Trophies are mementos of the many feats of skill a gamer has showcased to date, and it also doubles as a checklist of things to do should you want to achieve 100% completion of any game. Some trophies are pretty easy to obtain, but some can require extraneous amounts of pure skill, luck, or time to get. We have previously discussed 15 of the toughest trophies for PS5 owners, and today – we are presenting 5 more additions as a follow up to that video.
Elden Ring – Shardbearer Malenia
Elden Ring is the culmination of all that developer FromSoftware has done with its Souls’ formula over the last decade or so, and the result is simply breathtaking. The vast world of The Lands Between is not only a visual beauty to gorge on, but is chock full of secrets to find and tough bosses to best. Despite its open world nature, getting all the trophies doesn’t require anything that would take exorbitant amounts of time – but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any challenges that would make you want to throw controllers in frustration.
The hardest trophy to obtain here in our opinion is Shardbearer Malenia, which is obtained for defeating Malenia, Blade of Miquella. Even getting to the fight itself is a challenge, which is hidden deep inside a large secret area in the roots of the Haligtree. First, you need to get two secret medallions and gain access to the Consecrated Snowfield. And from there onwards, you need to find a teleporter hidden in a secret puzzle town to get access to this area which finally opens up access to this boss.
Malenia starts the fight by stating that she’s never been defeated in a duel, and it will take a lot of guts and skill to change that notion of herself. Malenia is a swift warrior that will take you down in a matter of few strikes if you’re not careful. Dodging some of her deadliest attacks like Waterfowl Dance can be nigh impossible, and each successful blow to your body will heal the boss – which makes things all the more difficult.
Even if you get past the first phase, her second phase ups the ante by introducing Scarlet Rot to her attacks alongside a fresh health bar. As such, you will have to change tactics very quickly to have any hopes of surviving. You could ask a friend to help, or resort to a bleed build to cheese her – but even that doesn’t make this challenge a cakewalk by any means. This makes the corresponding trophy for this boss a shining beacon of a player’s skill level and dedication to understanding the many nuances of Elden Ring.
Sifu – Prodigal Child
While Sifu received a ton of critical acclaim at its launch, the game hasn’t really garnered all that much popularity among fans which can largely be attributed to its permadeath mechanics which acts as a barrier for casual players. But those who do take up the challenge will be rewarded with one of the best combat systems of recent memory that dare the player to understand its many intricacies to have any hopes of beating its toughest challenges. But those who want to get all the trophies in Sifu will have to go one step higher, and really perfect the game to finally obtain the coveted platinum.
One of the hardest trophies to obtain in Sifu is the Prodigal Child, which asks the player to complete the game while being 25 years of age or less. Players start the game at age 20, and each time they die their age increases slightly. Beating this challenge means that you get 2 deaths’ worth of wiggle room for your entire playthrough. Further making matters worse is that you only have access to limited skills at this age, and you deal less damage to boot.
As such, anyone wanting to conquer this trophy will have to memorize the attack patterns of every boss and know the ins and outs of every level by heart, and react in a swift manner to have a shot at beating this tough adventure with this handicap.
God of War: Ragnarok – True Queen
Ragnarok is almost a perfect sequel; it takes everything that worked in the original and cranks it up to eleven with major improvements in almost every regard. The 2018 game gave players a tough suite of endgame bosses in the form of the Valkyries, and Ragnarok iterates on that with the Berserker boss fights and of course, Gna – the new Queen of the Valkyries.
While the Berserkers also give Kratos a run for better gear, nothing comes close to the raw challenge that Gna poses. Even before you attempt this challenge, it’s recommended that you gather the highest level armor and enchantments that you can – which will help you even the power level gap to some extent. But even then, it’s a brutal challenge that will have you rage quitting and scratching your head in frustration as she slams you into the ground again and again.
Found hidden deep within Muspelheim, Gna sports a health bar the size of a mountain and her attacks hit like a freight train. She rapidly changes her playstyle, and her combos can catch you off guard with delayed attacks and unblockable strikes. Besting this boss requires a dynamic strategy and judicial use of your special attacks to whittle down her health bar – which finally nets you the True Queen trophy.
Demon’s Souls Remake – Sage’s Trophy
Another one of FromSoftware’s titles, Demon’s Souls Remake is one of the best remakes of recent memory as it beautifully modernizes this classic for a new audience complete with all the quality of life changes that one would want from such an experience. This also includes revised trophies, though that doesn’t discount a few outliers that are sure to bring back old memories with their high level of challenge.
Sage’s Trophy is one such achievement, which requires the player to get access to all the spells in the game. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, that’s far from the case. While there are less than a couple of dozen total spells in the game – getting them all requires at least 2 playthroughs with the same character. You see, players can obtain spells by trading boss souls with Yuria or Freke who are the two primary mage merchants in the game.
Both merchants offer different spells in exchange for the same Soul, so you need to fight each boss two times – one on New Game and other on New Game+ to get the full collection. What makes this challenge even tougher is that you are restricted to using boss souls for spells only, as using them for other goods will require you to complete even more playthroughs to get the coveted trophy.
Dead Space Remake – Untouchable
Much like Demon’s Souls that we discussed before, Dead Space Remake is a great reimagining of the survival horror classic that EA Motive has perfectly presented to placate a modern audience. The game itself poses a decent level of challenge, but it isn’t something that will leave you frustrated in any way whatsoever. But that sentiment doesn’t translate over to the trophies, where you have to complete some white knuckle challenges to tick them all off and finally get the Platinum.
The biggest obstacle in the case of getting this platinum has to be the Untouchable trophy, which requires beating the game on its hardest difficulty, which is Impossible mode. In difficulty terms, it’s the same as Hard mode but you only get one shot at beating the game. That means if you die even once, it’s back to square one. The silver lining to the whole affair is that you do get to save your game in a single slot, but you cannot load up that save if you happen to die at the hands of some nasty Necromorph during your travels across the many corridors of USG Ishimura.
If you do manage to conquer this feat, you also get the Burnished Suit and Hand Cannon which might look funny but makes short work of anything in its path in a matter of a couple of hits. Pretty cool rewards for such a grueling challenge, if you ask me.
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