With this being a PlayStation website, it’s always a great time to talk about trophies, a meta-game introduced with the PS3 back in 2008. Much like their Xbox counterparts known as achievements, trophies reward players for completing in-game tasks, giving you an overall score and rating tied to your account. For hardcore trophy hunters, earning a Platinum trophy is the crème de la crème, letting you show all of your friends that you truly “completed” a game. Achieving a Platinum trophy is always done by earning every other trophy in the game, much like getting 1000 Gamerscore in the Xbox ecosystem.
However, not all games have a Platinum trophy, much to the dismay of us trophy hunters. There seems to be a disconnect between Sony and developers when it comes to the inclusion of a Platinum trophy. Some developers are aware of what a Platinum trophy is and know to include one in their games, while others simply neglect to check whichever box allows for a Platinum to be added.
At first, some thought only AAA games could include one, but this is proven wrong by games like Dead Cells or Undertale, among a hefty list of other indie titles. Then it was suggested that each trophy, Bronze, Silver, and Gold has a number associated with it and that a game needs to have a certain score to have a Platinum trophy. This seems like a super convoluted way of doing things, and it’s way more likely that it’s simply an oversight made by the developer, though the truth is that we don’t really know for certain.
Arguably, every game should have a Platinum trophy, but there are some particularly egregious examples of games that don’t. These are high-profile games, or ones with super long lists that feel incomplete without a Platinum.
As such, here are 10 games that don’t have Platinum trophies that most definitely should:
Batman Arkham VR
Although Batman: Arkham VR is guilty of not including a Platinum trophy, it’s not the only PSVR title that fails to do so. As someone who gets compulsive with trophies, this game tends to stick out as the only Arkham game without a Platinum, which is frustrating since developer Rocksteady Studios should know how the trophy system works. This lends some weight to the argument that it might be policies on Sony’s end preventing certain games from getting a Platinum based on some unknown factor. And considering this is one of the flagship PSVR games, it’s a shame that it only rewards you with a Gold for earning the hardest trophy in the game. Maybe as more PSVR games release, the trophies will improve.
Journey
As you may know, Journey is an important game. It would be nice to show your love by earning a Platinum trophy in it, but sadly, Journey doesn’t have one. Thatgamecompany did an incredible job, earning it numerous Game of the Year awards from various outlets in 2012, making it one of the most beloved games of the past decade. Seeing as how this was one of the PlayStation indie highlights back in the day, it feels wrong that it doesn’t have a Platinum trophy. Even upon porting it to PS4 in 2015, the trophies remained the same, unfortunately. Still, Journey is most definitely worth your time, even with the trophy mishap.
What Remains of Edith Finch
Much like Journey, What Remains of Edith Finch certainly struck a chord as a fan-favorite indie game upon its release in 2017. It told an incredibly dark tale of death and did so in a unique way that hadn’t really been done before. If only it had a Platinum trophy to reward those for doing everything in the game. As it stands, Edith Finch is still an incredible game that deserves a playthrough. You might even have it in your library already since it was available as a PS Plus Game for the month of May.
Hitman 2
Hitman 2 is probably the most annoying examples of a Platinum-less game, simply due to it being a high-budget AAA title with a lengthy trophy list. What makes me go crazy is the fact that its predecessor, Hitman (2016), also didn’t include a Platinum trophy, proving that IO Interactive didn’t implement the loud feedback given in regards to its trophies. On top of that, Hitman 2 has a whopping 125 trophies that require 100+ hours of gameplay to complete, which is a shame because it’s an incredible game. This could arguably be because each of Hitman and Hitman 2’s “episodes” count as DLC for the game, and as such, the game isn’t a single complete package. Hopefully Hitman 3 will make up for this and finally include a Platinum.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
An argument could be made that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes isn’t deserving of a Platinum trophy since it’s not a “full” game. But the logic that only long games are worthy of a Platinum doesn’t hold up when games like My Name is Mayo and Don’t Knock Twice can be completed in less time than Ground Zeroes, (both of which have a Platinum trophy). When this game released, it performed quite well, due to it being a prequel (and demo of sorts) for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Because of its significance, Ground Zeroes feels lacking without the inclusion of a Platinum trophy.
Outlast
With it being Red Barrels’ first game on the PS4, it’s understanding that the team neglected to include a Platinum trophy in the popular horror game, Outlast. Upon its release in 2014, players were blown away by how terrifying it was, making it one of the best horror games available on the platform to this day. That’s why it should have absolutely included a Platinum trophy, especially when you look at the difficulty of the the trophies. Finishing the game on the hardest difficulty without dying is no easy task and being rewarded with a measly Gold trophy hurts. Luckily, Red Barrels fixed this for the sequel and added a Platinum in Outlast 2.
Overcooked!
Here is yet another PS Plus game that was available for the month of May of 2019, along with What Remains of Edith Finch. Overcooked! is a frantic multiplayer cooking game with some challenging trophies. Sadly, earning all of them does not net you a Platinum trophy, which is frustrating to say the least. The team at Ghost Town Games did learn from their mistake and included a Platinum in the sequel, Overcooked! 2, which partly makes up for the lack of a Platinum in the first entry. Too bad developers can’t go back and retroactively add a Platinum.
Resident Evil 4
This entry bugs me because Resident Evil 5 and 6, which were ported to PS4 around the same time, both have Platinum trophies (Editor’s Note: Both Resident Evil 5 and 6 released on PS3 with a Platinum trophy each on that platform first, so these trophy lists aren’t new), so Resident Evil 4 stands out like a sore thumb. It’s also arguably the best one out of the more action-heavy Resident Evil games, making it a huge punch in the gut to find that all it has are a couple of Gold, Silver, and several Bronze trophies. Maybe one day we’ll get a remake much like the recent Resident Evil 2 which will fix the game’s glaring trophy problem.
The Unfinished Swan
Although it’s a shorter experience, it doesn’t make The Unfinished Swan any less deserving of a Platinum trophy. If you aren’t familiar with it, The Unfinished Swan could be described as a first-person shooter made by the studio behind What Remains of Edith Finch. But calling it a first-person shooter might be a tad misleading, since you don’t have any firearms. Instead, the game takes place in a colorless world that needs you to brighten it up by splashing paint everywhere. It’s an incredibly unique game that’s worth your time, even if it won’t add to your Platinum-count.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 2
This is a weird one, particularly because the previous installment in the series, Season One, did have a Platinum trophy. In fact, I don’t recall ever seeing a case like that before (correct me if I’m wrong). Either way, The Walking Dead: Season Two should most definitely have a Platinum trophy, simply due to its popularity after the success of the first season. It’s a high-profile title that comes across as incomplete without that sweet, sweet Platinum.
And there you have it. One thing to note is that we do not mean any offense to the developers that worked on the aforementioned games. Making games is insanely difficult and more times than not, studios are primarily focused on getting their games finished and out the door. All of the games on this list have their merits and deserve to be played. However, there does seem to be a lack of knowledge when it comes to including Platinum trophies in games (or perhaps inconsistent policies about trophies coming from Sony’s end of things), so hopefully this list proves that trophies do, in fact, matter to some.
What games did we miss? Surely there are ton of other notable examples of games that should include a Platinum trophy but don’t. Let us know in the comments!
