The speedrun is a rather famous practice on the Souls of FromSoftware, except that the conceptualization of this new opus raises questions. In what format will Elden Ring be able to compete in speedrunning? We are trying to find answers and we are asking the various issues related to this new title.
Towards the appearance of speedrun subcategories on Elden Ring?
Between boss fights with Ash, Torrent, and whether or not to use magic, it’s quite possible to see speedrun subcategories appear on Elden Ring. Players will be able to choose to be quieter by allowing boss fights with the ashes, or even by using Torrent (we think in particular for dragons or Radahn). Then, it will be possible to see other people playing in a vanilla way without Torrent or invocations.
Therefore, in order to give everyone a chance, it would be better to include categories. Except that the work of the moderators will be colossal, because in the space of a minute, a player can use summoning ashes, beat a boss and pretend nothing. The players will have to show white paws, which is illusory. However, categories seem mandatory for speedrunning on Elden Ring to really be possible.
Summoning ashes: a major problem?
Just like the support sardoche, it is quite possible that the speedrunners use the ashes of summoning during their games. Except that these are not part of the Souls tradition, making the gameplay much simpler. Indeed, the latter have the possibility of taking the aggro on the opponents whoever they are.
Summon Ashes are also a way to have much more secure fights, as it is possible to take little or even no damage from bosses thanks to these summons. Therefore, will the rules of the speedrun on Elden Ring take these summons into consideration and thus “remove them” so that the fight between all the competitors is more interesting?
We are forced to note that a speedrunner who does not use the ashes will be at a disadvantage against another player who uses them. The stakes will not be the same.
The open world: an obstacle for speedrunning?
The open world could be perceived as a problem for the speedrun, since it is possible to flee from opponents and many points of interest provided with bosses. Therefore, the question may arise, because will the competitors have to discover the whole map or will they be exempt from certain side bosses?
The old Souls are corridors, with a very specific path to take to know the rest of the steps to follow. Here, with Elden Ring, we are free to take the path we want, because the open world allows it. Therefore, will a path need to be drawn for players to be matched to compete? For such a large game, speedruns are usually content to reach the end of the game as fast as possible, with the credits rolling marking the finish line, without worrying about the number of bosses achieved or the items picked up. But it is not impossible that more ambitious categories with detailed criteria will emerge.