Most Recent Platinum

[Canario1988]

#157  Everyone has gone to the rapture

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Enjoyment: 5/10

 

I had this game with Ps Plus freebies few years ago and I couldn't plat it as it felt terribly boring by then. I gave a second try while also playing at times with Call of Duty and the experience was relaxing and enjoyed moving around knowing nothing is going to shoot you ?

 

#158  COD: MW 2 Campaign Remastered

 

 

Difficulty: 5/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

 

I'm not an expert in the COD series, but this campaign's game is surely one of the bests in FPS ever made. Enjoyed every second of playing. 

 

Advise: if you are not often into FPS amd want to Plat this game, take it with patience.

 

 

Edited February 16, 2021 by Canario1988

[TheArcadeKid]

#197 - WRC 5

 

 

I guess this isn't anyone's favourite game of all-time, but I unironically really enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for driving games in general, and I find the driving model in this game to be incredibly addicting. It was nice to see different parts of the world for each rally, too. Oh, and I picked it up for about £1.59 and it kept me busy for 20+ hours, so I basically have no complaints. Fantastic game.

 

I'm going to attempt WRC 6 next, and it's really only the online races that might stop me. I got extremely lucky with WRC 5 online - found someone to play with on my first attempt, and knocked out every single online trophy in about 30 minutes. WRC 6, I think I'll have to arrange a boosting session.

[MrGarland]

Platinum #104 Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

 

 

 

Difficulty: 9/10

Enjoyment: 8/10 (excluding perfect relics and platinum relics)

 

Hardest platinum so far!

 

Metal Gear Solid 4 is the hardest platinum I've done and it held the record for seven years. But that changed yesterday. Four months after starting and about a month of collecting the remaining gems, relics and such after resuming, I accomplished the impossible and got the platinum from this. How did I like it? To say the least, it was good. But before I go any further about that, a quick introduction.

 

I grew up playing the original PlayStation and the first game I played was the demo of Crash Bandicoot. Since then, I've played the PS1 games and a select few on the PS2. After that, I haven't played them much, other than for nostalgia. Crash 2 in particular I have completed 100% more than 20+ times, since that's the only game from the PS1 games I own physically. I still have my platinum copy of it and it still works perfectly.

 

When N. Sane Trilogy and CTR NF came out, it was only a matter of time till they announced a brand new game. And so they did. The question is, how did I like it?

 

Simply put, it was great. The game looks gorgeus, the levels are detailed and what's more, multiple characters to play as. Let's hope this gets featured in the future games. Lastly, the boss battles are awesome. They're long, but thankfully, there's a checkpoint after each hit the boss takes.

 

Even though the game is fun, it's not without flaws. The main thing I have to hate is the fact that some levels have crates placed out of sight. This made completing certain levels annoying, just because I missed a crate or two. As a result, I had to come up with a plan which I'll cover shortly.

 

Another thing I'm not too fond of is the fire crate. I'm sorry, but this was completely unnecessary. Most of the time, they're nothing but a nuisance. The only time they seem to do their job well enough is in Resilience Evaluation. Other than that, I'm just going this one a finger.

 

So, the plan I mentioned earlier. I used walkthrough videos from a certain Youtuber which came in handy. I usually did levels step by step while watching the video about it. After that comes practice. Even when I failed, I'm able to memorize the level well enough so that I don't have to watch it again. It worked for me.

 

I'm going to cover my journey to platinum as I have a lot to say about it, so keep that in mind in case you plan to read the text below. I'm only going to talk about the levels I had the hardest time or if there's something I have to mention about. I'm also providing some tips and possible glitches. Finally, I have some complaints to point out, but keep in mind that they're just my opinions.

 

Spoiler

Thar He Blows!: The main thing I hate about this level is the bonus stage. It's absolutely evil. This is not how you design those. You need to time that jump correctly, or you die. Thankfully, fails in there won't count for perfect relics. Also, whose idea was to put a nitro crate in front of the bonus platform? I died once because of this. Finally, f*** the fire crates on those moving platforms.

 

 

Jetboard Jetty: One of the hardest levels to get the perfect relic, but it's also of my favourites. It's also the only level with a miniboss, which is unique.

 

The platinum relic was one of the hardest to get, despite that it took me about an hour or so. Besides the strict platinum time, the fire crate at the beginning is very annoying. Sometimes when you time picking the stopwatch wrong, the fire might reset and it starts shooting fire again. You also can't miss the first raft in the 2D part, or it's most likely over.

 

The last thing I have to mention is the bonus stage. It seems awfully familiar. Where have I seen it before? Hmm...

 

 

 

 

Draggin' On: This is where you earn the blue gem. The method is the same as in Turtle Woods from Crash 2. Reach the end without breaking any crates. Sounds easy? Well, no. Seems like they wanted to make it as hard as possible. It's so easy to mess up. I also have a strong dislike for those dragons. Especially the ones near the end where some of the them have been placed in nasty spots. Finally, the bonus stage is just plain annoying. You need to pull off some kind of spin jump to reach that ledge, otherwise you won't make it and you only get one shot at that. I also find the nitro switch at the end pointless as all the nitros are in the bonus stage and there's another switch in the bonus.

