Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Speedrun Completed Under 2 Hours
In a stunning display of skill, well-established speedrunner Carl “gymnast86” Wernicke has completed The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in just under 95 minutes. This impressive feat occurred mere hours following the game’s official release, setting a new benchmark for speedrun enthusiasts worldwide.
Gymnast86 Sets the Pace: A Record-Breaking Speedrun of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Tears of the Kingdom Any% Speedrun in 1:34:33https://t.co/Sx7lnrNjJG
— gymnast86 (@MrGymnast86) May 12, 2023
While spoilers are an inevitable part of any speedrun, Wernicke’s attempt sets a remarkable baseline, completing the game in just 1 hour, 34 minutes, and 33 seconds. However, the record-breaking world of speedrunning is a fast-paced one, with records expected to topple in the coming days.
In an attempt to provide an insight into his strategy, Wernicke shared a concise video outlining his route and some of the game-exploiting tricks used. He forewarned, “The progress on this speedrun will update fast so if you’re seeing this video a few days after it’s been published, it’s probably outdated, and you should seek newer updates and videos about the run.”
He also highlighted the difference between the previous game, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom. Notably, the tricks such as wind-bombing and BLSS that were once useful in Breath of the Wild do not work in the newly released game. However, he leaves room for the possibility of the community finding new ways to exploit these glitches as speedrunners delve deeper into the game.
The route Wernicke took includes some major spoilers, which we won’t discuss here. One key aspect that we can mention is the strategic use of Link’s new “fuse” power, which allows the combination of weapons to create more potent ones.
Wernicke points out that the optimal approach to speedrunning Tears of the Kingdom would likely include its amiibo functionality, similar to Breath of the Wild. However, this feature is not included in his initial run. As speedrunners work on optimizing their runs, the use of amiibo is predicted to become mandatory for any future world record attempts.
Officially, the Speedrun.com leaderboards will not open until 26th May 2023, providing the community ample time to fine-tune their strategies. Until then, Wernicke’s run stands as the unofficial world record.
For comparison, the current record for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s Any% run stands at a staggeringly quick 23 minutes and 42 seconds, set by Player5 just last week. As the community explores the nuances of Tears of the Kingdom, we can expect to see this new game’s records shrink as well
Pokdepinion: I have a strange feeling we’ll see this game pop up again in 5-10 years with someone breaking the record with an insanely fast timing, like between 10-15 minutes or something close to it.
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