Getting to the final boss quickly, like Nintendo said you could
Nintendo told us that you’ll be able to reach the final boss in under an hour in Zelda: Breath of the Wild — it’s just not guaranteed that you’ll make it out alive. Having played it, I can say that’s accurate. A bunch of speedrunners are testing out that theory as well.
Several folks are attempting world records right now, with some teetering within the one and a half hour range for “any %” runs (where no progress is required), to roughly four hours for any number of critical path dungeon clears. There’s quite a bit of theorycrafting going on right now in terms of what’s the most effective way to get through specific areas of the game — one of my favorite elements of speedrunning. It’s like a tapestry that you can take bits and pieces of and apply to your own runs, while divining new tactics on your own.
I’ll tell you this much — with no glitches needed for a “quick run,” it’s going to make for some exciting AGDQ material. I mean, we could see some glitches soon (I think someone will figure out some way to get out of the tutorial area faster), but in general, it’s looking pretty accessible overall.
SethBling, an accomplished speedrunner that got an early copy from Nintendo, makes it to the final boss in 50 minutes. Spoilers — the video takes place after the tutorial area:
