Love it / Hate it?
I thought I would do something different this issue and site down for a chat with our JRPG Specialist, Alessio as we have different opinions about the trophy system.
Matt
I’m going to hit you with the main question straight away, do you like trophies?
Ah I don't know. It's hard to describe. In theory I do not. But my brain is not immune to the little squirt of dopamine when it pops up. I very much dislike the fact that the notifications for them are on by default, I understand why, but maybe don't have them pop during cut scenes.
Matt
Right, they can kill the mood or tension if they pop at the wrong time.
Yeah, the one that I can think of the most I think, is from The Last of Us, there was a hyper emotional moment and it's just like, bloop, bloop. People are crying and then this trophy just pops up with a stupid pun name.
In the early days, when they were first introduced I felt it was like artistically bankrupt.
Matt
I think thats fair. I think the early additions of trophies really served to try and pump the numbers on the multiplayer sections of some games. We went through this trend of having a game with a 4,5,6 hour long single player mode with a really basic multiplayer mode but then trophies that want you to do 10,000 kills in death matches. It annoys me more that those one are now completely unavailable because servers are offline.
I would say I think things have gotten better though.
Right I think so too for the most part. A lot of games you would walk through a door and it would ping that you walked through a door for the first time.
Matt
So I know you aren’t a big fan of the system but do you have any Platinum trophies?
I have 14 and I think I got most of them by accident. TellTale games for example, you get the platinum for just beating the game essentially. Control (PS4) I do and possibly Alan Wake 2 (PS5) where I just got so obsessive about doing every little thing in the game and then if I end up having 90% and I just need to do one little thing to get it, I'll go for it.
Matt
I think I have over 60 Platinums just for the record. But you won’t seek them out especially?
No, if it happens then great alright but I'm really not bothered. I'm not as irritated by it any more as I was though. I do think the Trophy system is more elegant than the Gamer points offered by Xbox, but I think Steam have really taken achievements to the next level with the way you can get these trading cards and show off certain ones in your profile.
Matt
Yeah I think something extra would be really nice here. The website PSN Profiles does a lot of that heavy lifting for Sony. You can see which of your trophies are rare and how many you have collected over time.
Do you remember when trophies were introduced?
Matt
Yes, they were patched in with a later system release. I remember at the time playing Uncharted 1 and back then you could get a Demo Disc with the PlayStation 3 magazine and on it was completed game saves that you could copy onto your machine and I was able to copy over a game save that was 100% complete, all medals all collectables but it glitched out my trophy list for that game and to this day Uncharted 1 is sat there on 0%.
So you are pro trophies then?
Matt
Yes I am. I like them as a reason to go back and play a game, maybe do some things I wouldn’t normally do or explore different content. I talked about it in a previous article that I have these conditions that I think make for a good trophy list and whether or not I will go for the Platinum in a game.
I prefer it when you don’t have to go and find a guide and you can pretty much do it by looking at the list alone.
Yes, I think it's good when they are tied with in-game rewards for collecting things or achieving things.
Matt
The only negative from me is that sometimes if I have Platinumed a game, part of me feels it’s a waste of time to go back and play it again, which is kind of sad. I got the Platinum for Control (PS4) first time through and have never gone back despite really wanting to.
Do you think you will Platinum Death Stranding 2 (PS5)?
I'm considering it, as obviously we are playing it for the show (Metal Gear Mondays Podcast) but I looked at the list and some of them seemed pretty miserable.
Matt
I think I am going to go for it. Thank you for your time Alessio!