You're sitting there, staring at a loading screen of a rain-slicked pavement, wondering why on earth you decided to go for the Platinum in a game where a single missed button prompt can ruin a four-hour run. Heavy Rain is a masterpiece of stress. It’s a Quantic Dream classic that feels like a playable noir film, but for trophy hunters, it’s a logistical nightmare. Honestly, the heavy rain trophy guide you need isn't just about knowing which buttons to mash; it's about understanding the butterfly effect of every single choice you make across dozens of branching chapters.
Getting that shiny Platinum trophy—aptly named "HEAVY RAIN™ Master"—requires a mix of extreme patience and a willingness to see these characters suffer in every conceivable way. You’re going to have to let people die. You're going to have to fail on purpose. You’re going to have to watch the "Trial" sequences more times than is probably healthy for your psyche. It’s a grind. But it's a rewarding one if you know how to manipulate the save system.
Why the "All Endings" Trophy is the Real Final Boss
Most people think the hardest part of the game is the "Kamikaze" trophy or maybe the "Trial Master" run. They’re wrong. The real hurdle is "All Endings." This trophy is basically the reason this game takes 30+ hours to 100%. You can't just jump to the final chapter and change your last choice to see a new ending. The game tracks the state of the world based on who is alive and what evidence has been found. If you want a specific ending for Ethan, but you let Madison die three chapters earlier, you’re stuck.
To get "All Endings," you have to see every single epilogue. There are 18 of them in total. Because these epilogues combine based on the fates of the four protagonists—Ethan, Madison, Norman, and Scott—you have to play through the final third of the game multiple times. Pro tip: Do not turn off the "autosave" feature. If you play with "no save" to see an ending quickly, the game won't register it for the trophy. You have to let the credits roll every single time.
The Perfect Crime Setup
The "Perfect Crime" trophy is usually the one that trips people up early. It requires you to be a bit of a villain. You have to wipe away all evidence in Manfred's antique shop—don't forget the telephone and the magnifying glass—and you have to ensure that Lauren, Hassan, and Kramer all die. It feels gross. You're basically sabotaging your own investigation. But if you miss even one piece of evidence or accidentally save Hassan, you’ve basically wasted the entire run. It's binary. You either do it perfectly or you get nothing.
Mastering the "Kamikaze" Highway Run
If there is one trophy that makes people want to throw their controller through a window, it’s "Kamikaze." You have to drive on the highway in the "The Bear" chapter and take the "perfect" route. This means no mistakes. None.
Most people mess this up because they think "perfect" means hitting every QTE (Quick Time Event). It doesn't. It means taking specific directions. When the police block the road, you have to tilt your controller left. When you have a choice of lanes, there is a specific "best" path to avoid hitting the cop cars too hard.
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- Tilt Left when the police first appear.
- Tilt Right to avoid the barrier.
- Tilt Left again to weave through traffic.
- Keep the controller steady during the spin-out.
If you see your car take a massive hit or the screen flashes red because you missed a prompt, just quit to the main menu immediately. Don't let it save. If it saves your failure, you have to restart the whole chapter from the beginning, which includes that long, brooding intro of Ethan in the car.
The "Four Heroes" Strategy
The "Four Heroes" trophy requires Ethan, Madison, and Norman to all arrive at the final warehouse and survive, while Scott... well, Scott does what Scott does. This is generally considered the "good" ending. To make this happen, you need to be very careful with Norman Jayden's investigation. If you don't find enough clues using the ARI system, Norman won't know where the warehouse is.
Finding the warehouse as Norman involves analyzing the gas station receipt and the tire tracks. If you fail the ARI sections, you're locked out of this trophy. Similarly, Madison has to survive the encounter at the doctor's house and then find the address on the killer's computer. The password is "Max" (if you're paying attention to the clues in the room), but you can also just guess it if you're fast enough.
Navigating the Trials as Ethan Mars
Ethan’s journey is defined by the five trials set by the Origami Killer. Getting "Trial Master" means completing all of them. Some are easy, like the "Bear" or the "Butterfly" (even if the butterfly one involves crawling through broken glass and electrical wires). The "Lizard" trial is the one that sticks in people's memories—the one where you have to cut off a piece of your finger.
You don't actually have to use the saw or the knife. You can use the scissors or the wire cutters. The game doesn't care how you do it, just that you do it within the time limit. The "Shark" trial is a moral test—killing the drug dealer. If you want the Platinum, you have to pull the trigger. Then there's the "Coward" trial, which involves drinking the poison.
Wait, here’s a secret: The poison isn't actually lethal. It's a psychological test. Ethan will survive even if he drinks it, provided he found the other clues. But for the "Trial Master" trophy, you absolutely must drink it. No hesitation.
Cleaning Up the Missables
Heavy Rain is packed with tiny, contextual trophies that are incredibly easy to miss.
- Private Eye: You have to get Lauren to talk about her son. This involves being empathetic rather than pushy.
- Negotiator: In the "Hassan's Shop" chapter, you have to convince the robber to put the gun down without any violence. This requires a very specific dialogue path: Calm, Name, Reason, Help. If you rush him, Hassan gets shot.
- Happy Birthday: At the very start of the game, you have to complete the prologue perfectly. Set the table, play with the kids, finish your architectural drawing. It’s a slow burn, but it’s necessary.
- Blunder: This is the opposite of a skill trophy. You have to let the suspect escape and get Norman suspended. It feels counter-intuitive to play badly on purpose, but that's the nature of the beast.
The "All Endings" Flowchart Reality
To minimize your playtime, you should aim for a "perfect" playthrough first where everyone lives and you find all the clues. This unlocks the bulk of the positive epilogues. After that, you can use Chapter Select to branch off.
For example, once you’ve done the "perfect" run, reload the chapter "The Old Warehouse." This time, let one character die. Watch the credits. Then reload again and let a different character die. If you do this strategically, you can knock out three or four endings in a single evening. The mistake people make is restarting the entire game from the beginning for every ending. Do not do that. You only need to restart from the earliest point where a major change occurs. If you need an ending where Ethan is in jail, you only need to go back to the "Fugitive" or "On the Loose" chapters and get caught.
Practical Steps to the Platinum
If you're serious about finishing this, stop playing randomly. You need a plan.
- First Playthrough: Play naturally. Seriously. Enjoy the story. If you try to follow a guide on your first run, you’ll ruin the mystery. Just live with your consequences.
- The "Perfect Crime" Run: Start from "Hassan's Shop" and play all the way to the end, ensuring you kill off the right people and leave no fingerprints. This is your "evil" run.
- The "Cleanup" Phase: Use Chapter Select to grab the small trophies like "Baby Master" or "Simple Mind." These take five minutes each.
- The "All Endings" Grind: Use a checklist. Write down the 18 epilogues: News Report, Ethan’s Grave, Dead Hero, Origami's Grave, Case Closed, etc. Check them off as you see them. If you don't track them, you will lose count and end up repeating the same 20-minute sequence for no reason.
The heavy rain trophy guide journey is less about reflexes and more about being a director. You’re manipulating a timeline. It’s tedious when you’re watching the same unskippable cutscene for the tenth time, but seeing that Platinum pop after seeing every possible permutation of this tragedy is a top-tier feeling for any PlayStation fan. Just remember to keep the controller steady during the "Kamikaze" run, or you’ll be doing that highway drive until the real rain starts falling outside.
Final tip: For the "Baby Master" trophy, when you're changing the diaper, move the analog sticks very slowly. The game is incredibly sensitive to fast movements, and if you jolt the controller, the baby cries and you fail. Gentleness is key. Now go get that Platinum.