 

 

Off-Balance: Easier than the previous one, but it's not without something that would give me some trouble. First of all, the bonus stage. Could that ceiling possibly be any lower? That jump over the nitro crates is a pain. Then there's the secret path. Those parts with wind blowing from behind as well as having nitro crates on the front is a tricky part that's not too hard to pull off, but still annoying.

 

However, the main thing I strongly hate are the crates on that balcony above the secret path. The only way to reach them is to pull off a superspin and the timing for that is very specific. Not to mention, there's a TNT crate which I honestly find hard to avoid. Just because I can't pull off that spin, I end up hitting it most of the time. At least the level has a few Aku Aku crates before that part.

 

Another thing I found strange was that I took damage, despite that there was no enemy around. The ghost enemy that comes before the secret path is the one I'm talking about. This happened a few times. What's more, I once took damage even when I was super spinning. It may be just me.

 

 

Off Beat: One of the best levels in the game, as well one of my favourites. It's fun, colorful and also somewhat easy.

 

 

Home Cookin': The first Dingodile level happens to be one of the best. It's also the only level where I beat the developer time, but just barely and the first time I made it to the end which took about 15 minutes.

 

 

Bears Repeating: When I did my perfect relic run on this, I wanted to practice the level before I started. After practicing 30+ times, I started doing it. Nailed it on my 10th attempt or so. Some of them ended on that bridge in the yellow gem path. Reminds me of- No, wait. It's basically Road To Nowhere/The High Road. At least it's short.

 

On a side note, I found this level's Polar part harder than the next one. That's because this one has a few tricky spots where you need to be quick or else you die. I also have to mention that I find it harder to get all the crates in N. Verted mode. That's why I completed both levels twice. Once to get that "death" gem, and second to get the rest. At least I had infinite tries.

 

Also, a little tip here. Use the D-Pad instead of the stick. I find it's easier to miss those stacks of 2X2 because I end up moving the stick too much.

 

 

Building Bridges: Tawna's part isn't too hard, but it's troublesome in time trial. Also, I'm going to question how the hell is that elevator full of nitro crates going to help Crash? If it wasn't for Kupuna-Wa, Crash wouldn't be able to proceed.

 

The Polar part in this level is, in my opinion, easier. It doesn't have BS like the first one. Actually, the hidden gem in N. Verted mode is the only thing I can think of. Not only is it hard to spot since it blends to the background, but you can't possibly get it without dying. Not unless you pull off a glitch. Other than that, it's not too bad. You do have to jump more often to get the crates in the air, but it's easy when you know the timing.

 

 

Dino Dash: I played the demo, and this was one of the levels included in that. It's pretty easy... until you reach the lava part. That was the only thing I couldn't do well enough. When it was time to do the perfect relic run on this level, I had to learn how to do it properly. It seems that the only way to slide under those rocks is to hold the  /  and , instead of pressing. I think that's how it works. Thankfully, it's easy to pull off.

 

 

Rock Blocked: The platinum relic for this level was the worst. Even more annoying than Nitro Processing. Where do I even begin... Dingodile's parts are always enjoyable, but not this one. The first problem is the gate at the beginning. You have to destroy it in a very specific way, but I couldn't do that often. It's only because of that flytrap in front of it. Not to mention, when you die near it, it laughs and that annoys me even more. Other things I have to dislike are the acid bubbles and those tree trunks. Sometimes when I jump on them, I get briefly stuck on them and that messes up the next jump.

 

Then comes the second half which I made it to very rarely. The lava part wasn't too bad, but I did fail at least a few times. I also died at the final chase part at least 2-3 times because it's so chaotic. What ruined some of my attempts is the glitch at the beginning of the second half. Immediately after the first Aku Aku crate, sometimes the double jump won't work and you fall to your death. I know it's not just me, because I've read that it can happen to other people. To me, it usually happens when I try to jump after pulling a triple spin. Combined with the fails at the beginning, this was the second time I almost gave up. I did manage to find a way to avoid the glitch, but very rarely it doesn't work.

 

In total, it took me five hours worth of tries. By the time I made it to the end, I was really tired.

 

 

Crash Landed: The riding section at the end is even worse than Polar's. But it's just not that. The blue gem path has one part which I can't pull off without taking damage most of the time. I'm talking about jumping over alien dinosaurs while breaking those two crates in the air. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't come at constant pace.

 

As for the riding sections, the first one is pretty easy. The second one is long, and there's a lot of stuff to memorize. Not to mention, it also has one of the most annoying glitches. The final geysir won't sometimes work and you need to use that if you want all the crates. It doesn't matter if you make it to there without deaths, it's pure luck whenever it works or not. I know it's not just me, because I've read that other players have experienced that as well. You can also try boosting on it at the right time, but there's a chance that you'll miss the first few crates. When I did my perfect relic run, I took a huge risk and boosted since the geysir didn't mostly work during my practice runs. Thankfully, I made it.

