It's been about a month since the official release of Elden Ring, and fans are beginning to report the discovery of hidden secrets and spectacular achievements. One of the most spectacular achievements possible in any From Software title is gamers managing to beat the notoriously grueling games using an ill-fitting controller. Now, one Elden Ring player beats the game's final boss using a dance pad.
Dance pads are controllers that take the form of a flat mat designed to register input when players step on specific areas marked as buttons. They're usually intended for use with dancing games, not action games. This isn't the first time gamers have managed to beat a Soulsborne game using a dance pad, but it may be one of the most impressive examples.
Redditor Ugoroszczak reported that they beat the entire game using a dance pad and shared a nine-minute-long video chronicling their encounter with Elden Ring's bosses to prove it. The video shows Elden Ring gameplay on the main screen and a full-body view of the gamer and their dance pad in the lower right corner. It took them just over one minute and 30 seconds to defeat Radagon, although they did have to heal themself once. Taking on the next phase of the boss fight was a bit more difficult.
After beating Radagon, the Elden Beast--an enormous boss that looks a bit like a cross between a glowing sea slug and a plesiosaur--spawned. The creature's size and many limb-like protrusions made avoiding its moves significantly more difficult than dodging Radagon's attacks. The player finally overcame the Elden Beast at the six-minute and 20 seconds mark, meaning it took them roughly 4 minutes and 50 minutes to beat the boss. Ugoroszczak celebrated by whooping loudly and directing their character to do flip into the air triumphantly.
As of writing, it appears that other Elden Ring fans are incredibly impressed by Ugoroszczak's achievement. Several users described the video and the player as absolutely insane, and one user pointed out that this may be the world's first verified Elden Ring playthrough using a dance pad. Another user asked how long Ugoroszczak's sessions were, as using a dance pad for too long can leave gamers exhausted. Ugoroszczak stated that they usually did three-hour-long dancing sessions and that they only did a four-hour-long session once. Given how exhausting dancing games can be, it may be easy to understand why.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.