There are ridiculous speedruns, and then there are runs of Dark Souls and other FromSoftware games. Famously difficult, seeing them reduced to mere minutes as an expert traverses areas and bosses you’d spend months on is almost comical, and that’s exactly what you get from the new record for Dark Souls 3.
Clocking at an impressively nonsensical sounding 24 minutes and 57 seconds, Olzku’s run is mind-boggling. The start, through Gundyr, is fairly straightforward, avoiding most enemies and then killing the boss quickly and effectively. Then it immediately becomes a circus.
Soon, Olzku is tumbling through Vordt like it’s nothing, ascending and descending the area with ease. The requisite ghouls laying in wait are simply too slow for them, though you can hear them wailing ominously in the background. This becomes a recurring theme, as it’s a common trope among speedrunning in general because unnecessary combat is just a waste of time.
Around Wolnir is when it starts going wild. Dropping a cliff in the area unlocks a skip where you can skip a significant amount of the game through clipping out of the map. These kinds of glitches are always entertaining, showing even the most foreboding and stringent piece of work can be malleable.
Once in Aldrich, Olzku’s character becomes invisible except for the torch they’re carrying, and they can now float in the air. Video games! This record outdoes the previous one by almost a full minute, setting the precedent for going under 25 minutes total. How much tighter can it get? Well, that’s for the community to decide.
I’ll stop spoiling it now, because you should watch the whole thing. I promise you one thing – you won’t think any of these bosses are as hard afterward.
If this has you in the mood to test your skills, check out the 10 best games like Dark Souls.