 

 

Rush Hour: Pretty cool level, but this really should've been two levels. The perfect relic run isn't too bad, but it has some annoying segments. The final one as Dingodile is especially annoying because of those nitro carrying drones. It's possible to avoid taking damage since they stop once you reach the elevator, but that requires backtracking. Even if you do take damage, keep in mind that there still might be one more drone coming.

 

Then there's Tawna's half. The rail segments are the reason why I decided to do the perfect relic in Normal mode. I tried it in N. Verted mode, but I find it harder to get those crates in the air because I jump at the wrong time. Not to mention, the filter of that world slows you down (you're underwater), which means it takes longer.

 

The street crossing at the end is another troublesome part, but at least the flying vehicles don't kill you as long as you have Aku Aku. Still, what's the point of putting one in there and so far too?

 

 

The Crate Escape: The only reason I picked this here is the time trial. I'm not the biggest fan of Cortex levels so rushing through this quickly wasn't fun. Same goes to the final part. Cool idea, but not much fun since you're next to the pit most of the time. Oh, and let's put some TNT carrying drones to spice things up a little.

 

 

Nitro Processing: Not too bad, but it has some annoying parts. The wall running near the end is especially annoying. Those gears in the wall will kill you even if you're invincible. Not to mention, there's a hidden crate just before that. And just when I thought no more levels would feature s*** like this.

 

The time trial on this level was one of the most annoying ones. It took me about three hours to get the platinum. The water slides that you need to ascend are a pain, or so I'd like to say. After watching the video, I realized I've done them the wrong way, causing me to lose time. Other reasons, besides the strict platinum time, are Ika-Ika sections and those fire crates at the beginning. I had to master those sections multiple times and as perfectly as possible.

 

 

Toxic Tunnels: The longest and the hardest level to get the perfect relic. The main reason is the colored gem path. Just like Spaced Out (Crash 2) and Bug Lite (Crash 3), you need them all. Unlike those, this one is tough. The green gem path has a slide jump which I had to practice a lot. The red gem path has a TNT on a moving platform, but it's nothing compared to the yellow gem path. That jump between the fast bouncing metal crate is the worst.

 

Once that's done, the rest is pretty easy (especially the bonus level). However, I decided to take it slowly. Two of the attempts ended pretty close, but least I didn't get mad about it. After a couple of more attempts, I finally made it.

 

I saved the final platinum relic for this. Before I did it, I read that there's some strangeness going on. I thought it was a joke, but turns out it's true. You see, if you take damage near the moving platforms in the first 2D part, they magically change positions. Especially that swinging pipe. Also, some of the rats at the beginning won't do anything or sometimes they don't appear at all. At least it wasn't too hard.

 

 

Cortex Castle: This is easily one of the hardest levels to get the perfect relic, but once you know how to do the awesome final part, it's not too bad. However, that part made me nervous during the perfect relic run and time trial because you might mess up and you have to restart. On a side note, I almost beat the developer time on this as I was only 3 seconds away. I'm not going to bother to try improving it, though.

 

There's also some strangeness going on at this level. If you reach the part with a spinning blade moving back and forth without slowing time, the blade will hit one of the two enemies next to it and you can't kill them.

 

One good thing I have to mention is the music. It sounds fitting, both Normal and N. Verted mode.

 

 

Seeing Double: The last optional level was easily one of the most annoying ones. The first half as Cortex was the most frustrating one. It may be just me, but I experienced a very annoying glitch. The first two wombats may not move at all. If the first one moves, the second may not. Should that happen, you can't proceed. This made the perfect relic run on this level a nightmare (it only happened once in time trial) and I almost gave up on platinum because of this. Even when you do get past them, there's still those annoying robots to deal with. At least the second half is still fun.

 

 

Then there's the flashback levels. These were easily one of the best parts of the game. Some of them were also fun. Especially Wumpa Affinity Test, as you can create some really nice explosions. Another good thing is that you don't have to clear them perfectly, unlike the perfect relics. You still have to break all crates, though. I also like how they use music from the PS1 games, but what's with the lack of third game's music? They couldn't use Time-Twister (aka Warp Room) or the future level music?

 

While most of them were more or less easy, I had the toughest time with the final two. I also had some annoying time in N.Gin's N.Genious N.Bouncers.

 

 

N. Gin's N.Genious N.Bouncers: That nitro bounce crate in the middle (lower one) is a pain to activate. Sometimes it won't activate, no matter how hard I try. Keep in mind that you have to activate these by yourself. Spinning the nitro switch at the end won't break them for you.

 

 

 

Resilience Evaluation: The hardest one, despite that it took me about 30 minutes or so. This is the only level where the fire crates actually do their job well. That said, I'd say the part in the screenshot below is the worst. Sliding won't be a problem, but when you die, the pattern for those flames change and that makes the jump after that slide annoying since you might hit the flames.

 

 

 

The Gauntlet: The final flashback level. While not as hard as the previous one, it has some tricky parts. That jump on a nitro bounce crate near the end has to be timed perfectly well, or you're screwed. Thankfully, I made it on my first try. Most of my attempts ended on those TNTs at the beginning, but the rest is not too bad.

