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Speedrunners Beat Final Fantasy VII in Under Eight Hours

At this year’s Summer Games Done Quick, a trio of speedrunners completed Final Fantasy VII in under eight hours. How did the team manage to complete the famously epic game – minimal playthroughs average around 40 hours – so quickly? Well, read on.

Meet the Team

Ben “Ajneb174” Szewczyk, David “Davesterio” White, and James “J2” Weingartner comprised the speedrunning team. Szewczyk held the controller, while White and Weingartner provided logistical support. According to Kotaku, the trio used the following methods to complete FFVII in less than one-third of a day:

“Step counts, “random number generator” (RNG) manipulation and one Tifa equipped with Deathblow all combined to make an epic, traditionally 40-60-hour experience feel like a breezy eight-hour game.

Szewczyk chose to route in extra items such as potions and Phoenix Downs, and even an additional move in Aqualung.”

The Team Explains

The speedrunners spoke to Kotaku about their impressive feat. White said:

“We pulled an all-night the night before to try and reset our clocks. I only sipped my water twice during that run, I was so afraid of being uncomfortable.

Most players don’t know you can get a preemptive strike on bosses. But with manipulation we can.”

Szewczyk added:

“I think shorter games are really tough because you need to be really good for a short time. [For] longer games, you don’t need to be good all the time but you need to know when you need to be really good and execute well. Because if you’re not, you’re like, ‘Well that was a good six hours but now the run is dead.'”

Weingartner exclaimed:

“Speedrunning a game like Final Fantasy is, first of all, insane. I don’t recommend it to anyone. It’s an unhealthy endeavour. Just sitting there for eight hours, mashing circle button for most of that time, is incredibly taxing. Not to mention the rigour of things like the step count that are incredibly precise, memorising all the inputs, knowing when and where you need to move, what options to select.”