It took me almost 40 hours to beat every boss in Dark Souls 3. It’s taking speedrunner Distortion2 just over an hour, and he’s cutting off minutes every single day.
There are few things more enjoyable than watching another person blast through a Souls game after you’ve endured its tortures. Granted, any Souls game is easier the second time around—the surprise is gone—but the way speedrunners bend and exploit the game to shave off time is awe-inspiring.
The frontronner for setting Dark Souls 3 records right now is Distortion2, who you can follow on Twitch and YouTube. Though his current record is one hour, 11 minutes, and 43 seconds, that time is shifting every run. Just yesterday, his record—the previous world record—was one hour, 12 minutes, and 46 seconds.
Here’s the previous record:
And here’s him shifting that record down by a little over a minute:
It’s very early days for Dark Souls 3 speedrunning; people are only beginning to map out the optimal routes, weapons, and buffs to make it through the game as soon as possible. Plus, Distortion2 is doing a very particular type of run: all bosses must be defeated. If Distortion2 were to do an any% speedrun, which doesn’t require beating every boss, he’d be able to beat the game even faster.
Key to Distortion2's run are a few things:
- When a heavy door is opening, he actually quits the game and reloads; apparently it’s faster than waiting for the door to open.
- He shaves off time by playing on the PC; having a solid 60 FPS is key.
- The spook spell allows him to nullify fall damage, letting him roll off cliffs and other areas that would otherwise kill him.
- Though he never dies in either run, he does make mistakes; this is far from a perfect run, and it’ll likely be defeated in days, if not sooner.
As someone that struggled mightily with some of the bosses in Dark Souls 3, it’s particularly tragic to watch Distortion2 tear through enemies that took me more than an hour. The Crystal Stage was an early struggle in my playthrough...
Damn.