 

 

The last thing I saved for last were the platinum relics. I said it once, and I'll say it again. They should've kept the running shoes. The triple spin is terrible. I managed to master it after the first 2-3 levels, but it's still not that great. Not only that, but hearing that button tapping got old quickly. You can also go fast by doing some kind of slide spin, but I only managed to pull off that once. I'll leave that to speedrunners.

 

Anyway, many of them weren't too bad. Some are easier than others, while very few of them I passed just barely. For the record, I'm not going to collect all the purple relics as I'm not that good. The fact I got one is enough. Besides Cortex Castle, I was very close to getting another one in Run It Bayou. I might try again later, but not anytime soon.

 

After a long journey of collecting everything there is, I completed the game 106% and unlocked the bonus endings. Like I said earlier, I unlocked the first one before I started working on time trials, but I wanted to save it to the end when I had everything collected. The endings themself are cool, but one thing that leaves me confused is why Nina Cortex appears in the first one. I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but I thought this game was set after the third one. I'll accept that Oxide appears, but this is something else. As for the second one, there's not much to say about it as it's rather short. It may be a hint of a sequel, who knows.

 

And there you have it. That's how I experienced the game. I should mention that the game wasn't a disappointment. In fact, it was what I expected it to be. For the most part, that is. If only they'd done some things better (such as the crate placement in certain levels), it could've been even better. But now, I'm really tired and going to focus on much easier games for a while as this platinum was exhausting. And I got a game for that. Sayonara Wild Hearts, which was recommended by a good friend. I'll give him my thanks next time.

 

If you ever plan to platinum this game, brace yourself as it's tough. If you're having a hard time, don't give up. It may be difficult, but with practice and patience, it's manageable. Besides, nothing beats that feeling when you complete the level perfectly after a lot of trial and error.

 

Here's a couple of bonus images, including the platinum screenshot, but it's somewhat bad. I don't know why it got timed like that.

 

 

 

I'll end this platinum post by expressing how I feel now that I got that platinum out of the way, with music. I planned to use it for another platinum, but I will use it for that one as well since it's also pretty hard. But more about that later.

 

 

As for the song, I'd say it sounds perfect for this occasion. The same way the main characters achieve victory after a hard fought match, I overcame all the obstacles and got what I wanted.

Edited August 16, 2022 by MrGarland
Images

[ZoKu08]

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

#241

 

Chalice of Torment

Earn all trophies.

 

14.72%

Rare

[flashpool23]

Plat 160 - Desert Child

You win at running, football, arson, weddings, and art! You’ll even win at irony! Top score.

 

 

Plat 161 - Valley

Big Game Hunter

 

 

Plat 162 - 11-11: Memories Retold

100%

 

 

Plat 163 - Wreckfest

Master of Crashes

 

 

Plat 164 - Nascar Heat 4

All Trophies

 

 

Plat 165 - Aragami

Legend

[AJ_Radio]

A list of virtually EVERYTHING I achieved in the past 60 - 70 days:

 

Platinum #263: Grand Theft Auto III (December 8th, 2020)

 

 

Difficulty Rating: 4/10 (with cheats); 6/10 (without cheats)

Excitement Rating: 5/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 20 - 30 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy:   Is That All You've Got? ( Achieve 100% completion )

 

Spoiler

 

Nostalgia can fool you. 20 years ago, Grand Theft Auto III made history as being a groundbreaking game that paved the way for open world games to shine. What Super Mario Bros did to platformers, Grand Theft Auto III did to open world games.

 

Compared to Super Mario and a few other flagship franchises, Grand Theft Auto III in retrospect did not age well. Controls are stiff and graphics reveal that this was a different era. There are no checkpoints, no highlighters, not even an in-game map other than a little mini-map you get on the screen. We've definitely taken modern open world games for granted, as Ghost of Tsushima, Assassin's Creed Valhalla and a few others really show how convenient it is to simply transverse the map. Grand Theft Auto III shows its age by pulling no punches, there is no hand holding here as missions are often frustrating and difficult, finally forcing me to use cheats to even have a chance to pass some of them.

 

Driving and aiming are poor, and I was glad to see that both Vice City and San Andreas had substantially improved controls. Claude is completely mute, he is like playing Link from Legend of Zelda in a way, but he isn't anywhere near as fascinating or captivating. You basically play errand boy as you kill certain targets and pass missions. Voice acting is also poor, the difference between GTA III and Vice City is substantial. Furthermore, this wasn't the first GTA I played, Vice City was, as I was a bit too young to play this myself until years later. Unlike the later two installments in the PS2 era, I have no real love or nostalgia for GTA III.

 

I took several months break after I discovered it was literally next to impossible to do the ambulance and vigilante missions on the first island as the Mafia NPCs held shotguns once I completed all the respective missions on the first island. So I had to do a new playthrough from scratch and tick off all the side missions before I moved on to the story.

 

This wasn't all that fun to play, in fact I was relieved to see that platinum pop.

