Trophy Tuesday: The Most Difficult Platinum Trophy

I've platinumed quite a few games, 41 to be exact. A few of those games, such as Trine 2, were rather easy and could be completed in just a few hours. Others took a great deal of time with Skyrim taking me over 100 hours to platinum. As I pondered this week's Trophy Tuesday blog entry, I considered my most difficult platinum trophy ever.

The contenders:

• Skyrim
• Batman: Arkham City
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Modern Warfare 2 
• Mass Effect 2 

Rather than basing it solely off my experience with each game, I decided to take a look at two factors: 1) Difficulty rating according to ps3trophies.org and 2) How many platinumed the game according to PSNProfiles.com.

Let's start with the difficulty rating. Here are the results going from most difficult (1) to least difficult (5).

1. Batman: Arkham City (7/10 TIE)
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum (7/10 TIE)
3. Modern Warfare 2 (6.5)
4. Mass Effect 2 (6/10)
5. Skyrim (4.5/10)

Next, let's rank them in order of the most rare platinum (1) to the most common platinum (5).

1. Batman: Arkham City (10,885)
2. Mass Effect 2 (10,955)
3. Skyrim (22,752)
4. Batman: Arkham Asylum (23,183)
5. Modern Warfare 2 (56,561)

Truth be told, I would have said Arkham City even before looking at these numbers. Not only did it prove to be the most challenging, it also ended up being the platinum trophy I treasure the most. You see, many trophies are simply a battle of attrition. Find this many items, defeat this many enemies, travel this far...Arkham City has its share of these trophies, but it's really the challenge maps and Riddler trophies that set it apart. 

Whereas other games require you to repeat tasks over and over to get a certain trophy, Arkham City's challenge maps require true skill. You have to practice your moves repeatedly and time your parries perfectly, that is if players wish to pursue the game's most difficult trophy, which requires you to use every move at your disposal (gadgets and all) in one continuous free-flow combo...without getting hit. 

One trophy requires you to utilize every
move in your arsenal without taking damage. 

Believe it or not, the combat challenges actually easy when compared to the predator and campaign challenges, which will take trophy hunters to the brink of insanity. For campaign challenges, you're given a 3 room combo where you must obtain all 3 medals on each challenge for a total of 9 medals. You must complete them in order and you're only allowed 3 continues. Fail more than 3 times and you'll be forced to start from the first challenge all over again.

Aside from the slew of skill-based trophies, there are a number of other trophies, unrelated to skill, that will drive you crazy. You'll have to play the entire game twice if the platinum is your ultimate goal. Arkham City features a New Game Plus mode, which must be completed to earn a silver trophy. You'll have to complete every Riddler challenge and find all the Riddler trophies. There's also the bronze Calendar Man trophy, which requires you to play the game on 12 specific dates throughout the year and speak with Calendar Man. You are able to adjust the time on your PS3 to obtain this trophy; however, it can get cumbersome to repeatedly save the game, quit game, restart game, talk to Calendar Man, etc.

In the end, I'm incredibly proud of this platinum trophy and encourage anyone who wants a challenge to go for it. It will take time, dedication, and practice, but in the end, Batman: Arkham City will be one of the rarest platinum trophies in your collection. For easy platinum trophies? Check out my previous two Trophy Tuesday entries on Sly and Far Cry 3.