The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom finally launched today, and while a lot of players won't even have had the chance to load it up yet, one has already managed to cross the finish line in just over an hour and a half.
As reported by VGC, speedrunner gymnast86 completed the game in just 1:34:33. Their full playthrough is available to watch on YouTube, but if you'd rather not see spoilers and the end of the game right away, it's best to avoid it for the time being. For those interested in how they pulled it off, gymnast86 has also released a separate video highlighting the route they took through the game and explaining some of the strategies they used to get that speedy finish.
It's an incredibly impressive time, given that Tears of the Kingdom is only a matter of hours old. Still, as you read this, other speedrunners are likely already hard at work looking for even faster ways to finish Link's latest adventure, and we could see this time significantly reduced as they get better acquainted with the world.
According to Speedrun, the current record for completing Breath of the Wild is 23 minutes and 42 seconds. Getting a time similar to this might be tricky in the sequel, though, as, according to gymnast86, "almost none of the glitches that were present in Breath of the Wild seem to have made it into Tears of the Kingdom". This includes whistle sprinting, a technique that allows you to run without using up stamina and BLSS, which lets you fly almost anywhere in Hyrule, both of which are extremely helpful when you're against the clock.
The speedrunner adds that this "doesn't necessarily mean that we won't ever be able to perform these glitches, but just that the methods we know of activating them in Breath of the Wild won't work in this game." Also, we're sure that with the new abilities Link has at his disposal, players will find some new and interesting ways of getting to the credits quickly.
In our Tears of the Kingdom review, we said it "builds on what Breath of the Wild did previously – and with a platform like that to work on, the result can't help but be fantastic. Though with the occasional hiccup in execution, the end result is a game as broad as it is deep, and something that comfortably justifies the six-year wait."
Need help getting started in Hyrule? Check out our Zelda Tears of the Kingdom tips.
