The Platinum Rush: A Quest For Acceptance

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I play games like I eat popcorn – I throw them at my face, hopefully eating some. When the bucket is empty I grab another, stepping on all those discarded as I pass. This is why I’ve never earned a Platinum Trophy – once I’ve finished the main campaign and had a small dabble in multiplayer, it’s filed in my game cupboard and usurped.

Like many a quest for self improvement, mine began with inadequacy. I’ve been helping with development of future versions of the official PlayStation iPhone and Android app and I volunteered my PSN ID to take a look at how trophies are displayed only to be told, “sorry, but we need someone who has a platinum.”

Crushing feedback.

I went to my agile-digited colleague Ross McGrath for advice, as he now has 20 of the elusive guerdons. This is what he said:

Determine which game you’re going for and play it through once without worrying about trophies and, most importantly, enjoy it. Also bear in mind it’s much easier if the game has no multiplayer trophies. Once you’ve finished the first run, check out online guides to give you a nice roadmap. Never, ever play through a game for the first time with a trophy guide in front of you. If you do that then… well… what are you doing?

Next, I had to decide which game to go for so I turned to the followers of the @PlayStationEU Twitter feed. Many of them recommended inFAMOUS, which I was already considering since I already have 55% of its trophies. There was also a lot of heated chat around a Hannah Montana game.

In the end, the decision was practically made for me. I popped out to grab a tea and, when I got back, there was a mysterious copy of Yakuza 4 propped up against my keyboard. It’s perfect for the following reasons:

• I like the Yakuza games.
• I’m quite good at them.
• My flatmates don’t mind watching me play it.
• It’s challenging enough for you not to mock me.
• It doesn’t have online trophies for you to prevent me from getting.

The only condition in place is that I can’t use online guides, because that’s boring and it doesn’t seem in keeping with the game. For me, Yakuza 4 is a pure-bred console title so I’ll be playing the pre-internet way. The only help I’ll have is from friends, and what better place to start that the game’s director, Jun Orihara. I sent him an email asking for his advice and he responded swiftly with the following:

First of all, we use Trophies and Challenges as a kind of metagame to add replay value to Yakuza 4.

Here is how I recommend you get your platinum trophy…

Start with Normal Mode and enjoy the basic story and gameplay elements. One thing to note here is that you should not choose Easy Mode, even once temporary Easy Mode has been unlocked by getting game over two times in a row. This is because we have a trophy called ‘Indomitable’ which is awarded for clearing Normal mode without reverting to Easy.

After this, try the Hard Mode by succeeding previous save data, and this time I would recommend to set every player at max level 20. This is because you can get level 20 when you play through story mode twice, and this will be suitable difficulty for the next Extra Hard mode.

And then clear the game in Extra Hard mode to get a gold Trophy.

As you would notice, I haven’t mentioned things like sub-stories and play spots but I have reasonable reason for this: Premium Adventure Mode is unlocked once the game is played through more than once and you will be able to pick the other trophies up here.

The trophies that are not related to story mode should be obtained in this Premium Adventure Mode using save data taken from your Extra Hard playthrough. Premium Adventure Mode was created so that players can fully enjoy Kamurocho aside of its story. You will find this mode for every title in the series.

Playing Yakuza 4 like this is the best way to get the platinum trophy while also enjoying the story and everything Kamurocho has to offer.

Oh, and I nearly forgot: don’t forget to check Reminisce, which is available at the title menu particularly for those who play playing a Yakuza game for the first time. You will get a trophy once you see the movie to the end.

Current Progress

Thanks to an all-nighter on Saturday, I’m a decent way through my first game (part three, chapter three for anyone playing too) and hope to finish my first run by the end of the week. I didn’t read Orihara-san’s advice properly and have jumped straight in to Hard mode, but it’s too late to go back now and I haven’t hit anything hair-tearingly tricky as of yet.

I’ve not done the hostess and massage parlour missions yet, partly because I’ll deal with all of that in Premium Adventure Mode and mainly because I’m playing the game in the office a lot…

Online Storage has been a huge help as I switch between the office and my living room.

Next week, I realise what I have taken on and spend the day rummaging through our game archive for the Hannah Montana game people keep telling me about. Until then, please use the comments section to chat about trophies. Do you think that I have chosen the right game for my first platinum? If not, which would you recommend? Which was your first?