At
the
beginning
of
the
year,
I
made
a
very
simple
New
Year’s
resolution
to
earn
at
least
12
Platinum
Trophies
across
the
coming
months.
An
average
of
1
every
four
weeks,
a
pitiful
amount
by
any
hunter’s
standards
but
for
someone
without
only
7
Platinums
to
his
name
a
marked
increase.

My
lack
of
trophies
is
pretty
simple
to
explain:
I’ve
never
chased
them,
and
on
top
of
that,
any
game
I
play
I
usually
put
down
as
soon
as
I’m
finished
so
I
can
pick
up
and
review
the
next
one.
But
lately
I’ve
found
myself
bitten
by
the
trophy
bug
and
wanting
to
get
at
least
a
few
more.

That
brings
me
to
the
first
Platinum
of
the
year,
and
it
wasn’t
what
I
had
planned
on
at
all.
Initially,
my
goal
was
to
get
the
Platinum
in
the
2016
soft
reboot
Ratchet
&
Clank.
The
trophy
list
looked
more
than
doable,
calling
for
just
2
playthroughs
totalling
20-30
hours
or
so.
But
while
I
was
chipping
away
at
that
in
the
background,
a
super-cutesy
game
by
the
name
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
popped
in
for
review.

Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
is
basically
an
adorable
little
package
delivery
game
where
you
play
as
a
fledgling
witch
who
finds
herself
needing
to
earn
some
money
by
flying
around
a
small
island,
dropping
off
parcels
to
the
friendly
locals.

Drawing
heavy
inspiration
from
Kiki’s
Delivery
Service,
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain
is
a
relaxing,
cosy
game
about
delivering
parcels
and
exploring
a
vibrant,
relaxing
world.
Perfect
for
those
who
just
want
to
kick
back,
cruise
around
on
a
broom
and
soak
up
the
good
vibes.

While
I
was
busy
doing
witchy
stuff
and
soaking
up
the
incredibly
chill
vibes
I
glanced
at
the
trophy
list
and
was
pleased
to
discovered
that
it
looked
quite
easy
to
do.
The
list
mostly
called
for
doing
the
main
quest
lines,
and
then
cruising
around
finding
collectibles
and
doing
optional
deliveries.
Best
of
all,
the
Switch
and
PC
versions
of
the
game
had
been
out
for
a
while,
so
there
were
guides
readily
available
if
I
didn’t
fancy
scouring
the
land
for
little
statues,
although
as
it
turned
out
I
didn’t
need
them
–
it
was
easy
enough
to
discover
enough
of
them
on
my
own.

The
process
was
a
breeze;
I
ventured
through
the
game
completing
all
the
main
story
missions,
enjoying
the
low-stakes
of
the
plot.
These
missions
usually
took
me
close
to
the
optional
stuff.
And
that’s
where
I
made
a
small
mistake,
because
there’s
a
trophy
that
calls
for
getting
a
green
stamp
on
every
single
delivery
in
the
game,
except
in
the
case
of
a
few
special
story
missions
where
it’s
impossible.
Along
the
way,
I
had
messed
up
one
delivery
by
accidentally
doing
some
damage
to
the
package,
cursing
me
with
a
neutral
orange
stamp.
At
the
time,
I
had
assumed
there
would
be
some
way
to
replay
missions
later,
but
that’s
just
not
the
case,
so
I
ended
up
having
to
do
a
second
play
through
where
I
had
to
do
every
single
delivery
again.

Ah
well.
In
some
massive
100-hour
behemoth
this
fact
alone
would
have
stopped
me
in
my
Platinum-seeking
tracks,
but
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountan
is
a
very
short
game,
taking
something
in
the
region
of
4-6
hours
to
complete
and
even
less
if
you
already
know
where
everything
is
and
all
the
paths
you
need
to
take.

In
the
end,
I
opted
to
hoover
up
all
the
collectibles
etc.
on
my
first
run
through,
as
well
as
some
of
the
random
trophies
that
needed
doing.
I
dropped
poor
Mika
from
high
enough
up
to
get
the
trophy
for
bouncing
off
the
ground
five
times
in
a
row,
I
changed
her
costume
3
times
for
another
trophy
and
I
activated
all
the
catapults
around
the
island
for
yet
another.
Although
I
really
wish
the
catapults
were
actually
more
functionally
useful
because
outside
of
getting
the
trophy
I
never
used
them
even
once.

All
of
it
was
simple
stuff
and
took
me
maybe
an
hour
or
two
to
do.
The
only
challenge
came
in
the
form
of
completing
churro
delivery
races,
and
that
was
just
because
I
was
half-asleep
and
kept
screwing
up
a
single
race.

With
all
that
done,
it
was
on
to
my
second
run
through
the
game.
Armed
with
a
map
of
the
island
in
my
head
and
knowledge
of
where
every
optional
item
was
hidden
away,
I
set
off
to
speed-run
the
story.
There’s
nothing
exciting
to
say
here
–
I
blasted
around
that
tiny
island
like
a
hare
on
cocaine,
or
in
this
case
a
tiny
child
witch
on
a
sugar
rush.
I
ensured
every
delivery
was
not
damaged,
picking
up
those
coveted
green
stamps
along
the
way.

Ultimately,
it
took
me
less
than
10
hours
to
pop
the
Platinum
on
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain,
giving
me
my
8th
Platinum
overall.
Sure,
it
wasn’t
the
most
exciting
or
challenging,
but
I
enjoyed
the
hell
out
of
my
time
with
the
game.
It
was
a
cosy,
relaxing
experience.