 

Platinum #264: Grand Theft Auto Vice City (December 16th, 2020)

 

 

Difficulty Rating: 4/10

Excitement Rating: 8/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 30 - 40 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy:   Take the Cannoli ( Earn the Godfather criminal rating )

 

Spoiler

 

My introduction to Rockstar Games and to the GTA franchise. In mid 2004 I received this game shortly after my PS2 console arrived. As I as a bit late to the PS2 era, I missed out on many of the earlier titles, but Vice City was the title to get me into 1980s music, and much of the fashion.

 

Everything GTA III did, Vice City improved upon. Controls are better. Weapon aiming is substantially better, there is an in-game map making tracking your location far more simple. The protagonist actually talks (Tommy Vercetti), voice acting was stellar with the work of Burt Reynolds and Ray Liotta, and the story was far more compelling.

 

This trophy list carries the infamous Godfather trophy, which requires you to rack up an absurd amount of criminal points. The cone side activity and collecting 80 of the 100 hidden packages took a solid five to six hours to finish. Using an Ambulance and glitching through a certain gate was an exercise in patience, going around collecting the hidden packages was a bit frustrating as the Haitian gang proved troublesome with their trigger fire attitude. Then it was a matter of taking the Sea Sparrow helicopter and shooting at a semi-truck with the controller rubberbanded, after I fired approximately 101 gunshots with a rifle at a random crate. Certainly not fun in the least, and a trophy that was simply the designers fucking over the trophy hunting community.

 

Like with GTA III, Vice City has an extensive list of things to do for the platinum, but I found this game far more enjoyable. I absolutely love the 1980s era music here, and it is a crying shame I wasn't around back then to experience it firsthand. Michael Jackson, Whodini, Megadeth, 'Video Killed the Radio Star', what's not to love? Rockstar Games really went out of their way to not only hire famous actors like Burt Reynolds, but also earn permission to use many flagship 80s songs, which was definitely not an easy task.

 

Talk show stations like VCPR were hilarious, but the Godfather trophy basically confirms I will not be playing this game again. Maybe for fun in the future, but not anytime soon.

 

Platinum #265: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (January 12th, 2021)

 

 

Difficulty Rating: 4/10

Excitement Rating: 9/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 30 - 40 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy:   A Legitimate Business ( Export all three car lists )

 

Spoiler

 

My first platinum trophy of 2021.

 

A very solid, enjoyable and memorable game from Rockstar. My favorite in the entire franchise, if only because this game took everything GTA III and Vice City did and improved on it once more.

 

Unlike the previous two games, San Andreas does not need to be 100 percent finished for the platinum. Collectibles such as the graffiti in Los Santos and the horseshoes in Las Venturas definitely would of made the platinum journey a lot longer and more tedious at the expense of having fun. So I was definitely glad the trophy list doesn't require you to do nearly as much.

 

People like to say the story this time around was dragged out far too long, but I would argue it was just the right length. There is a pretty big contrast between this and Vice City, as the shift from the 1980s atmosphere in tone and feel to a more gritty, early 1990s gangsta style more akin to Tupac Shakur and NWA is apparent here. Rockstar Games outright ripped Ryder, an important character in the San Andreas story, straight outta Eazy E, a member of NWA and pioneer of West Coast gangsta rap in a time when violent crime was rapidly on the rise in the United States. They definitely nailed down the time period, from the black and chicano gangs to the atmosphere of Los Angeles, a haven for corruption and sleazeballs working in Hollywood. The entire GTA franchise is one big satire on American culture and life, and San Andreas is no exception as characters and NPCs are generally exaggerated versions of real life people Rockstar took inspiration from.

 

Trophies here are more relaxed, if they required you to 100 percent complete the game we'd be looking at a lot more time needed to earn the platinum. Pretty fun and enjoyable, as this was more of a trip down memory lane as I had already done virtually everything on the original PS2 version. Exporting the three car lists was annoying, as for some vehicles I had to grab them all the way from Los Santos or Las Venturas and drive on a railroad track all the way to the San Fierro docks. Nothing too hard or annoying though.

 

Loved this game, when Rockstar Games was at their peak. If they weren't focused on Shark Cards in GTA Online, maybe we'd get a few new games by now.

 

Platinum #266: Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (January 15th, 2021)

 

 

Difficulty Rating: 3/10

Excitement Rating: 6/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 10 - 12 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy:   Underwater Expedition ( Defeat Cetus while its head is underwater )

 

Spoiler

 

A pretty okay indie game from Asteroid Base.

 

This was probably the easiest ultra rare platinum I ever gone for. Not the most enjoyable, as this kind of game and its focus around co-op aren't really my style. Story isn't a factor, as your job is to spread love throughout the universe. Whatever. Gameplay is all that matters here.

 

While it is probably best to have two players doing couch co-op, the game is nice enough to have a AI companion in the form of an animal. You still have to issue it commands, such as going from a gun placed on the ship to the shield. Your ship is a circle shaped vessel that can take a lot of damage, especially on the easiest difficulty setting. There are no difficult related trophies here.

