Twitch Beats Dark Souls’ Hardest Boss

Twitch Beats Dark Souls’ Hardest Boss

It took the Internet 28 days, eight hours, seven minutes, and 14 seconds to beat the game’s nastiest pairing.

Twitch Plays Dark Souls received lots of attention when it first started, as morbidly curious onlookers watched thousands try to collectively play one of gaming’s most notorious challenges. The key word is “try” because Twitch Plays Dark Souls was, at first, not going anywhere. They stumbled into the first boss room once or twice, but that was about it. Eventually, the group decided the only way to move forward was by modifying the game (some might call that cheating) by forcing the game to briefly pause and give chat a moment to input the right action. In essence, they turned Dark Souls into a turn-based game.

Whatever you think of the move, it’s what allowed Twitch Plays Dark Souls to keep going. If this hadn’t happened, there’s a good chance it would have died on the vine, a handful of people still trying to figure out how to climb a ladder.

But in the weeks since, Twitch Plays Dark Souls has been marching through From Software’s classic. They beat the Asylum Demon. Later, more impressively, the Belfry Gargoyles were defeated, and the first bell was rung.

The real challenge for Twitch Plays Dark Souls was always going to be Ornstein and Smough, though. It’s one of the few times Dark Souls throws two bosses at you, and it’s a moment that’s broken many a Dark Souls fan. One of them is fast, the other is slow. One can pluck away at your health, the other can stomp you into dust. It’s a potent and difficult combo even when you’re fully in control of the character, and there’s a reason it’s the spot many people give up on.

But even with the world betting against them, Twitch Plays Dark Souls persevered, as they managed to defeat Ornstein and Smough last night. It didn’t happen on their first try, obviously. Hours and hours were spent trying to slay the beasts before they were able to put together the right set of strategies.

But they did it, which is something not every Dark Souls player can say.

Folks have been editing real-time versions of the fights as the playthrough goes along, so rather than having to suffer through all the pauses, take a look at this:

If they can beat Orstein and Smough, I’m not sure what’s stopping Twitch Plays Dark Souls from finishing the game. Bed of Chaos requires some precision jumping (or happy accidents), so that might prove a problem, and the Four Kings are a handful. That said, in a few weeks, I expect them to see the credits.


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