Dark Souls fans are always looking for ways to further challenge themselves. Some players have gone to extremes by completing the game at level one, while others go to even more extreme methods. The Happy Hob, for instance, has gone above and beyond by completing the entire soulsborne series—from Demon's Souls to Bloodborne—without taking a single hit.
Challenges like this have drawn players from all over to create their own means of beating the series in astounding ways that only the hardest of the hardcore could accomplish. So, now we take a look at some of the craziest methods they have applied.
10 Twitch Beats Dark Souls
The Twitch community banded together to take on a challenge of their own. The community banded together to beat Dark Souls using text commands in chat that were translated to actions in-game in real-time. Each member of the live stream typed in their actions which were then tallied and the most popular action won.
This method may not have been the most perfect method for beating the game, but it really shows what a group of people with a goal can accomplish. You can check out all of the boss fights on Whydoyoubark's YouTube page and experience the awe-inspiring challenge yourself.
9 Minimum Level, No Rolling
The Dark Souls series is hard enough when you beat the game normally, but TolomeoR decided to take on the hardest boss of Dark Souls 3 at soul level one. If that wasn't bad enough, he also did it on NG+7 without rolling.
For anyone who has played Dark Souls 3, they know that Darkeater Midir is not a pushover, but TolomeoR makes Midir look easy as he strolls around the boss arena without armor. The only weapon in his arsenal, a Raw Dragonslayer's Axe, had been upgraded to plus ten.
8 Dance Souls Revolution
Some players have gone to the extreme by using various controllers to beat the game. Luality on Twitch, for instance, has taken it upon herself to complete the entirety of Dark Souls 3 using a dance pad. Her not-so-graceful footwork can be seen in various streams as she takes down each boss one by one including the DLC bosses.
If you thought beating Midir was difficult at the lowest level, then you haven't seen anything yet. Imagine the amount of focus and endurance she must have had to take on this challenge as she weeps in victory after defeating all the bosses.
7 The Rocky Challenge
Somethodox on YouTube completed the entirety of the first Dark Souls using nothing but fists and no armor. This may not seem like the most challenging feat in Dark Souls history, but he manages to make Rocky Balboa proud as he gracefully ducks and dips around various attacks without taking a hit.
Even though this run doesn't use some crazy controller method, it is still a spectacle to behold, and it's one of the easier challenges for those of you wanting to make the game a little harder... though "easy" is a relative term.
6 No Hits, No Upgrades
While The Happy Hob had a great run completing the entire soulsborne series without taking damage, GinoMachino on Twitch took that challenge one step further. He completed the entirety of Dark Souls 3 without taking any damage, at the minimum level, without upgrading any of his gear.
It's hard to imagine without proof that he would be capable of accomplishing such a daunting task, but he manages to make each boss look weak as he easily dodges his way past all of their attacks while slowing ticking down their health bars. This is definitely a run to remember.
5 A Horrifying Workout
Super Louis 64 on YouTube decided that he would use his time during the pandemic to get a little workout. To do this, he modded the Nintendo RingFit controller to work with Dark Souls 3. It doesn't sound too bad until you realize that he needed to run in real life to run in the game.
That, mixed with a constant need to squeeze the controller to attack, would probably make for a good full-body workout. Probably the most horrible part of his entire run is that he decided to make it so that he needed to squat to heal. It's no wonder he was drenched in sweat within the first two hours of starting the run.
4 Banana Souls
Super Louis 64 used to go by the name A Twerking Yoshi, and, while under this name, completed Dark Souls 3 with one of the most absurd controllers. He took the challenge upon himself to create a controller using bananas. He can be seen tapping bananas to activate different commands in the game, and he has a good run of it. He completed the entire run with this weird controller method with only 62 total deaths. Most standard players will hit that mark within the first few hours of the game, mind you.
3 Randomizing Everything
LobosJr on YouTube and Twitch took to modding the original Dark Souls to make the game more challenging. During his run, he decided to mix things up—literally—by making it so that every item and boss are randomized throughout the game. What could be behind fog wall number one? Is it the Asylum Demon, or could it be Ornstein and Smough?
He didn't know until he entered each fight. He definitely needed to be on his toes for the entire run since he could be facing some of the games' hardest bosses with extremely low-level gear and in an arena they aren't designed for, but kudos for him for completing the challenge.
2 Consumables Only
LobosJr loves to torture himself by taking on different Dark Souls challenge runs. For this run, he decided to take on the daunting task of beating the entire game using only consumable items (Firebombs, throwing knives, dung pies, etc.).
It is amazing how he is able to keep his cool through the entire game as he is beaten down by multiple bosses in his attempt to be the first person to ever accomplish this task. You have to be crazy to torture yourself in this way.
1 The Record Holder
You can't make a list of Dark Souls challenge runs without talking about Benjamin Gwin. He is notorious for completing the game with the most absurd controllers. To date, he has completed Dark Souls with a guitar, drums, bongos, keyboard, microphone, dance pad, steering wheel, and more. He has even completed a challenge where he only used a single finger to work an entire Xbox 360 controller. He is in no doubt the king of Dark Souls at this time, and he still holds the record for most alternative control methods used to complete Dark Souls.