 

You have to rescue captured friends in each level. At least five have to be captured for you to complete the level, but for the platinum you need to rescue all ten in each level. There is a tutorial level which serves as an introduction. There are four areas total with four bosses each, with four levels preceding the boss level totaling 20 levels in all. A couple levels have you going after waves of enemies so no driving is necessary, but for the most part you are tasked with moving around in your ship to find your captured friends and look for gifts which contain upgrades.

 

Driving around is a bit cumbersome, after all this is a co-op game and the designers made it that way. While the AI companion is pretty good, he is not perfect. Having to climb the ladders to reach a gun and then switching back to the drivers seat in the middle of the ship was tedious and annoying. Certain trophies like Underwater Expedition were more of a matter of luck than skill. Multitasking is key to earning the trophies in this game, and I am a horrible multitasker.

 

All in all, not that great of a game in my opinion. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is definitely a game that appeals almost strictly to a niche audience, and the trophy rarities suggest many people tried it on PS Plus only to give up due to the game itself being a bit boring. I picked it up for cheap a few months back and it is probably the easiest ultra rare on my trophy list. Not really a game that fancies my tastes, and I will avoid such games in the future.

 

Platinum #267: Just Cause 4 (February 10th, 2021)

 

 

Difficulty Rating: 4/10

Excitement Rating: 5/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 40+ Hours

 

Hardest Trophy:   Stunt Driver ( Film every Vehicle Stunt )

 

Spoiler

 

With all due respect, I am going to refrain from talking too much at length about this game since I covered most of everything I wanted to cover in my status update review.

 

Just Cause 4 was the final game in the series I needed to complete for my trophy list. As of yet, the original Just Cause does not have trophy support and it is doubtful it will get a re-release.

 

I was pretty bummed out and disappointed with this game. Graphics don't look as impressive as the ones in Just Cause 3, I felt Avalanche Studios had to scale back the graphics and explosions to make the game more stable. Loading times are much faster here and framerate is consistent, which made getting around the big open world map more convenient. Gameplay wise, this is a stinker.

 

You do the same three to five tasks for every enemy base you have to capture in order for the Army of Chaos to move forward. You perform a series of terminal hacks either on your own or for your Army of Chaos female hacker. Sometimes you have to escort a hacker around so he can hack the terminals himself, which you then have to defend against the Black Hand. Other times, you are escorting a small group of no less than three prisoners to a certain point, which you again have to defend. The red destructible objects that were needed to be destroyed in order to take over bases in the previous two games aren't as important here. They're merely destroyed in order to increase your Army of Chaos level, which gives you more squads to deploy to take over enemy territory. The object is to take over bases, mostly by hacking terminals so you gain territory. Pretty boring. Only a few times was I tasked with destroying generators and turbines. Flipping a series of breakers is not enjoyable.

 

Side activities varied. The ones from Javi were interesting as you find ancient statues and move giant boulders to find some ancient text so you can discover a long lost tomb. The ones from Sargento are basically a series of missions where you defend your fellow Army of Chaos companions from Black Hand troops. Finally, the ones from Garland have you doing a bunch of stunts. Here is where I got very annoyed with Just Cause 4 as there are over 400 stunts in all you have to complete for the platinum. Out of all the wingsuit, vehicle and speed stunts, only a few posed any challenge as they were basically going from Point A to Point B. This was complete padding by the developers and the vast majority of them were downright tedious. Many were easy, some were downright annoying. There are around 10 - 12 vehicle stunts out of the 120+ in the game where you literally have to tether or lift vehicles to the destination. For one I had to lift a motorcyle up to a ring far up in the sky, for another I had to tether a car to a windmill and get it to pass around to the ring. Absolutely stupid and unnecessary, proof that modern game developers don't exactly play their games to the fullest.

 

Just Cause 4 wasn't all bad. In addition to the steady framerate and faster load times, the scenery was quite nice to look at. Seeing the mountain range in the distance while you're moving about in a desert looks quite impressive, even without PS4 Pro or PS5. It is a nice graphical vista. In contrast, character models look poor and there were various graphical glitches as I was watching the cinematic cutscenes for the main story. Rico didn't look as good as I had expected, and the cinematics overall looked like a shoddy job for a game that felt rushed.

 

The story has Rico going against Espinosa and the Black Hand. It was pretty underwhelming. The weather that the game tries to glorify really doesn't amount to much. Javi was strictly focused on the ancient history of Solis, past characters like Shelton didn't get enough screentime. While the game tries to be a little emotional by getting Rico's father involved with the Illapa Project, the story is overall a bit forgettable. It attempts to instill some humor here and there but it wasn't all that amusing.

 

Overall, Just Cause 4 is pretty meh. Nothing terrible, but this game absolutely pales in comparison to Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Marvel's Spider-Man, all far superior open world games. This game simply didn't get the polish and care it needed, and the result was something that still suffers from graphical glitches and the occasional glitch where you can get stuck. The DLC packs were pretty meh. The first one involving the racing was just okay. The second one felt like a rip off of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and the final one was this games attempt to bring back the Just Cause 3 experience by destroying a number of destructible objects for each naval submarine while you hunted down an old Agency compadre.