And
that
brings
me
to
Platinum
number
9,
Ratchet
&
Clank.
Despite
my
love
of
Ratchet
&
Clank
over
the
years,
and
especially
of
the
excellent
Rift
Apart,
the
2016
soft
reboot
kind
of
flew
past.
I’ve
been
meaning
to
sit
and
play
it
for
years
now,
and
its
been
chilling
on
my
SSD
for
who
knows
how
long
at
this
point.
I’m
glad
I
finally
fired
it
up,
though,
because
it’s
a
real
delight.

Admittedly,
though,
I’m
still
not
sure
how
I
feel
about
the
reboot
opting
to
make
Ratchet
&
Clank
friends
right
from
the
start.
The
small,
well-spoken
bot
and
the
more
feisty
Ratchet
were
not
firm-friends
in
the
original
games,
their
relationship
taking
time
to
grow
as
the
two
personalities
clashed.
But
in
the
reboot,
they’re
fast-friends
from
the
first
second
they
meet,
and
it
does
take
something
away
from
the
experience.
Their
interactions
are
somewhat
generic,
too,
lacking
a
bit
of
oomph
in
the
dialogue.

Ratchet
&
Clank:
Rift
Apart
opens
with
a
celebration
of
our
two
titular
heroes,
a
parade
thrown
in
their
honour.
As
the
duo
make
their
way
through
parade
floats
that
reference
their
prior
adventures
Ratchet
points
out
that
it
has
been
years
since
they’ve
even
done
anything
vaguely
heroic,
so
why
are
they
being
celebrated?…

That
aside,
the
game
is
brimming
with
the
usual
Ratchet
&
Clank
charm.
Ratchet
and
his
pal
find
themselves
caught
up
in
a
galaxy
wide
story
of
evil
corporations
and
alien
invasions,
ending
up
as
part
of
the
noble
Galactic
Rangers
and
led
by
the
idiotic
Captain
Qwark
who
is
narrative
the
story
from
prison.
It’s
fun
stuff,
a
breezy
tale
full
of
light-hearted
jokes.

It
is,
of
course,
meant
to
tie-in
with
the
disastrous
2016
movie
which
brought
in
a
mere
$16
million
at
the
box
office.
Not
great,
considering
it
was
made
on
a
$20
million
budget.

But
Ratchet
&
Clank
is
really
about
the
fun
gunplay
and
adventuring,
and
the
game
has
that
in
spades.
The
arsenal
of
guns
is
impressive,
varied
and
a
freaking
hoot
to
use,
from
the
Pixelliser
which
turns
everything
into
an
old-school
sprite
to
the
Glove
of
Doom
which
lets
you
throw
out
tiny
suicidal
robots.

The
guns
represent
the
longest
trophy
in
the
game,
at
least
in
my
experience.
The
guides
all
said
I
was
looking
at
two
play
throughs
to
get
the
Platinum,
the
second
one
being
because
Challenge
Mode
needs
to
be
completed
as
well.
But
in
the
end
I
wound
up
doing
nearly
three
because
every
single
weapon
in
the
game
needs
to
be
levelled
up
to
the
maximum,
and
unless
you
specifically
grind
by
restarting
checkpoints
or
farming
certain
enemies
that
can
infinitely
spawn,
it
can
take
a
while.
By
half-way
through
my
third
play
through
of
the
story,
I
was
starting
to
tire
out,
and
had
come
to
the
realization
that
I
might
even
end
up
in
a
fourth
play
through
to
finish
maxing
the
weapons.
And
so
I
gave
in
and
farmed
some
enemies
for
the
trophy,
restarting
one
of
the
boss
fights
five
or
six
times
to
level
up
some
of
the
bigger
weapons
before
accidentally
killing
him
before
I
could
jump
in
some
lava.
Whoops!
I’m
not
a
fan
of
grinding
stuff
out
like
this,
but
I
really
didn’t
want
to
have
to
sit
through
the
same
missions
yet
again.

Outside
this
one
trophy,
the
rest
of
the
game
was
a
blast
to
play
and
the
trophies
are
a
good
mix
of
story-related
stuff
and
fun
little
detours.
It
was
great
to
see
where
the
groundwork
for
Rift
Apart
was
laid,
too,
which
is
why
I’m
going
to
go
back
and
finally
get
the
Platinum
for
that
as
well
because
I
left
off
with
just
one
left
to
unlock.
Why?
Pretty
simple:
more
stuff
was
coming
out
to
review
and
funds
were
low,
so
I
decided
to
sell
my
copy
of
the
game.
I
had
intended
on
grabbing
the
last
trophy
before
posting
it
out
but
never
managed
to
get
the
time.
Thanks
to
stealing
my
brother’s
copy
of
the
game,
though,
I
can
now
rectify
that
horrible
mistake!

Overall,
Ratchet
&
Clank
was
a
more
fun
Platinum
than
Mika
and
the
Witch’s
Mountain,
but
also
just
a
very
different
style.
The
Witch’s
Mountain
was
a
more
relaxing
and
chilled,
whereas
Ratchet
&
Clank
was
a
much
more
boisterous
experience.

That
brings
me
to
Platinum
number
10,
and
I
think
this
month’s
“free”
PSN
games
have
given
me
an
answer:
High
On
Life.
The
Rick
and
Morty
style
humour
isn’t
something
I
enjoy
too
much,
but
I’m
willing
to
give
the
game
a
go
and
the
Platinum
is
supposed
to
be
straightforward.

After
that,
who
knows?
I’m
considering
Evil
West
or
maybe
Cult
of
the
Lamb.