The other day, I was thinking about one of the best shooters of all time, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. I caught myself saying, “That game was one hell of a shooter, but it was also the hardest Platinum trophy I’ve ever earned.” That thought is exactly what inspired this article.
You know how it is. When you search for something like “Top Hardest Trophies of All Time,” you get hit with a ton of lists that look practically identical. Often, it’s painfully obvious that the writers haven’t even played the games they’re writing about.
It goes without saying that this list is going to be quite different from what you’d usually find when you search something like this. I poured my own personal experience into this article and focused on what was genuinely challenging for me. With that out of the way, here are my top 5 hardest PlayStation trophies ever.
What you will read here
Top 5 Hardest Trophies I’ve Ever Earned
I want to do things a little differently. I’m going to start my list at number 5, the easiest of the bunch, and work my way down to number 1, which is the absolute hardest trophy I’ve ever earned on PlayStation.
Resident Evil 2 Remake – The Ghost Survivors DLC – Hell of a Sheriff
Without a doubt, Resident Evil 2 is one of my all-time favorites. I played the original back when I was a kid, so when Capcom announced a remake almost two decades later, I was understandably skeptical. But when I finally played it, it blew me away.
Hell of a Sheriff is a bronze trophy from the free The Ghost Survivors DLC. It might not look that hard, but trust me, if you go in unprepared, you will die a lot. The scenario takes place at the Mizol gas station where you start the main campaign as Leon. Here, you play as the officer who gets killed in the gas station and your objective is to kill 100 zombies in No Training mode. The waves get progressively harder, and while it’s extremely frustrating, it is manageable if you keep your cool.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered – Mile High Club
Truthfully, with the latest release, Black Ops 7, I couldn’t be more disappointed. Playing it made me nostalgic for the good ol’ days when Call of Duty really meant something. I sincerely hope Activision changes the direction they’ve been taking for the last couple of years.
The original Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was released all the way back in 2007, so when the remastered edition came along, I knew exactly what I had to do. And I wasn’t disappointed. The Mile High Club trophy is notorious for a reason. It’s the game’s epilogue mission, where you alongside with Captain Price and your crew, are on a plane. You have just one minute to save a hostage from terrorists and get the heck out of dodge.
This is especially brutal since you have only a minute and you should be playing it on Veteran difficulty. It’s really challenging. You have to be fast and precise. But you can get it in no time if you’re fast and careful enough.
The Evil Within – You Asked for It
When I think of The Evil Within, alongside Resident Evil 1 and 4, one question immediately comes to mind: Why in the world doesn’t Shinji Mikami make games like this anymore? Honestly, it’s frustrating. The Evil Within is just on another level. I can guarantee it’s unlike most survival horror games you’ve played in your life. You will never be the same after hearing the name Sebastian. For the record, I honestly believe the sequel was a bit of a joke. Shinji Mikami must know that deep down, since he didn’t direct it.
For the You Asked for It trophy, you have to beat The Evil Within on the hardest possible difficulty which is the infamous AKUMU. The name itself (Japanese for nightmare) warns you exactly what you’re getting into. On this difficulty, you die in one hit, no matter what. It is a brutal but satisfying experience. For me, the most challenging part of the entire run was the beginning of Chapter 6 in the burning cabin. It was incredibly tough because I didn’t have enough Flash Bolts for my Crossbow, which made surviving that part insanely challenging.
All in all, The Evil Within remains one of my all-time favorite survival horror games. I highly recommend it, even though it came out back in 2014. Very few games can honestly claim to be on par with it.
Outlast 2 – Saint & Messiah
Outlast 2 is unlike a lot of other survival horror games where you just run and gun down terrifying creatures. Equipped only with a camera and a couple of batteries, it’s up to you to uncover the truth behind why everyone and their mother went insane in this village. The premise is really interesting. And for the record, I played the original game and it was damn good, too.
There are two trophies here that tied together. The Messiah trophy requires you to finish the game on Insane difficulty without ever reloading your camera battery, while the standard Insane run requires you to beat the game on the highest difficulty without saving or dying. It’s only logical to combine the two unless you want to suffer through it twice. Just remember, If you die, the game restarts from the very beginning, no matter where you are. That’s what sucks about permadeath runs.
The game’s environment is super duper dark, sometimes it gets even pitch black. Trust me when I say this was one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve ever had. You get a massive sense of accomplishment when that shiny Platinum trophy finally pops.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus – Mein Leben
Just like Outlast 2, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus has a Bronze trophy called Mein Leben, which requires you to beat the game on the absolute hardest difficulty. Anyone who has played this knows it’s one of the best shooters of all time and it gives off serious Doom vibes, which is really cool.
I have a personal rule for myself. If I love a game, I will Platinum it no matter the difficulty, unless, of course, it has stupid online trophies. Getting this unbelievably challenging trophy took me about 6 hours for the successful run. I played it safe. I didn’t want to get overconfident and die in the final stretch, so I paused the game a lot.
If you’ve attempted this, you know exactly where the choke points are. Here are a few quick facts about my Mein Leben runs:
- A lot of my deaths happened simply because I got overconfident.
- I died a lot in the very first section, in the wheelchair.
- I died in the infamous Courthouse room several times. Eventually, I tried going under the tables, which actually worked, only for me to get killed by a freaking dog immediately afterward. Jokes aside, the table strategy is solid.
- I died twice just before reaching the Ausmerzer, which was absolutely brutal.
For the Ausmerzer finale, I decided to kill everything. I know there’s a speedrun strategy where you wait till two big robots blast the huge door and you sprint past them and go up the ladder, but that proved fatal for me. I got killed the second I tried it, so I stuck my slow and safe method.
Honorable Mentions
I have to mention the Demon’s Souls remake, the Becomes the Master trophy in Titanfall 2, the Madhouse difficulty in Resident Evil 7, and Peeress of Pull Ups trophy in Final Fantasy VII Remake. These challenges are what make gaming fun for me. I love a challenge, which is why I always play games like Doom and God of War on the hardest difficulty.
I know there are harder trophies out there, but this list was personal. These are the ones I felt I had to write about. I’d love to hear your take. What are your hardest trophies or most challenging gaming experiences? Feel free to share them below.
