outpace This War of Mine on the educational and narrative front. In both cases, there is a crushing sense of impending doom - indeed, in some sense, Through the Darkest of Times actually succeeds more in this regard also, as, unlike This War of Mine, is is much, much more difficult to ever get to a 'comfortable' place. A minor quibble I had with This War of Mine, was that after a certain number of days, it could become easy to survive, lessening the impact of the game's thesis statement. By 'resetting' the playing field each Chapter, Through the Darkest of Times avoids this. However - there is a catch. Actually three of them.

 

Firstly, the actual gameplay of Through the Darkest of Times, as compared to This War of Mine, is lacking. Yes, there is a lot of nuance to it, and yes, it works in this context, but This War of Mine'sgameplay was varied and interesting enough that I believe it would work, even without the Wartime setting and statement. I don't necessarily believe the same could be said of Through the Darkest of Times.The platinum required a large number of replays, and the gameplay did begin the drag a little by the end, in a way This War of Mine's didn't.

 

Secondly, the narrative of This War of Mine was entirely born out of the specific playable characters. Because it was set in a less specific, more broad 'wartime' and did not reference specific historical events, it is lent a repeatability and universality that Through the Darkest of Times lacks. Now, that is not an issue from the educational side - indeed, there is real history to be learned here, and real lessons to be learned and parallels to be drawn, which is admirable - however, it means repeatability is an issue. 
The first time I played, those narrative sections had a genuinely profound, moving or horrifying effect on me. By my 10th playthrough, they had become an irritating distraction. That isn't casting shade on the content, just on the repetition. I had seen them too many times, and they do not change dramatically, so the impact was, unavoidably, lessened. 
Even Schindler's List would get you numb if you watched it 10 times in 4 days!

 

Finally - and this is a big one, and the most sizeable caveat in a game that I do broadly recommend - the game has technical issues. 
Quite a few of them.

There game is a port from PC, and it hasn't been ported perfectly. 

There are a few minor issues, such as grammatical inconsistencies or spelling errors in text, which are silly, but ultimately unimportant. 

 

There are some technical running issues, such as the game crashing around once for every two or three playthroughs which are less so. There is, notably, a mode called 'Resistance Mode' which is basically Iron Man, with no saves - which I never touched. I might have, but the game crashed consistently enough in Story Mode, that I didn't have any confidence in my ability to make it through a full run without saves. That is a bit of a shame.

 

Then, there is the ones that are not at all acceptable - issues with UI not being corrected for controller. 
Inputs can be finicky and unresponsive at times. It can occasionally be difficult, when there are a lot of icons on the map, to select the desired one with the D-Pad, as it is designed for a mouse and keyboard. 
Some menus can have issues, where, for example, if data goes onto a second page, it is not possible to flip to the second page, and so you need to use icons from the first. 

The worst though, is in item management, and this issue actually cost me a full run.
To explain: if you collect more items than you are able to store, an 'overburdened' items slot opens up, and requires you to move some items back and forth from your inventory, to 'trash' before you can continue. This menu simply DOES NOT WORK. 

There is a tutorial video attached, showing you that you need to drag items from one menu to the other to select which items to keep. However, this has never been modified to allow use of the controller. you cannot drag items back and forth. 
As such, whatever is the newest item, MUST be trashed. There is no other option. 

I cannot describe the annoyance of having done a full run, all the way to Chapter 4, doing the not inconsiderable work of setting up one of the big, final missions, sending all my agents to steal 3 pieces of necessary documentation, actually succeeding in all 3, which should be the final preparation needed... then having one of those items overburden me. 
I was forced to trash that mission critical item, in favour of keeping a bunch of useless coal in my inventory, thus destroying any hope of finishing the mission, and essentially wasting the entirety of a 2 hour run.

 

While I fully accept this is a small game from a small dev, that is a serious oversight, and one the game should not have over a year after console release. Yes, I was likely simply the victim of bad fortune - indeed, it is relatively rare to ever get to the point of overburden - but the fact that it hit at such a critical moment was disastrous, and disheartening.

 

Overall, despite the technical issues, it's hard not to have respect for Through the Darkest of Times. It's a simple game, and one that, given its minimalist graphics and niche-genre mechanics, are not going to appeal broadly, however, its overall aim - to show how insidious fascism gets it's hooks in ordinary people, and draws power from that ensorcelled proletariat - is handled extremely well. It has genuine educational value - I could absolutely envision school children being encouraged to play a few games of Through the Darkest of Times as an educational tool in history class, in the vein of something like Oregon Trail.
For the rest of us, education is key too. Education should not stop at graduation, and if one can learn new things while playing in a hobby, all the better. On that front, you could do a lot worse than Through the Darkest of Times.

