MoistCr1TiKaL Speedrun Challenge Leads to World Record By Over 90 Minutes
Popular YouTuber and esports organization owner Charles “MoistCr1TiKaL” White recently inspired one of the most drastic speedrun record changes of all time.
Moist is no stranger to the obscure. Much of his content on Twitch and YouTube covers bizarre corners of the internet. Recently, he announced a speedrunning competition where a different random — and often unknown — game will be highlighted each month, challenging speedrunners in his fanbase to take on the game and break records for a $10,000 prize.
This time around, MoistCr1TiKaL put a spotlight on The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard. The RPG game from the 90s inspired popular titles like Skyrim, but the retro game itself has been all but forgotten despite its complexity and varied storylines.
Until now.
Redguard Speedrun Record Broken in Crazy Fashion
The previous speedrun record for completing Redguard was just under 2 hours at an official time of 1 hour and 58 minutes and 34 seconds. This was the only attempt, in fact, until Moist made his announcement.
In an attempt to make history and win the prize, speedrunners from across the community dove into Redguard and found some pretty interesting exploits and glitches. First, players found out that you can skip a huge chunk of the game thanks to something that’s been dubbed the Catacomb Skip. This shaved off 90 minutes of gameplay alone.
The Catacombs Skip essentially involves avoiding guards and their magic attack, running into a door at a certain angle, holding a weapon, then jumping and sheathing it.
The most useful glitch the speedrunning community can find will come with a $1,000 bounty. At time of writing, speedrunners have gotten the Redguard speedrun down to under 20 minutes.
Did You Know: The speedrun record for The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard has been cut down to about an eighth of its previous length of ~two hours? There is currently a $10,000 speedrunning challenge being held for the game, which started yesterday. pic.twitter.com/csUmktYGgM
— UESP (@UESP_net) May 4, 2023
May has just begun, so there’s still time to find more bugs and glitches, shaving the speedrun time down even more. But going from almost two hours to under 20 minutes is already an incredible feat, all only made possible after MoistCr1TiKaL reminded people the game existed.
Olivia is a long-time esports journalist and editor who covers just about every game but has a deep love for the FGC. Her goal is to find community-driven stories that bring a new perspective to the esports scene. In the past, she has worked for Team Liquid, Rogue, Inven Global, Dot Esports, Upcomer, and more. Outside of esports, Olivia enjoys Kirby, Pokemon TCG, Fallout, and writing science fiction. She can be found trying out new foods, traveling, or hanging out with her two orange cats. Fun fact: Olivia can do some video game and cartoon impressions!