Skip to main content

Elden Ring has already been beaten in under 20 minutes

While the rest of us are 60 or 70 hours into Elden Ring (I personally hate and can’t get past the Godskin Duo), speedrunners have slowly whittled down the game’s playtime. However, one runner has claimed the new world record for beating Elden Ring the fastest, completing FromSoftware’s latest game in under 20 minutes.

WORLDS FIRST Any% Elden Ring in under 20 minutes!! Changed a flight and did a 15h stream for this, almost gave up hope, but in the end I prevailed. Thank you everyone who was there and supported me during this insane stream <3 pic.twitter.com/I32a4BzA9q

— Distortion2 (@Distortion_2) March 28, 2022

In a post on Twitter, Distortion2, a speedrunner who’s completed numerous FromSoftware games faster than it takes for most people to quit them, announced that he had beaten Elden Ring in just 18:58, cementing him at the top of the game’s any-percent run leaderboard. At the time of writing, it seems that Distortion2’s run either hasn’t been submitted to Speedrun.com or is still being verified. The site, which catalogs runs for hundreds of games, lists a 26:26 time from spiceeTV as the fastest.

Recommended Videos

While Distortion2’s time is impressive, it may not be the fastest any-percent speedrun of Elden Ring for long. The game’s speedrunning community is booming at the moment, with more runs being posted every day. Just yesterday, Distortion2 uploaded another speedrun of the game, in which he beat it in 22:21. Without a doubt, other runners will see Distortion2’s time and try to finish the game even quicker.

As a matter of fact, one speedrunner is already claiming to have beaten Elden Ring faster than Distortion2. Mitchriz, who many may remember from his blindfolded speedrun at AGDQ 2022, said in a post on Twitter that he managed to beat the game in 18:25, over 30 seconds faster than Distortion2. However, because he missed recording a minute of gameplay, that run can’t be verified.

Otto Kratky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…
Too hard? Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s difficulty debate needs some nuance
The golden Erdtree in Shadow of the Erdtree.

It wouldn’t be a complete FromSoftware game launch without a debate over difficulty, would it?

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is out now, and dedicated players have spent the past few days bashing their skulls against its fierce bosses. Those foes are no joke; they offer some of the most punishing fights the action RPG has to offer. Even streamers like Asmongold gave up almost immediately, saying that it’s “too hard to be fun.” Naturally, that’s opened up an inescapable discourse about difficulty in FromSoftware games. You’ve heard it all before, and it’s not worth dredging up the same talking points forever.

Read more
Elden Ring players are already struggling to beat Shadow of the Erdtree
The hand-to-hand combat style in Shadow of the Erdtree.

Difficulty is a well-known hallmark of FromSoftware games, and so the fact people are experiencing issues in the new Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, even against even common enemies, is unsurprising. However, even veteran players appear to be struggling. Many have taken to Steam to negatively review the game, which is now sitting at "Mixed" at the time of this writing.

Some of these complaints also cite performance issues, including stuttering and dropped frame rate. Publisher Bandai Namco and FromSoftware haven't commented on any upcoming fixes.

Read more
How to find and use the Prayer Room Key in Shadow of the Erdtree
Multiple players look out over a landscape with the Elden Ring co-op mod.

Calling Shadow of the Erdtree a DLC is kind of misleading when you actually enter the Land of Shadow and see just how massive this new region is. The base game was already massive, and this feels like another game about half its size was plopped into the world, with bosses, weapons, dungeons, and secrets all included. Among all the hidden areas and items, the most mysterious include the Prayer Room and the Prayer Room Key. Players may stumble upon one or the other -- most likely neither -- but almost certainly not both without some help. If you're interested in the lore of the game in particular, you will want to see what's hidden behind this very secluded door.

Note: This article contains minor spoilers for bosses and NPCs in Shadow of the Erdtree.
Where to find the Prayer Room Key

Read more