Note: This article has been translated from Italian by ChatGPT and may contain errors.
On the web, you can find several lists regarding the most challenging games to platinum, and among these are titles like Bloodborne, Alien: Isolation, and The Evil Within. Fresh from playing Bloodborne, which, despite some “flaws,” I quite enjoyed, I thought about the games I’ve never managed to platinum. While the three titles I mentioned earlier are considered difficult platinums (and I’ve platinumed them all without major struggles), the ones I’m about to mention are, in my view, simply impossible. But let’s take a step back…
I Haven’t Platinumed You, but…
I’ve always liked trophies, however, I haven’t platinumed everything I’ve played. I generally aim for platinum, but sometimes, something might make me give up—whether it’s online trophies (I don’t have PS Plus), boredom, or an apparently insurmountable obstacle. “Recently,” I tried to platinum Resident Evil: Revelations 2, but the ranking trophies always seemed quite tough. In the end, however, I gave up because I can’t unlock the trophy that requires using only the knife as a weapon, no matter what I do (I still haven’t figured out what I’m doing wrong). So, basically, screw it. Then there are cases like ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, to name a couple of games I haven’t platinumed. The first because I find it frustrating (and the speedrun seems very tricky), and the second because the time limit to defeat certain colossi seemed too tight (I never even tried it, to be honest). Silent Hill 2 also has trophies that are truly, and I mean truly, difficult, so I’ve let it go.
All these cases have wounded my pride and my gamer ego, but in the end, who cares, right? Stuff I haven’t platinumed, well, there is some, but undoubtedly, there are many more titles I’ve platinumed compared to those I haven’t. As of writing this, I’ve earned 88 platinums (update 2023: now 98). Returning to Bloodborne, Alien: Isolation, and The Evil Within, I can say that all of them felt like fairly achievable platinums—not super easy, but not insurmountable or too difficult either. Except for a few bosses in the dungeons, Bloodborne is manageable. For Alien: Isolation, if I remember correctly, the trophy for finishing without dying can be attempted on the easiest difficulty, and you can reload a save in case of imminent death (so it’s relatively easy). As for The Evil Within, the hardest difficulty only requires patience. I’ve also platinumed The Evil Within 2, Dead Space 2, Dead Space 3, Outlast (which had similar trophies), and Vanquish (which had a tactical challenge that could drive you bald), but the most demanding one, I believe, was Outlast II. I shared my experience playing it on the Insane difficulty (no saves allowed, if you die, you start from the beginning, and you’re allowed to use only one camera battery!): it was an incredibly tense and exhausting test of nerves.
Is Impossible?
Of all the titles I’ve mentioned, I can say one thing: some of them have extremely difficult trophies, some too difficult for me, but it seems that they still fall within the realm of achievability. With plenty of patience, considerable skill, and steady nerves, you can eventually achieve them. The video games I’m about to mention now, on the other hand, represent, in my opinion, trophies that are the embodiment of impossibility. They are simply impossible to platinum. If Bloodborne‘s platinum can be compared to climbing a steep flight of stairs, achieving the platinums in these games is like scaling Everest.
I’m talking about two specific titles I’ve encountered in my gaming career: Shadow Warrior and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Both are due to a single, darn near impossible trophy. A trophy that requires starting and finishing the game in one go, without dying, all at an incredibly high difficulty level. Shadow Warrior is perhaps the more “achievable” of the two, but I think I made one or two attempts in this mode before throwing in the towel. Definitely beyond my capabilities. Wolfenstein II, in my opinion, is even worse. I also made a couple of attempts here (probably lasting a maximum of ten minutes of gameplay before dying) before deciding to give up. They seem more challenging than hypothetically “Complete Bloodborne without dying.” I’m aware of those who complete Souls-like games in absurd ways, but even if I weren’t able, those still seem technically more “achievable” than Shadow Warrior or Wolfenstein II, where you’d need an extra dose of luck to get through. And luck is always required, no matter what. And I’m not a particularly lucky person…
These are trophies that I can’t fathom how anyone could earn them (although apparently some have succeeded). I genuinely can’t wrap my head around it. They are impossible! I mean, completing Wolfenstein II at that difficulty level (enemies can practically kill you in two shots; it reminded me a bit of a special mission in Modern Warfare 2 or 1 on Veteran difficulty, which lasted only a few minutes, but I don’t know how many attempts it took me to complete it) would be a challenging feat in and of itself. But having the ability to save, trying and retrying (similar to The Evil Within‘s Akumu mode), it would be feasible. The way it’s set up now is not just wildly challenging or out of this world, it’s beyond the realm of possibility. And the game isn’t even that short, because unlike Outlast II, where the “encounters” are minimal and you can finish it in two and a half hours, here you’d be shooting for about six hours straight. And what if the power goes out or a bug or a crash… It’s absurd, to say the least. In other articles, I’ve said that it’s all about endurance, not giving up, and trying again and again, but for these two cases, that reasoning doesn’t apply. You need extraordinary reflexes and superhuman skill. Period. Oh, and you also need a whole lot of luck!
So, dear developers, go ahead and platinum your own impossible games. Sure, I would have liked to show off and brag about achieving such high-caliber cups, but everyone has their limits. And besides… there’s a limit to everything.