Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s biggest game yet. It combines a massive open world with traditional Dark Souls-style dungeons in a meaningful way, and encourages exploration by hiding valuable items and weapons all over the map. Elden Ring comes packed with content, but most of it is optional, so players will often come across new areas long after finishing the main story.
Elden Ring players have figured out many different speed-running strategies to quickly finish the game despite its massive length. One user finished Elden Ring in just under 25 minutes, which already sounds like an impressive achievement. However, it seems users set a new record every few days, as an Elden Ring player finishes the game in an unbelievably short time.
A streamer named Distortion2 finished Elden Ring in less than 10 minutes, 8:56 to be exact, and they claim it’s the world’s first sub-9-minute run. Distortion2 uses an exploit to finish Elden Ring in this manner, but such tactics are commonly used while speedrunning games. Right from the beginning, Distortion2 uses a trick to land inside Stormveil Castle, bypassing the Godrick boss fight. He uses similar techniques to seemingly teleport across large distances and finishes the game without properly fighting any of the bosses. Some users may be confused by the footage, but one helpful comment aims to explain the method utilized in the video.
According to this user, the video shows an any% unrestricted speedrun, which means that the player can finish Elden Ring in any manner as long as they reach the end. Distortion2 uses a technique known as a Zip to traverse the world, which can be done by holding the guard button while walking for a specific duration. He then uses the same method to kill bosses, including the final boss of Elden Ring, and the prompt for new game plus appears shortly after doing so. This method seems easy to perform, but it probably takes hours of practice to get the timing right for these Zips.
Any% is one of several Elden Ring speedrunning categories. For example, some players choose to go for a run designed around getting all the Remembrances in Elden Ring, which function similarly to boss souls in the Dark Souls series. It’ll probably be difficult to find a speedrun strategy that doesn’t involve using an exploit, and many players are still using a tactic that allows them to fly on Torrent to bypass levels.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.