Sovern Gaming, a gaming YouTuber who does a variety of content, but mostly releases video essays, has ventured quite far from his usual content in his latest video, in which he sets an impressive record for LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga. In the video, Sovern attempts the familiar challenge of collecting as little money as possible, all while completing the entire story of LEGO Star Wars: TCS, to great success.
This is not the first time Sovern has attempted this particular challenge, however, as in 2019, Sovern released a two-part video in which he completed this LEGO Star Wars game while only collecting 217 studs– the currency of LEGO games. It's quite the achievement considering their rather aggressive placement in levels. That number, which was later cut down to 212, has been further reduced to a mere fraction of what it was, coming in at a mind-boggling 31 studs.
The difference between Sovern's two runs is that the initial videos followed different rules from the second. Initially, Sovern played the game in Story Mode, which limits the characters he could use, and didn't allow the usage of the "extras" menu of LEGO Star Wars or its co-op functionality. This time, with co-op, a slew of legitimate cheats, and most importantly, the ability to use what characters he pleases, Sovern has a variety of more options at his disposal.
For the most recent run, Sovern employs new methods in order to avoid collecting studs. Most notable is his usage of flying characters, his ability to "triple jump," an exploit used to gain height, and his frequent glitching through walls. Even the size of some LEGO characters is considered, with some characters employing skinny or short hitboxes to avoid studs.
As an important note, the value of each stud, which varies based on its color, is not what's being measured. The run is only concerned with the number of individual studs his virtual LEGO mini-figures collected, regardless of their respective worth.
In a historic day for the LEGO community, Sovern has achieved a very commendable score, which he himself admits can probably be improved upon. As a matter of fact, the video's description has already been updated due to a commenter who found a way to shave off three more studs from the final result. Anyone curious should absolutely give the video a watch.
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga is currently available for DS, Mobile, PC, PlayStation 3, and Wii.