With the advent of the PS3 gaming era, trophies systems emerged, and they brought new challenges to players. Trophies are digital rewards awarded to PlayStation players for completing specific missions in a game or playing in a specific way. Depending on the difficulty of the mission, players can receive bronze, silver, gold, or shiny platinum trophies. In the PS3 era, it was very difficult to win the Platinum Trophy, but since then, the difficulty of playing Platinum has been much lower.
The Platinum Trophy has always been a dream for many players, as PlayStation games have had a hard time getting such trophies in the past. The Platinum Trophy is unlocked by gathering all the other trophies, some of which may require a long and boring brush or are too difficult to discourage the player. However, platinum trophies have become increasingly accessible in recent years, which is a good thing for players.
Many games have online gameplay, and adding a social element to the game and letting players experience the game in a whole new way is a fun way, however it's not so good to tie the trophy to the online. Not all gamers are interested in multiplayer, and there are many players who have never been exposed to the online elements of the game they are playing. If players need to be online to earn a trophy, then those players won't qualify for Platinum.
Another important factor to consider is that online games don't stay active forever, and players may not be able to find someone online with. Game servers won't turn on forever, sooner or later it will be a day of service. This sets a time limit for some trophies that rely on multiplayer games, and future players will not be able to obtain platinum cups for some games. For example, the multiplayer trophies in Assassin's Creed: Revolution are currently more difficult to obtain.
Trophies can enhance the gaming experience by requiring players to play the game in a certain way. For example, Wanda and the Colossus (2018 edition) has a gold trophy called Speed Demon, which requires players to complete Hardmode within 5 minutes, 41 minutes and 28 seconds. It's a well-designed trophy because it requires players to know the details of each Colossus and be able to apply their knowledge skillfully. The same is true for most collectible loot, as they encourage players to explore the world created by the developers. As a result, Death Stranding's Source of Knowledge trophy allows players to roam through all corners of the map.
However, there are also games that force players to play in an unusual way, or require players to master some skills that are not the core of the game. Such trophies can be difficult, and it's usually not fun to complete them. In Brothers of the Sea: Final Edition, there is an example of this: in order to win the "supercharge" trophy, the player must win the racing race with classic difficulty. The driving skills required in the game are useless in the rest of the game, not to mention the classic difficulty, most players can start with the simplest difficulty of playing in the level for half an hour.
The worst are those that don't require any skills or knowledge and just look at the trophies of luck. A painful example is Red Dead Redemption 2, which contains the "Best in the West" gold trophy, which requires 100% completion of the game to obtain. To do this, the player must complete all the challenges in the game, including the gambling challenge. Unfortunately, some gambling games are pure luck, and some gambling challenges require not only the player to win, but also the player to win in a particular way or in a row.
Looking at the platinum ratio of recent PlayStation games, you will find that more players have won the Platinum Cup. In Docker Punch's Infamous: Second Son, 5.6% of players won the Platinum Trophy. In Souls of Tsushima, 13.7% of players won the Platinum Trophy. Similarly, Insomniac's "Ricky and Tinker Bells" (2016 edition) had 2.4% of players win the Platinum Trophy, and xiaobian had to play for three consecutive weeks for this Platinum Cup, which was really detrimental to the game experience. The PS5 exclusive game "Ricky and Ding-Dong: Time Jump" has 17.3% of players win the Platinum Trophy, which can be platinum at the beginning of the basic two weeks, and the difficulty is much lower than the previous game.
Playing trophies has never been a necessary element of playing the game. Some players get extra sense of accomplishment and fun from the trophy, while others don't care about the trophy at all. If the Platinum Cup can enhance the player's gaming experience, then a proper challenge can also make the game more interesting. And for those trophies that torment players, choosing to give up will also make it easier for you.