Speedrunning records for Elden Ring are shrinking at a baffling rate, as someone has now beaten the game in under nine minutes.
On Sunday, speedrunning legend Distortion2 zoomed through Elden Ring in just 8 minutes and 58 seconds, shattering his previous records. Primarily by skipping past most of the action RPG’s campaign thanks to an exploit called the “zip glitch” (thanks, IGN). It’s pretty common for speedrunners to utilize tricks like this, and it’s fair in most world record categories as these exploits are exceedingly tough to pull off.
You can watch a brief snippet of Distortion2’s record-setting run below. The entire run is on YouTube as well. Make sure this run has your full attention because it’s over before it begins.
WORLDS FIRST SUB 9 MINUTES IN ELDEN RING. I cant believe this game ended up being so broken. Imagine beating a Souls game without fighting anything 🤣 pic.twitter.com/mmJQcRVMHh
— Distortion2 🕐 Elden Ring (@Distortion_2) April 11, 2022
The speedrunning community will likely keep finding more tricks in Elden Ring for many years. FromSoftware’s previous game Sekiro still has a healthy scene despite being somewhat lacking in content compared to Elden Ring.
If you don’t have superhuman reflexes, worry not! GLHF has Elden Ring guides out the wazoo, including the best armor pieces, optimal spells, and even a complete walkthrough. If specific questlines are what you’re after, there are write-ups on Iron Fist Alexander and Varre too. It might be a good while before you can match Distortion2’s skills, but everyone starts somewhere!
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.