10 of the Worst Trophies/Achievements We All Missed During Our First Playthrough

For as long as trophies and achievements have existed in video games, our brains have been chemically altered to hunt these things down like a moth to a light, all so we can claim that illustrious platinum trophy. Not all platinum trophies are created equal though, with some games seemingly going out of their way to make sure it's impossible to achieve them in a single playthrough without a guide.

I think I can speak for all gamers when I say that missing a trophy because you accidentally skipped it while playing the main story is one of the worst feelings you can have in a game – right up there with having no date for Valentine's Day in Persona 5. The worst kinds, in my opinion, are the ones that nearly force you to have a guide as you play, making sure you're tracking several individual encounters on a checklist so you can trigger the right circumstances to unlock a quest or minor interaction.

It's for this reason that the platinum/full achievement runs aren't for everyone, as more often than not, they require you to play in a way that is counterintuitive to fun. Instead, we turn into Scary Bilbo, clutching for hours to grab that sole bronze trophy.

Today, we'll be looking at 10 games with some of the worst platinum runs in recent memory. Speaking from experience, these are 10 games where I think I had to take several long walks to cool off after realizing I'd have to start an entire new game just to collect a single trophy. Was the platinum trophy worth it in the end? You tell me. Let's dive in.

10 Darksiders

Aerial Predator: Kill 160 Enemies While On The Angelic Beast

Darksiders is one of my all-time favorite Metroidvania, and was actually one of the first games I ever sought out to Platinum as a wee lad. However, this one trophy forever remained my white whale as, for whatever reason, I had a large mental block and would forget to keep a save right before a specific one-time event happened.

This is, of course, the Aerial Predator trophy, which asks players to shoot 160 enemies while riding an angelic beast. You can only complete this mission during one point in the early part of the game, and it comes rather unexpectedly. After a short sequence fighting through some angels, you'll find yourself in a Star Fox-inspired set piece, shooting down demons and angels on the back of your heavenly mount. This trophy is no slouch, as it requires you to have a near-perfect one on your first go, with little to no warm up for it.

If you're like me, it's highly likely you didn't get this achievement on your first go, and if you're also like me, you didn't realize this would be your only chance for the rest of the game to try again. Speaking from experience, it wasn't until I was 90% of the way done with the game that I decided to trophy hunt a bit before taking on the final stretch where I realized my mistake and almost considered abandoning my platinum dreams for good.

9 Final Fantasy X Remaster

Master Linguist

Final Fantasy 10's platinum isn't the hardest one in the series (oooh foreshadowing!), but it can be equally frustrating. I don't think I've ever played a game that's made backtracking so punishing. Miss a destruction sphere at Bevelle or Macalania? Congrats, you now have a super boss to get through. Were you mentally exhausted after fighting Yunalesca and forgot to get Tidus' ultimate weapon component? You guessed it, superboss time. Accidentally spoke to an NPC while dodging lightning bolts? I'm sure you get the gist.

All of this is minor compared to the most missable trophy, which is the Master Linguist trophy, which requires players to collect every Al Bhed Primer in the game. These small books are scattered throughout the world and translate a letter from the Al Bhed language, so you can understand what they're saying. While you can get most of these at your own leisure, there are three located in Home which are completely missable.

If you don't pick these Primer's up in this chaotic sequence, you'll lose them for the rest of your run. Given how long Final Fantasy X is, and how its platinum run effectively doubles its length, there isn't a worse feeling than realizing you only picked up two out of the three primers and are now one short of your 100% run.

8 Horizon Zero Dawn

All Machines Cataloged

If you were to ask a room of gamers if they enjoy scanning things in video games, odds are most people will say no. Which is why Horizon Zero Dawn's trophy "All Machines Cataloged" may just be one of the worst I've played.

Throughout the game, you'll need to scan every single machine type you come across. This includes the specific machines you'll encounter throughout several side quests and boss fights. For example, if you forget to scan the "Deathbringer" machine before completing the main story, you'll have to reload a save, or start a new run, as they are exclusively tied to a small handful of quests, and the final boss of the game.

While this one can be fairly forgiving, it's also frustrating to find out you missed out on scanning a single machine, taking for granted that there might be a future opportunity to knock this trophy out during the post-game.

7 Batman: Arkham Asylum

Party Pooper

Batman: Arkham Asylum isn't the hardest platinum out there. If anything, I'd say most of it would be pretty manageable if not for this one easily missable trophy.

Towards the end of the game, you'll be welcomed by a horde of Joker's goons into the final arena. If you go with the festivities and refuse to knock the criminals attending your welcome party, you'll actually lock yourself out of the "Party Pooper" trophy. What makes this trophy so frustrating to miss is that you'll need to play through the entire game again to get it.

As a double whammy, this is also your best option to get the Freeflow Combo 40 trophy, which requires you to, well, get a combo score of 40 hits without getting hit yourself. As mobs are usually pretty far apart to find the perfect encounter to manage this feat, your best bet is to also attempt it here. Who would have thought playing like a superhero would have drawbacks?

