In one of our recent Now Loading features, we discussed how much members of the PSLS community value trophies. Whether or not you care about the little digital rewards, though, you have to admit it’s sort of amazing what lengths some players will go to earn them. In this new feature, called “Trophy Torture,” we’ll be taking a look at the hardest of the hard — those trophies that are practically torturous to earn, but sometimes the only obstacle standing between a hardcore gamer and that sweet, sweet Platinum. It probably goes without saying, but Platinums themselves will not be included on this list; those are obviously the hardest to earn in any game, and besides, we’re talking about the trophies that make “Platting” a game an exercise in masochism.
RPG Masochism
For our first Trophy Torture subject, we’re going to look at the most brutal trophy challenges that role-playing games on PlayStation have to offer. Now, when I say “brutal,” keep in mind that the definition of difficulty here is sort of a relative thing — particularly when it comes to RPGs, it’s not necessarily that these are “hard” to get in the traditional sense of the word, but rather the grueling time commitment and/or repetition. With that out of the way, let’s get into the worst of the worst: from Final Fantasy XIII to Bloodborne, here are 10 of the most annoying trophies to snag in RPGs on PSN.
What are the most brutal RPG trophies you’ve tortured yourself getting on PSN? Let us know in the comments!
Trophy Torture: RPG Edition
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Final Fantasy XIII - Treasure Hunter
This little gem requires you to collect and construct every single weapon and accessory in the game. Not only does that require you to contend with Final Fantasy XIII’s dull-as-dishwater crafting system, but it also means you risk being a victim of its infamously linear structure. Sell an item you got in an unrevisitable location? Have fun playing the entire game again!
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Final Fantasy X-2 - Sweet Perfection
Getting this trophy — particularly if you’re trying to do it in one playthrough — is not recommended for those who’d like to keep a firm grip on their sanity. Final Fantasy X-2 is so picky about how you play, and so utterly maddening in its lack of intuitive design, that simply skipping cutscenes will ensure you miss out on this trophy until your next playthrough. Painful? Oh, yes. Very.
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Mugen Souls - Take Your Pick!
There’s no need to even bother picking a single trophy out of the terribad bunch in this JRPG nightmare: just about all of them require dull, stab-your-eyes out grindfests that essentially require you to temporarily zombify yourself. Just how much grinding is this? Well, considering it has taken fairly skilled players upwards of 400 hours to get the Platinum, I’d say… a fair bit!
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Star Ocean: The Last Hope - World's Biggest Welch Fan
Nothing is worse than a trophy that makes you get ALL THE THINGS without allowing you to keep track of what THINGS you have gotten. Such is the case with Star Ocean: The Last Hope’s goofily-named challenge, which requires you to gather every single item in the game with no way to keep track of what you’ve had. Guess you’d better not use any items, then.
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Dark Souls II - Master of Miracles
Souls is a series known for its brutal difficulty, and getting all the Miracles in Dark Souls II is definitely one of the franchise’s more trying challenges. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could just buy them all outright, as you can with some, but there are plenty that need annoying conditions met to unlock — you’ll have to forgive me if I’d rather not collect 30 Sunlight Medals or win 1000 PvP matches, friend.
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Bloodborne - Hunter's Essence
Oh look, another “collect everything” trophy. Who’d have guessed there’d be so many on the list? Bloodborne has you scour every corner of Yharnam’s Lovecraftian-inspired streets for every single weapon in the game, which — given how obsessed people tend to become with From Software’s outings — may be all but inevitable as you’re sucked into the hunt.
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White Knight Chronicles - Gold Coin Purse
This is just below Mugen Souls as one of the most bitterly grind-heavy games on PlayStation, so we’ll actually pick one trophy out as obnoxious and boring this time: oh yeah, the one that requires you to collect 10 million units of the game’s currency. Sure, this might not be a challenge in a game more generous with its cash, but that ain’t White Knight Chronicles — hope you enjoy your tenth playthrough, buddy.
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Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited - Emperor!
Trophy hunters may not agree on the difficulty of certain challenges, but they’re probably in agreement on this little fact: leaderboard trophies need to die. Elder Scrolls Online requires you to ascend to the top of your respective PvP leaderboard in order to nab this puppy, which has led some players to bitterly dub Tamriel Unlimited as an “impossible Platinum.”
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Final Fantasy X - Lightning Dancer
People fall into two camps on this trophy: those that can do it and say it’s easy, and those who would rather chew through their own hands than even think of attempting this seemingly ceaseless challenge in the Thunder Plains. I was unlikely to Platinum Final Fantasy X anyway because of the blitzball trophies, but this one all but ensured I wouldn’t even bother trying.
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The Guided Fate Paradox - Defeated Prince Yamato!
This is one of those JRPGs that thinks big numbers (wow, level 9,999!) are going to intimidate and impress us. Well, maybe this time it actually works. Try these stats on for size: in order to even stand a chance of beating Prince Yamato, you’ve got to get to floor 120 of the Martial Arts Advanced dungeon, travel to floor 200 of the EX-Advanced dungeon, max out all your star items to +99 and make sure you can exceed 100 million damage. Wow. It was painful just typing that out.
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Trophy Torture: RPG Edition
