Difficulty refers to the toughness of the ingame difficulty and the trophies. While trophies may be easy to obtain, it’s possible that the game itself can be pretty challenging. Think about games like Monster Hunter World and Dark Souls. It’s also possible that the ingame difficulty may be easy, but that the trophies may be challenging. Think about games like Wolfenstein.
Time doesn’t influence the difficulty of a platinum trophy.
The ratings are listed as followed:
0/10 Difficulty
- Press a single button in order to obtain the platinum
- Cheats may be available
Examples: The Ketchup Story, The Sheep P
1/10 Difficulty
- Little gameplay (Choices only or pressing a few buttons)
- Cheats may be available
Examples: My Friend Peppa the Pig, Starlight Shores
2/10 Difficulty
- Introductory gameplay elements
- Maybe some platforming, enemies or just lighthearted difficulty
- Bare minimum controls
- Basic knowledge of the game
Examples: Super Onion Boy 2, Breakneck City
3/10 Difficulty
- Introduction to controller management
- Using shoulder buttons, combinations, shields, dodging
- Require reflexes and handling of different buttons simultaneously
- Collectibles and missables may be indicated on in-game maps
Examples: Chernpbylite, Bassmaster Fishing 2022
4/10 Difficulty
- Manage items, stock a supply, plan out a battle
- Handle trophies that span out an entire game
- Bosses may take up a couple of tries, strategies can be needed
- Collectibles require extensive searching, pre-requisites, or missions and quests.
- Missables that span the game, difficulty is a requisite, one time-visit areas
- Collectibles and missables show less frequent on the map, or not at all.
Examples: Cake Invaders, Horatio Goes Snowboarding
5/10 Difficulty
- Games that involve no-death, but allow saves or no-deaths aren’t too difficult
- Time-limits or easier speed-runs start to appear
- Difficult enemies
- Bosses with huge healthbars
- Rage or aggravating gameplay
- Grinding may be an element
Examples: Asterix & Obelix: Slap them all!, The Walking Death: Onslaught
6/10 Difficulty
- No-deaths become more difficult
- Time-limits become strict
- Gameplay mechanics need studying
- Bosses have multiple patterns/phases/difficulties
- Playthroughs with specific runs: No items, no upgrades,
- Mechanics can induce more frustration as you’ll need multiple tries
Examples: FIFA21
7/10 Difficulty
- No deaths with no checkpoints/saves
- Mastering gameplay elements and practicing them a lot
- Very strict time-limits, hard missions, tights speed runs
- Specific playthroughs that are hard
- Constantly re-trying, reloading checkpoints
Examples: Whipsey and the lost Atlas, Ancestors Legacy
8/10 Difficulty
- No deaths with no checkpoints/saves
- Perma-death may start appearing
- Save file deletes upon death
- Time limits, speedruns by mere seconds
- Overly specific requirements; playthroughs, kill styles, defeat bosses in particular manners
Examples: Pixel Ripped 1989
9/10 Difficulty
- No room for errors
- Perfect runs, perfect speedruns, knowing the game inside out, dedicated practice
- High level of skill is needed
Examples: Dick Wilde 2
10/10 Difficulty
- Perfection required
- Only 1 in 10.000 will be able to achieve
- Impossible requirements; walkthrough on hardest difficulty with permadeath, no saves possible
Examples: DariusBurst: Another Chronicle EX+, In Death