SoulBlazer 2 hour challenge/speedrun

[EverPhoenix]

Here's another one. Same rules as the Terranigma challenge.
Not sure what to do about prizes for this one, I'll think of something.

Rules
No hacking
No SaveStates
Start from a new save
One session if possible, in-game saving allowed.

Current Scores

[Manibrandr System]

Has anyone attempted this?

[SoulBlazerFan]

Manibrandr System wrote:

Has anyone attempted this?

At my best as a kid, my record was just a hair shy of 3 hours.

[Manibrandr System]

Ohh, nice. I wonder how you'll do these days.

Being able to see your runs on video would be cool.

[SoulBlazerFan]

Manibrandr System wrote:

Ohh, nice. I wonder how you'll do these days. Being able to see your runs on video would be cool.

Last time I played the game, it was a full game run with the plan to do commentary for a YouTube project that never got off the ground.

That playthrough straight was about 6 hours, and over a decade ago. I don't have the game as committed to memory as I used to. Getting old in my family means getting a bad memory.

[DentedRazor]

My current personal best in the Any% category for the US version is 1 hour 33 minutes and 53 seconds. For the Japanese version, it is 1 hour 25 minutes and 26 seconds. The rules for Any% on speedrun.org are "Beat the game. Timing starts when the player gains control of the hero and stops when Deathtoll receives the final hit.". Basically, time starts the frame after the first conversation with the Master finishes (i.e. text box closes and Blazer can start walking) and ends when the last boss starts exploding (i.e. first sign of explosion).

My current goal is getting under 1 hour 33 minutes and 50 seconds. I am hoping to get it before my run at RPG Limit Break in a couple weeks, but I've been busy with other stuff, so it's been slow going.

[DentedRazor]

Some other neat notes on Soul Blazer speedrunning from my current research:

1. The earliest recorded speedrun of this game that I can find is a Tool Assisted Speedrun (TAS) by Kaz that was submitted on March 9th, 2006. The time (using current timing rules) is roughly 1:33:45.
2. The earliest recorded run I can find is by Reaif on his twitch channel that was recorded in early 2012 at a time of 1:57:27. Note that is is a deathless run, so no deathwarping to get back to the shrine faster.
3. The TAS was improved by Le_Hulk with his submission on August 21st, 2016 to a time of 1:17:34. Note that this was done with the Japanese version instead, which is roughly 8 minutes faster than the US version due to faster text speed and some bosses being faster to defeat due to lower hit points.
4. My current sources to learn this stuff and more have been posts from Speed Demos Archives forum, TASVideos.org forum posts, the History link on the Soul Blazer page of speedrun.org, the Quintet Speedrun Hub discord, and some answers from Le_Hulk (who has ran the game extensively and is a supermod for the speedruns).
5. There is a great guide by the runner StingerPA that helped me learn the route, and also a video by Everhate, who passed away in 2016. Blame Everhate (an eternal tribute we generally say in the speedrun community, due to his contributions in advanced and promoting the speedrun of Soul Blazer).

Sorry for the brain dump, this has been a lot of fun for me.