 

I paid a little over $20 for this game including all the DLC. For $60 I would of been pissed, because that was the price tag that was asked for this game at launch. If you can buy this for very cheap I say it might be worth your while if big sandboxes and tethering/modding are your thing. But if you want good storytelling, solid gameplay and a game that performs well, look elsewhere. The three open world games I mentioned here are better worth your time and money than Just Cause 4.

Edited February 17, 2021 by AJ_Radio

[Ode2Destruxion]

#32

Persian Nights: Sands of Wonders

 

Another Artifex Mundi hidden object puzzle game. Just a bog-standard HOP game. Nothing very taxing on the brain. Pretty much the same trophy list as the other AM games. Some better hidden collectibles but with a guide it obviously doesn't matter how well hidden they are. A platinum doesn't come much easier than this.

 

Just an observation: the name is odd because although it is indeed set in Persia - Nights, Sands & Wonders are just a selection of words to make it sound snazzy because they only very vaguely fit with the game. It could have been any combination of hundreds of words... but anyway...

 

Would recommend for those who want a simple game to play after a long day to wind down.

 

6/10

[Alpha-Strider]

#200

Catherine

Cheers To You!

Earn all other Trophies!

 

Nearly 10 years ago a friend came by and asked if I wanted to try out Catherine, he had just bought it and wanted to know what I thought. I had only had my PS3 for a few months and didn't care about trophies yet (in fact I think most of the games I had played at that point didn't even have trophies) so I gave it a try. After a couple hours I had unlocked the first couple trophies and thought the game was pretty neat, but wasn't sure if it was something I would ever put some serious time into.

 

Later that year I started getting into trophies, and several years after that I decided to finally make a push for 100% completion. Most of what I needed to finish off at that point were online multiplayer, obscure DLCs, or games that were just really difficult. I assumed that Catherine would be the hardest of anything I needed to complete so I decided to save it for Platinum #200 and the game that would clinch 100% completion. I wasn't wrong about the difficulty, I've played it so much lately that sometimes I see blocks when I close my eyes. The final stages of hard mode and Babel were absolute nightmares but all in all I'm glad I went back and finally completed the game, there's really nothing else like it.

 

Having said that, I do not plan on playing Full Body for the double dip.

[B1rvine]

Spyro 3 : Year of the Dragon

Party like it's 2024.

 

 

I managed to get back trophy hunting again after a long burnout. This is my first 2021 platinum. I've finally finished this trilogy.

 

Spyro Trilogy Enjoyment : 7 / 10

Difficulty : 3 / 10 (because of a few egg chases)

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by B1rvine

[rjkclarke]

Platinum #305

Queen's Quest 4: Sacred Truce.

 

 

Platinum

Unlock every Trophy.

 

 

After getting the 100% on Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles today, or I guess yesterday now haha! I thought I should give myself a nice relaxing few hours with another Artifex Mundi game. Quite the juxtaposition going from manic zombie slaying on rails, to playing as a peacekeeper in a world filled with Goblins and Elves. It certainly is the chilled out experience I think I needed, because RE: Umbrella Chronicles gave me motion sickness for some reason, nothing else does. Which is a shame because it was a great game for what it was. 

 

As HOP go though, I suppose Queen's Quest 4 is alright. you do always know what sort of game you are going to get usually, so if people played these expecting to be surprised they wouldn't be. The Trophies are exactly what you would expect from this sort of title, you can do it on Casual in this game as well, so that will make life even easier for everyone.. You also don't have to play the Bonus Episode either, but I recommend you do because it is actually quite fun.

 

As is always the case though Artifex Mundi do have some really charming artwork and quite peaceful musical scores. Definitely a fun way to spend a few hours though. Not really a whole lot more to say about it. It simply is what it is.  You can usually find the Queen's Quest games bundled together for a decent price, so I think if people wanted something to take the edge off between other more taxing games/platinum's these might be your thing.

Edited May 10, 2021 by rjkclarke

[percy547389126yv]

#693 D.C.4 -Da Capo 4-

[ZoKu08]

 

We Were Here

#242

 

The Curse of Castle Rock

Obtained all We Were Here trophies.

 

53.28%

Common

Edited February 17, 2021 by ZoKu08

[Rias Gremory]

 Platinum #76 Deponia Doomsday 

Common: 56.21%

 

Difficulty: 3/10.

Enjoyment: 9/10.

Challenge: 10/10.

Music: 9/10.

Grind Difficulty: 6/10.

Genre: Point-and-Click, Adventure, Indie, Science-Fiction, Comedy and Time Travel.

Platinum Time: 1 day and 11 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Same thing before from last year 2020. The final sequel. I will admit, I've enjoyed every single series of Deponia including this one. Time Travel is my favorite genre and it will always be a part of it. Dealing with the trophy call  1001 Jackalopes was a bitch and I had to stay at least 1 hour and 10 minutes to go different transformations and mix up shits to form different monsters and/or animals for that one. The rest of the missable trophies were alright and never had problems with at the end. This has been a hell of a experience run for all 4 deponias it was well worth it.

 

Highly recommended for the game.

 

Next Platinum: ???

