Late last month, Square Enix introduced “Streamlined Progression” to the PlayStation 5 and PC versions of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, giving all players access to a hugely busted feature set, including the ability to always hit for 9,999 damage or continuously raise your HP and MP.
That, coupled with the “Head Start Mode” another feature that gave players an instant boost, trivialized FF7's remake campaign, and as a by-product, its platinum trophy.
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Shouldn't be a problem, right? It's a good thing more people experience the game, and trophies are ultimately virtual gifts with no real-world bearing. Well, there is a rather vocal community that has some disagreements.
On PSN profiles, where registered users can chart their trophy progress, 17,755 have achieved FF7 Remake's platinum, including more users in recent days, 50 between January 28 (Wednesday) and today (February 1 at 4:00 p.m.).
This appears to have sparked a debate within the website's forum about the legitimacy of Platinum after the “cheat”.
“It undermines the hobby and (discourages) developers from producing solid content when they show that players don't actually participate in it,” wrote one of those strongly against the update.
“I, for one, value travel so can't do anything like that,” someone else wrote on Reddit.
Others seemed displeased. After all, cheats don't invalidate existing Platinum owners.
“As someone who got platinum legit years ago, I understand the anger,” wrote another. “But honestly, anything that makes a game accessible to a wider audience is a good thing, and no one invalidates my own journey by using the features. I hope that comes across in Rebirth. It's a game that I think has scared some off with its difficulty, and that's unfortunate.”
Trophies have been broken since long before FF7
With the existence of titles like My Name is Mayo, developers seemingly focused on easy trophies like Breakthrough Gaming, the idea of a Final Fantasy 7 remake breaking the sanctity of Platinum is downright ridiculous. This doesn't even count games like Nier, where you can “buy” platinum, or Telltale titles that hand out trophies like candy.
They are digital collectibles at the end of the day. That many people can potentially complete the game is amazing, and if by some chance platinum becomes too easy then it's not really that big of a deal. Especially when you still need all the other trophies!
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