Gamers are capable of some impressive feats, especially when it comes to completing games. The rise of the internet has also seen a burgeoning group of streamers tackling impressive challenges, like beating Dark Souls in unconventional ways or working collaboratively to finish a game. However, sometimes the best challenges are also the simplest, which is the case for a recent Pokemon Shining Pearl speedrun.
Over on Twitch, streamer Werster managed to beat Pokemon Shining Pearl in under an hour, which is an impressive feat. Pokemon Shining Pearl has only been out for a week now, and while it's a remake of an older game, it's still impressive to see such a short playthrough make its way onto Twitch in so brief of a window. The final clock time for Werster's playthrough was 50:36.87, so it's shorter than some TV show episodes these days.
Werster had just two Pokemon in his party when he finished Shining Pearl, Piplup and Floatzel. The two Pokemon were level 16 and 22, respectively, which might sound a bit surprising to those that don't actively engage in the speedrunning scene. However, large portions of speedruns hinge on skipping past content, and Pokemon Shining Pearl is no different. Werster stated that his run wasn't perfect, but that he couldn't improve it much with the route that he used.
After only being out a week, Pokemon Shining Pearl has been beaten in under 1 hour from LivestreamFail
Later on in the clip, Werster joked that someone else would probably have an even faster route by the time that he woke up in the morning, though it appears that his record is safe for now. Of course, the speedrunning scene is always a competitive space, so there's likely already other streamers working to whittle down completion times even more. How long setting a new record will take is difficult to predict. With a series that gets as much attention as Pokemon, there are bound to be plenty of people taking a crack at new records.
The speedrunning community runs special events frequently, often competing to raise money for charity. Events like Games Done Quick are a hotspot for such events, drumming up large audiences, support, and dollar amounts to be sent off to various charities. It's a wholesome way for gamers to rally around a common cause, and impressive to watch when blazing-fast runs are completed. There's always the question of what major new speedrun records will appear during such a show, though fans will have to wait and see what pops up next.
Pokemon Shining Pearl is available now for Switch.