Here are the best speed runs you need to see from Awesome Games Done Quick 2022

For the past few years, every January, some of the most skilled gamers from around the world have come together for an exhibition showing how much of the best games of all time you can break—if you put in enough time, Patience and craftsmanship.

Enter Awesome Games Done Quick (or AGDQ if you want to get it out of your mouth faster). For the past few years, the biannual event has been held online due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped the event from raising a ton of money for charity, or for us all to enjoy over the course of the marathon .

This year was also a record year for AGDQ: In addition to setting 9 in-game world records at the event, AGDQ 2022 was impressively the highest-grossing marathon in the event’s colorful history $3,416,729,85 Cancer Prevention Foundation (at the time of writing).This number is dazzling $3,179,822.91 was raised without adding subscriptions/bits/sponsor donations, meaning this year’s streaming donations only surpassed previous year’s totals. Not bad for some game-breaking players, right?

While we recommend heading over to the AGDQ Twitch page or official Youtube account to see as many runs as possible, we know there’s no way to find time to review 7 days of footage. To that end, we’ve listed some of our favorites below so you can Get a rough idea of ​​how impressive this year’s performance has been.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Blind any %)

Okay, let’s start with the run everyone’s been talking about – no doubt you’ve seen runs all over your social feeds. In this race, which was without a doubt the high point of the week, Mitch Ritz managed to get through the entire race blindfolded. If you fought the early boss Gyoubu and spent hours trying to get it done with all your abilities intact, a brief glimpse at this amazing display of skills (a 17-minute boss fight) will make you feel About 3 cm tall.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the game was that it was 45 minutes short of the projected time, and Mitchriz wiped out the game in just two hours. I’m not sure I can clear the first boss at that point, let alone the whole damn game. That’s what speed running is all about, and runners can do it without any foresight – relying on memory and improvising individual vocal cues – and it’s never shocking.

Pokemon Crystal (Key Item Randomizer) Race

Pokemon speedruns are my favorite, not just for nostalgia. There’s usually a ton of fan interaction, naming rewards and the stupid things runners do to skip even fractions of a second and never fail to laugh, sometimes it’s nice to watch a race you’ll be heartbroken into for hours. The course of weeks (or months, or years) is beaten in hours. This Randomizer, which runs from Keizaron, 360Chrism, and Shenanagans, hosts some great banter, and does a good job of showing that everyone involved in the stream knows their stuff is inside out.

Pokemon runs often require people to walk routes that have been modified to the point of being tedious, and this run made almost everything but Pokemon stats random. Want to start playing with Victreebel? go ahead. Want to get all the gym badges in a different order? Of course! Want a way to meet the legend earlier than you should by any right? It’s all part of the plan, baby.

Come for the manic random nature of the event that keeps all runners on their toes, stay for a formal apology to Bulbasaur.

Kill the Spire (4 characters unseeded)

If you put 30 minutes into Slay the Spire, you might spend a second thinking about someone running the game fast and thinking “how the hell did you do that?” You show how it’s done. This run is seedless – meaning SpeedFrog needs to make decisions on the fly and has no foresight of what will happen as the game progresses. In layman’s terms; this run is the same setup as you or I launch the title for a casual run. swallow.

If you’ve ever struggled with this game, I don’t recommend watching this game much: SpeedFrog’s encyclopedic knowledge of all things Slay the Spire is inspiring and impressive. You don’t often feel like you’re smarter just by watching a fast-finishing race, but noticing some of SpeedFrog’s strategy and then kicking it up at random in-game by myself makes me do a lot better than what I did in Slay the Spire how long.

This is a master class in using all four characters in the game as it is a quick run. A must watch for deck builders and lovers of roguelikes.

Pumpkin Jack (NG+, no OOB)

One of the less exposed games on our list this year, Pumpkin Jack is a PC game of 2020, largely because of the ridiculous movement techniques that runner Jaxler keeps trying to implement in-game. This video showcases some of the new speed tech tech, along with some great commentary to keep us all informed about what’s going on, courtesy of Bryonato and CorundumCore, which makes watching the race so easy and enjoyable.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, this run was one of nine world records set at this year’s event!

Hades (all weapon races)

Last year, one of my featured runs in AGDQ’s Best Speed ​​Runs of 2021 went to Hades, where Vorime absolutely destroyed the three-weapon run. This year, Hades is on the list again, but thanks to a heart-pounding match between cgull and tounis. In addition to seeing the runners all show a deft and fluid understanding of each weapon, boss and enemy type, we also saw the rebellious Zagreus plant some cute pets on Cerberus – here’s what we’re doing on a fast run Unexpected. what.

In terms of pure technology, this game is really exciting; see the final [REDACTED] Bosses are melted in record time, see the perfect clearing of room after room, and learn more about why Artemis and Poseidon – for example – have some of the best synergies, play this fast never out of date. Top-notch reviews from Vorime and Latt Millard add to the underworld.

Fins (any percentage)

Another underrated game, Webbed made this list as the charm of the title itself, as well as the incredible run it showed at AGDQ. ShadowthePast presents the captivating, fast-paced 2021 PC platformer in a welcome, interpretive way — no doubt about it — the spider-based web game’s sales are up when the game is over.

We heard some really good history about the route this game took to get to the current speedrun, and we also saw some really good implementations of the game’s curious network sling technique. ShadowthePast completed the competition in just 17 minutes, setting a world record for this competition.

need two (any percentage)

Having won numerous awards in 2021, it makes sense that Josef Fares’ It Takes Two will be at AGDQ 2022. ItzBytez and whoishyper team up for quirky co-op gameplay, and we got a glimpse of how this run will play out from the start. The whole thing starts with one hell of a glitch, setting the scene for some impressive skips and major glitches throughout the run. Whether it’s raiding bosses without thinking, or getting through walls to get some amazing out-of-bounds attacks, this game is a great watch whether you’ve played it or not.

End the entire experience in 1.45 hours? deep impression.

Resident Evil Village (Shadow Village, no glitches)

You’d think a game that came out last year wouldn’t really have that many speed followers — let alone offer some incredible routes — just not yet. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned watching AGDQ over the past few years, it’s that you should never underestimate the speedrun community. With that in mind, this is a Resident Evil Village game, on the hardest difficulty, with no glitches. Oops.

7rayD – rocking some disturbing face paint during the run – managed to finish in 1:55:54. From the very beginning of the game – we see Ethan’s kids rendered with Chris’s head – to the climactic battle at the end that is nothing more than a trivial sideshow, the game is impressive. Don’t leave it in the background; you won’t be able to work or do anything else while it’s on, as you’ll be captivated by its blazing speed and enlightening commentary.