What is it with games and random ridiculously difficult trophies?!

[TBT_Nova]

This is a bit of a rage post nonetheless, but here goes. As I said in the title, what is it with games randomly putting in random trophies with extremely high difficulty which have nothing to do with the core game itself?

 

I'm currently running through Psychonauts, and there's a random trophy in here called "I LOVE PUNCHING" to complete a 5 levels of a minigame, which even the first level of said minigame seems to require the reaction time of a god. I don't understand why they put this in this game, as it has nothing to do with the main game itself.

 

It reminds me of a another trophy:

WATCH_DOGS: Social Lubricant: Complete level 10 against all 3 Drinking Game oppponents

 

Honestly, ridiculous trophies like these makes me remember the entire game negatively, since the time-consuming and frustrating experience ends up being the most memorable thing about the game. Why do developers continue to do this? (and I'm aware Psychonauts is a decade-old game, but I can only assume this damn challenge is in the original game too, and the trophy list was only recently created)

[QuentinCle95]

Platinums aren't there to be easy, they can be as hard or easy as the devs want them to be. But yes, it can be frustrating. I remember finding some of the miscellaneous trophies in Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor outstandlingly frustrating. Same with Social Lubricant (before the patch.)

 

I bought Psychonauts myself, because it was on a huge sale a couple weeks ago. The PlaystationTrophies guide gives it a 3/10 difficulty. Is this trophy you mention really that hard? 

[MMDE]

Complete 5 levels of some mini game inside the main game is such a big problem it was worthy a rant thread?

 

I looked at your trophy list, but I still remain confused!

 

It is normal that they add trophies for doing more than just the main portion of the game. In fact, people often complain about lazy trophy lists if this isn't done. You have to do something extra, achieve something worthy a trophy. You doing everything in the game, like the mini game, is something you should expect IMO.

 

There's games like N++ I'm super happy they don't require you to do everything in to get the plat though. I would never be able to do so, and nobody has yet either.

Edited January 7, 2017 by MMDE

[Crispy_Oglop]

My advice would be to remember the game for the game rather than the trophies  at the heart of it, the game and it's story are the most important part of the experience first and foremost. The trophies are there to help you squeeze every drop out of the game that you love.

 

If one or two trophies are particularly hard or overly tough, then it's crappy but you totally shouldn't let it adversly affect your enjoyment of the actual game.

[BIOHAZARD-R-US]

1 minute ago, MMDE said:

 

There's games like N++ I'm super happy they don't require you to do everything in to get the plat though.

 

Far Cry 4 compared to Far Cry 3 had this, even though FC3 was already a plat that you could get without doing 100%. FC4 had a lower amount of requirements to meet to get the plat

[TBT_Nova]

I'll be a bit more clear.

 

I don't have any issue with difficult trophies. Soulsborne games have probably been my favorite series of games for many years now. I've completed games like N+ in the past. High difficulty trophies, no death runs, speed runs, etc are enjoyable to me especially because they're challenging and also a legitimate part of the game that the creators have anticipated and designed for.

 

Trophies like "I LOVE PUNCHING" and "Social Lubricant" seem liked tacked on mini-games that add no value to the game whatsoever. It's those kind of trophies I take issue with.

 

And I do believe in "don't knock it until you try it", so I went into this game thinking that this party couldn't be THAT bad. But this mini-game is frankly ridiculous.

[AJ_Radio]

This is basically why I gave up on those Batman Arkham Knight Melee DLC trophies. One you have to complete Crime Alley THREE TIMES without taking damage in all the rounds, in Monarch Theater you need to complete it FOUR TIMES with a perfect freeflow. Finally in Iceberg Lounge you need at least 1,050,000 points to trigger Killer Croc and then defeat him. You can get hit and break your freeflow, but this will make things more difficult as brutes show up much earlier. So essentially you need a 300-400x combo at least.

 

Personally I consider the ratings Playstationtrophies.org and PSNPROFILES give out for listed games are actually higher for casual players who don't really trophy hunt. A vast majority of people don't care about trophies, they'll play games like Call of Duty or Battlefield because that's what they enjoy, multiplayer with their friends. I developed a likeness to earning trophies stemming from Runescape, which I poured nearly an entire year into (365 days playtime) where stats mean a lot in that game.

 

I'm currently struggling through the Vita version of Resogun mostly due to it being an awful port. PS4 version seems much more fluid and responsive, within two hours of booting it up for the first time I already gotten the Master level trophy and the Veteran trophy.

 

There are three trophies in Shadow of Mordor that are painfully difficult, but far from impossible. I'm going back to that game to finish up the DLC, since I paid for the season pass a year ago.

 

Of course you can go for My Name is Mayo, Jazzpunk, Nubla and other really easy titles. It's up to you. Many people like to go for harder games because there is a greater feeling of accomplishment when they're finally over.

Edited January 7, 2017 by Spaz

[HardXDXtraga]

This might come out a bit douchy, but c'mon it's a 15% plat, how hard could it really be?

Maybe you're not doing it the right way?

Don't get me wrong, I understand being frustrated at a game for being hard (looking at you SOTC) but sometimes all it takes is a break and a bit of fresh air to go back in and get that trophy

[totallycrushed]

Gran Turismo 5 and 6 would be boring as hell without a couple of really tough trophies. Same goes for any game that wants to try your skill at a minigame or something. If it's luck based, then it can go fuck itself.

Edited January 7, 2017 by totallycrushed

[TBT_Nova]

I've even completed all the Batman Arkham challenges in every game as well! I honestly believe this trophy is harder than any of those challenges.

[Terra]

If I find myself having difficulty with getting a trophy I just take a break and go back to it later when I have the patience to push through it. However if I just can't seem to get it then I leave it alone if I have already beaten the game.

 

For example one of my favorite games is C&C Red Alert 3 but have I platinumed it? Nope. I suffered through that on PC and because the controller interface makes the game more of a challenge for someone who is used to a keyboard, I haven't really given the platinum another thought. I may go back to it but I'm happy with what trophies I earned from it.

[madbuk]

The Psychonauts minigame isn't really that hard when you realize where to stand. It was my first trophy because I thought it was endless, so I could grind out the money (or whatever the in-game name is) it gives you.

 

If you stand in the middle of the arena (where the switch you hit to trigger the game is), you'll be able to hit all the targets that pop up really quickly in the inner circle if you punch while moving the analog stick towards them. It's a lot easier once you realize this, instead of running to each one like I was doing. There simply isn't enough time for that. You'll need to run to the outer ones but they're during slower waves so it's not a problem.

 

I hear horror stories about one of the later levels (an escort mission or something, dunno, haven't gotten to that yet) so I wouldn't be surprised if that is even harder than the punching minigame.

[AJ_Radio]

Those challenges are pretty tough. I've tried for hours to get them but always get hit by a ninja or a brute, then I have to restart from the beginning.

[TBT_Nova]

@madbuk I understand what you're trying to say but I just can't get it. 

 

There's a couple stages to each level of this mini-game, and the last stage keeps destroying me.

Stage 1: Inner and outer circle, no babies, slow spawns, lots of time to hit them (2-4 seconds)

Stage 2: Inner circle only, babies, faster spawns, medium time to hit them (~1-maybe 1.5 seconds)

Stage 3: Inner circle only, babies, extremely fast spawns, little time to hit them (<1 second probably)

 

Once you get to Stage 2/3, you can't afford to run around and hit them all. So you have to stand in the middle and hit them. But tapping the joystick in the direction of the target and punching at the same time drags you off center, and you have to readjust. Readjusting is possible in Stage 2, but in Stage 3 it really isn't. If you get off center and miss one, you pretty much can't keep swinging and keep up, so you end up missing 4-5 minimum (and often times more if you can get back on rhythm with the targets coming up). Now that I'm on the level of this mini-game where missing any normal target takes away a point and babies take away 2, I'm finding this next to impossible. I haven't hit above 25/40 and most of my tries end up in the 10-15 range.