[AK-1138]

Well, I'm living the darkest of times, so I don't need to play a potentially passable but even more potentially forgettable video game version of it.

 

...Oh, and that whole "darkest of times" thing isn't, like, a reference to the increasingly bleak state of the future of human existence or anything... the light bulb in my living room just died, and the replacement bulbs are down in the creepy basement domain of Mr. Furnace, who killed my great-uncle Louie during the Great Barbara Stanwyck Marathon of '98... damn it, Uncle Louie, why did you have to store your lukewarm low-quality working class beer in the basemeeeeeeent?!? Whyyyyyyyyy?!? The wholesome yet sultry charms of Barbara Stanwyck are enjoyable for the drunk and sober aliiiiiiiiike!!!

 

...You may also be asking why I am not using, like, the TV to provide light in its stead... well, my TV lacks a blue light filter, and TV viewage without sufficient lighting isn't recommended.

 

...Also, I guess since I am currently making my way through the situation I would be remiss in referring to it in the past tense, so please ignore that. 

[Finch_III]

It's a decent game, and the platinum isn't especially difficult (despite the low achievement rate). 

 

I was the first person to get the platinum on PSN Profiles, and I got about 1/4 of the way through writing a guide before work/life got in the way. That was over a year ago now! 

 

Honestly, the hardest part of the game is the glitches and the RNG. There are a few glitches in the last chapter that make a couple of the trophies difficult. First, I was never able to hide people in the 'free' hideout. It just wouldn't let me. Also, sometimes a couple would get 'stuck' in the hideout, meaning you couldn't then ferry them to the border from the hideout. 

 

But each run only takes about an hour if you're rushing through it, so it wasn't a major problem. I spent about 50 hours getting the platinum, but I think you can probably do it in half that. I had to work out a lot of stuff for myself – strategies, how to get certain trophies etc. There was minimal information available. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Finch_III

[Drizzora-]

On 3/12/2022 at 2:00 PM, Finch_III said:

It's a decent game, and the platinum isn't especially difficult (despite the low achievement rate). 

 

I was the first person to get the platinum on PSN Profiles, and I got about 1/4 of the way through writing a guide before work/life got in the way. That was over a year ago now! 

 

Honestly, the hardest part of the game is the glitches and the RNG. There are a few glitches in the last chapter that make a couple of the trophies difficult. First, I was never able to hide people in the 'free' hideout. It just wouldn't let me. Also, sometimes a couple would get 'stuck' in the hideout, meaning you couldn't then ferry them to the border from the hideout. 

 

But each run only takes about an hour if you're rushing through it, so it wasn't a major problem. I spent about 50 hours getting the platinum, but I think you can probably do it in half that. Being the first person to get the platinum, I had to work out a lot of stuff for myself – strategies, how to get certain trophies etc. There was minimal information available. 

How’s the guide going? I might play this game if there’s a reliable guide for this. Thanks in advance.

[Finch_III]

6 hours ago, Drizzora- said:

How’s the guide going? I might play this game if there’s a reliable guide for this. Thanks in advance.

 

Honestly, I doubt I'll ever finish it. I was about 1/4 done, but it was over a year ago. Now I can barely remember how I unlocked some of the achievements – I'd probably have to play the game all over again (if it has a PS5 version). 

[Jumba]

9 hours ago, Drizzora- said:

How’s the guide going? I might play this game if there’s a reliable guide for this. Thanks in advance.

 

I wrote a guide that is currently going through the review process before it gets published here.  Depending on how long it takes, it should hopefully be posted within the next few days or weeks.

[fcoarata]

This game has a lot of bad things than good. If you just want to experience the game, ok, do it, but of course you're here for the plat, and that will be painfull.

The game gives you a small to none room for error, you have to know what to do to get specific mission trophies, so if you have some bad luck, you will have to add another playtrough, is not a problem if you made a mistake in chapter 1 or 2, you can just re-start, but is a drag in the last 2 chapters, specially for the chapter 4 trophies.

 

Edit: Ok, i just plat the game, my advice, if you can avoid this game, do it, the game is ok, but the plat is no fun at all. 

Edited July 14, 2022 by fcoarata