6 Bloodborne

Hunter's Essence

Bloodborne has my favorite lineup of weapons in a Souls-like game ever, and the game knows it. That's why one of the trophies in the game requires players to discover every weapon and firearm in the game in a single playthrough. Which doesn't sound too hard, until you remember that this is a Souls game, and certain weapons are tied to questlines with elusive triggers.

For example, to get Eileen the Crow's weapons, you need to complete her quest, which sees you needing to make several unexplained trips to areas you've already visited to talk to her. If you miss some of these obscure triggers, it's possible to miss her quest completely, and lose the chance to get her weapons.

If you don't have a friend online who's willing to drop the weapons for you, it's nearly impossible to make sure you grab all of these in a single playthrough.

5 Tomb Raider (2013)

Chatterbox

The 2013 Tomb Raider reboot is an excellent entry in redefining Lara Croft's character, while focusing on a tight narrative experience. As part of this, the game includes a variety of fleshed out supporting characters, and by god do the developers want you to know that. That's why one of the game's trophies, "Chatterbox", requires players to exhaust every optional Endurance crew conversation throughout the game.

What makes this such a frustrating trophy, is that it's one that's pretty easy to miss. Essentially, you need to keep talking to each character until the dialogue prompt disappears, meaning just talking to them isn't enough, you have to make sure there's no yap left in them.

This is even more frustrating as you'll need to have two separate conversations with Whitman after collecting 50 pieces of salvage to strengthen your axe. If you try to upgrade your axe first without talking to him, you've immediately lost your trophy here. It's such a small interaction that can cost you your entire playthrough, which, in my opinion, is a cardinal trophy hunting sin for something so minor.

4 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Card Collector

We all love Gwent, but once you're done with this trophy, you might start rethinking your relationship with this mini-game. In The Witcher 3, while taking breaks from saving your adopted daughter from ancient elf liches, you can have Geralt challenge the local townsfolk to games of Gwent. Even more, after completing certain side quests, you'll be awarded new cards to add to your deck.

Like other games mentioned here, it's possible to miss some of these forever depending on how different regions change after progressing far enough into the story. This means that if you're planning on diving into Gwent after saving your daughter (which is positioned as an urgent matter), you might want to rethink those priorities, otherwise you risk losing these cards for good, and by extension, your desired trophy.

If you love Gwent, I'm sure having another reason to focus on it during your playthrough isn't always a bad thing. But if you're going for a trophy? This just adds a whole new layer of micromanaging your playthrough to claim your deserved trophy.

3 Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

The Entire Game

If you had to ask me what the worst platinum trophy of any game is, it has to be Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. I love the game, but it has by far one the most grueling platinum experiences out there. This is all thanks to how easy it is to miss trophies, on top of how grindy it all is.

No game I've played makes it so most of their trophies are missable. If you aren't keeping a spare save for every chapter, you're going to be kicking yourself later down the line.

What makes this experience even more frustrating, is that tracking which honor missions you've already completed, and which ones you have left is near-impossible without a guide (or savant-like memory). For this reason, several trophy hunters recommend playing with a guide and taking things chapter-by-chapter, rather than hoping to save things towards the end of the game. Which, in my opinion, stinks, as it sucks having to alter your playthrough just to hit these niche milestones.

On top of this, the experience is just a massive slog. There are over 300 missions in the game, and to get your platinum trophy, you'll need to run these back a few extra times to farm strong materia, stats, and equipment, which just adds extra time to an already exhausting experience.

Now, imagine doing all of this only to find out that you missed a side quest, or a mail from a character, which means you only unlocked 298 out of the 300 possible missions, which means you now have to replay an entire chapter or the game from scratch? I think it's fair if you just decided to abandon your platinum run entirely at that point.

2 Red Dead Redemption 2

Lending A Hand

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar's largest game, and comes loaded with hours of side content that's easy to miss. If you're someone who just cares about the story, this is nothing worth worrying about. However, if you're a trophy hunter, this may just be your worst nightmare.

To 100% this game, you'll need to complete the "Lending A Hand" trophy, which requires players to complete a specific set of optional honor missions throughout the story. Just to make things tougher, some of these are not only time-sensitive, meaning it's possible to lock yourself out of them if you progress too far in the game, but they're also tied to high honor. This means you have to make them a priority, which can often lead to playing in a way you're not comfortable with.

1 South Park: The Stick of Truth

More Popular Than John Lennon

No game has accurately parodied the RPG genre like South Park: The Stick of Truth, which was not only hilarious, but also an endearing love letter to the genre. As a part of its parody, the game includes several cheeky trophies poking light-hearted fun at gaming tropes, which makes it a fun platinum to aim for. In saying that, this one trophy makes the journey so frustrating.

"More Popular Than John Lennon" requires players to befriend everyone in South Park, which doesn't sound too hard, until you remember that several friends are entirely missable. Much like Tomb Raider or Red Dead Redemption 2, if you also progress past a certain point, you'll miss out on your opportunity to befriend them (due to "they killed Kenny" related incidents).

Some of these are also too easy to miss, such as answering a phone, buying an item, or just talking to every NPC before leaving an area. While the game isn't too long, and already encourages a second playthrough, it does feel miserable realizing you didn't get this trophy because you missed your one chance to befriend Craig.