 

Also, there's basically no guides for this (and I doubt there would or could be). Only advice I've ever really seen is 1) stand in the middle and 2) just have faster reaction time.

Edited January 7, 2017 by TBT_Nova

[DRMOGUERA]

I just did this a week or so ago. My advice would be to not worry about readjusting, the punches go surprisingly far. Just immediately hold the next direction and attack and you shouldn't move enough for it to be an issue. I think what makes a big difference is just practice and putting full concentration on the game, like you said there's a rhythm to it especially in the later stages. The main difficulty is being able to recognize the babies quick enough to not pull the "trigger," which I found simply came with practice. You probably also know this but if you start missing too many, just do a ground pound on the switch to end it early and do it again.

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

This has always annoyed me as well, along with random time related trophies, such as the one in Yomawari that requires you to have the game running for 50 hours, when the game doesn't take anywhere near that long to even 100% in terms of the collectables and side content. It just feels completely unnecessary. I also have a pet peeve with speedrun trophies.

 

I didn't find "I love punching" to be particularly hard in Psychonauts, got it easily enough on my second try. But I have had difficulty in some games in the past in certain areas that most people don't really have difficulty with. I think my main gripe when it comes to difficulty trophies in games are those that require you be to 100% perfect, such as clearing all the stages on hard difficulty and gaining the gold trophies in Catherine, which really put me off trying to attempt the platinum, the final boss was a nightmare enough just on normal difficulty, I didn't want to have to attempt that over and over again on hard just to get it flawless for the gold trophy.

[Beyondthegrave07]

The only time I have serious problems with trophies are when they test the system itself more than the player. You know, the trophies that require your system to be on for more than 3 hours in one sitting? I hate those.

 

Little mini game trophies like this are annoying, but to me, are 100% fair game no matter how "tacked on" they feel in my book. The developer wanted it in there, so why not have a trophy to give someone the fullest experience of the game (Even if it is garbage!)?

[B1rvine]

Trine - Drawing 500 boxes comes to mind. Pretty ridiculous.  

 

Meaningless trophies like this are what I can't stand. Things you'd never really do if they weren't a trophy (unless its some sort of challenge, then I don't mind.)

[Kapika96]

How was Social Lubricant on Watch Dogs hard? It was easy! And I did it before it was patched to make it easier too!

[Satoshi Ookami]

14 hours ago, QuentinCle95 said:

Platinums aren't there to be easy

Mayo says hi

[harsly]

13 minutes ago, Kapika96 said:

How was Social Lubricant on Watch Dogs hard? It was easy! And I did it before it was patched to make it easier too!

 

You mean after it was patched? 

[Arkthur]

It's easy, devs don't try every trophy once the trophy list is ready. They just put a couple "cool" tasks and move on, we are stuck with this annoying trophies if we want that 100%/Plat, there is really no other way.

[ProfBambam55]

creating a rage thread?...hmmm...many games have all kinds of different trophies...raging about one that actually makes you play the game a bit and work on skill/reaction time?...yes, i know, it's a pointless mini-game...you'll get it if that's your goal and likely feel good about getting it...would recommend this kind of thread/post in a status update or forum for said game...creating a thread that generalizes devs and their choices of what requirements are needed for a trophy a bit silly IMO and particularly when difficulty and enjoyment seem to be subjective...you could also not play the mini-game if it bothers you that much or skip the trophy requirements that you find ridiculous...gotta have 'em?...then why create a thread to complain?...

[xMissFantasy]

I would either keep practicing or just walk away for a while and come back. I find if I do that, I usually get said trophy after a few tries. Can't be as bad as Flappy Goat and I did that twice >.>

[Greenshyguy]

If you hate random or difficult trophies, I think you're on the wrong site