Platinum 49: Deliver Us the Moon

Trophies: 33 (5 gold 12 silver 15 bronze)
Time to platinum: 10 hours
Platinum name: Mankind's Brightest
​Achievement rate: 4.2%

Deliver Us The Moon is a game I probably wouldn’t have discovered without PS Plus Extra, and I’m glad that I did. A puzzle-driven science-fiction adventure crossed with an atmospheric walking simulator, it takes place in the near future in which Earth has exhausted its natural resources and is nearing the brink of collapse. You play as an astronaut who hops the planet’s last available rocket on a last-ditch mission to the moon to discover why its colony abruptly went dark five years prior, and - more importantly - whether the defunct MPT transmitter (the device used to beam a crucial energy source called Helium 3 back home) can be brought back online.

The game hinges predominately on exploration and light puzzle-solving, as you piece together the surprisingly absorbing story through audiologs and holographic recordings. There’s a sharp sense of isolation as you navigate the abandoned facilities, yet there’s a certain serenity to it as well - aside from a few sequences in which you have to manage your oxygen levels or briefly contend with the possibility of death, it’s quite relaxing to play (that being said, the final challenge - in which you have to align the MPT transmitter before the reactor blows, but you keep drifting in and out of consciousness, which continually sets back your progress - nearly caused me to throw my controller through the TV).  

The platinum is pretty straightforward and should pose no particular issues. The lion’s share of the trophies are either automatic story checkpoints or collectible related (as long as you’re diligent, you probably don’t even need a guide - I think I only missed a single Moonman comic book on my first playthrough). There are a few random ones to keep an eye out for, however. “Stargazer” requires you to accrue a total of 30 minutes on the moon’s surface - in other words, you have to exit your lunar rover, wander around aimlessly for three minutes, then get back into the vehicle to replenish your oxygen. Repeat ten times (frankly I hate crap like this, which is quite literally a waste of time). 

Likewise, “Goodbye, Old Friend” forces you to lug an empty power cell with you through the bulk of a level for no particular reason (good luck figuring out the machinations of that one on your own), while “Houston, We’ve Had a Problem” requires you to deliberately fail the initial launch sequence five times. Nothing is missable, and it’s easy enough to clean up anything you overlooked via chapter select once you finish the campaign.

​Next up - platinum #50, which is a significant milestone, so the game in question must obviously be chosen with great care.