[iFraaN97]

 # 287 - Call of Duty: Black Ops III

Enjoyment : 9 / 10
Difficulty: 8 / 10 

 

I came back to this on PS5 after all these years, and what a blast of a game this was, it still holds up amazingly.

 

Back in the day I mostly grinded multiplayer, I even got dark matter (getting gold camo in every single weapon on multiplayer) but never thought I would bother with the campaign stuff until this day.

I managed to complete both Realistic difficulty and Veteran no checkpoints runs solo and it was easier than what I expected, I still believe World at War on veteran is harder.

Still, getting all the accolades and weapon camos on the campaign was always what held me up trying to get this plat, I'd rather have a multiplayer focused trophy list like the one they did on ps3 for this game, but yeah, glad that is finally done and thankfully I didn't experience any weird glitches...

 

I still have a bunch of zombies DLC trophies to clean up, definitely the best entry in the series in that matter.

[Han_PL]

Iron Snout (Vita

Quick and easy platinum (30 min to get it )

 

[chibuki]

 

Cried at the end. Such a beautiful game. When they make the sequel, I hope Ryza returns for one last adventure.

 

 

[percy547389126yv]

#694 Brotherhood United

[Juzota]

#145 - Control

 

 

Director of the FBC
Unlock all other trophies

 

--

 

Unfortunately my original PS4 couldn't really handle this game. Most of the enemy counters were pretty much unplayable because of absolutely horrible frame rate. Only reason I was able to finish the game is thanks to the assist mode. I'm not proud of that fact, but it is what it is. There was also lots of frustrating puzzles and I couldn't really figure out the map, but I mainly blame myself on those. I think this is unpopular opinion, but I kinda enjoyed Quantum Break more than Control. At least it ran well on my Xbox One S.

 

Control's story was really confusing and I don't have any idea what was going on, but I somewhat liked it anyway. Best moment for me by far was the Ashtray Maze. It was so ridiculous, yet so much fun. From characters Ahti was definitely the best. I love the voice actor Martti Suosalo and it was fun to see him in a big budget videogame.

 

I feel like there was something more in this game, but I just could not see it. Perkele.

 

Enjoyment: 5/10

Difficulty: 2/10

 

[GoonerLukeThe]

got the plat for spyro 1 the other day, first ever time playing spyro and really enjoyed it, on number 2 at the moment

 

the flying levels were scary at first glance but turned out be be pretty fun once you realise it's pretty much a continuous loop on each of them, just kept going again and again until I finished them

[Godo Fwar]

 #408 - MediEvil

 

 

 

Savior of Gallowmere

Unlock all trophies.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed this remake. I only played the PS1 demo back in the day and never got round to the full original game. Didn't have much trouble with the difficulty overall, it was a little tricky at the start but got easier as I became familiar with the mechanics and acquired more weapons and health vials.

[MatThaRiPP3R84]

 

Collectionista

 

Amazing game, probably somewhere in my top 100 of all time. really great design, polish and difficulty borders on cruel.

 

Difficulty: 7/10

Satisfaction: 9/10

Presentation: 10/10

[arcanehornet_]

Platinum #309

Burnout Paradise Remastered [NA] + 100% Completion

 

This is one of the best racing games on PS4, period. It has aged like fine wine and still holds up today.

It offers a sizable open world, with shortcuts, routes, collectibles and events just begging to be explored.

I originally played and platted the EU version back in 2018, so the game was very refreshing to return to.

 

The platinum trophy for this game is very simple to complete. Simply keep winning events until you get your Burnout License, and it is almost guaranteed that you will get the rest of the trophies on the way.

 

100% is a little less simple, though. There’s quite a few online trophies in them, which will need boosting.
I was fortunate enough to have a boosting team over here on PSNProfiles, so we got them knocked out with little issue.

 

If you like car games, but haven’t tried this, do yourself a favor and play this.

They don’t make games like this anymore.

 

Difficulty: 3/10

Time: 20 hours for the platinum, 40 hours for the full 100%.

Fun: 10/10

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by arcanehornet_

[Lance_87]

 #34: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (2019) - Overlord

 

My first Platinum in 2021! What a great start. It's exactly like the old IGAvanias. Took me less than 40 hours, there's some grinding but nothing impossible.

[damage_6-9]

#740: Alphaset by POWGI      AS 

(PSN level 859)

[GoldenShaka]

 134 Headlander

Head Master.

 

While I was looking at my backlog for my next platinum I noticed some incomplete games. I put special attention in those that could had a head start over the rest of the bunch.

Ey, headlander trophy list doesn't look particularly complicated, then Clamiyuki Dance Party trophy reared its ugly head.

Off the top of my head, I'd say if I had any kind of progress maybe was less than 5%, the game had more than one year untouched, nothing else to do, I couldn't turn the whole thing on its head. I needed to carry on. I said to myself: Heads Up! maybe it will feel as starting all over again but it's not, let's finish this.

And after many hours using mostly my ? and I had the job done.

While it's not head and shoulders above the rest of my indie titles, it was certainly very entertaining.

I'm grateful that took me less than expected and as it is visible I didn't let this thing go over my head.

Edited February 18, 2021 by GoldenShaka