GOD GAMERS – How Hollow Knight Players Beat The 'Perfect' Speedrun

On November 4th, 2017, one of the world's best Hollow Knight speedrunners set the first world record for the game's most difficult platforming challenge, Path of Pain. Today, that time stands nearly thirty seconds behind the world record. In the years following his run, Path of Pain speedrunners brought the category to another level, and in this video, I'll tell you how they did it. This is the world record history of Path of Pain speedruns.

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PLAYERS

MonStahLer
DLKurosh
Ax2u
Stool
Kalasky
Schy
VLS
Yihou
Alchely (TAS)
Cuber Knight (TAS)

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MUSIC IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Airae - All Parts Equal (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
C418 - Biome Party
Brendon Moeller - The Gravity of Stars (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
Emil Axelsson - I Think I Was There (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
C418 - Ample Time
C418 - Divide By Four Add Seven
Wave Saver - 2099 (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
From Now On - Rubik's Cube (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
Valante - Torus (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
From Now On - Challenges Ahead (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
monoscape - Halcyon Bloom
Valante - Autonomic (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
Molife - Unbox (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
Foewi - Octagon
Foewi - Crystals
Molife - Softly Sway (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
Valante - Lucis (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
Foewi - As Far As The Eye Can See
Valante - Memoria (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
VELDA - Dust and Dreams (courtesy of EpidemicSound)
Lagua Vesa - Photosynthesis (courtesy of EpidemicSound)

THUMBNAIL ARTWORK BY @FlySkyHighArts

HKVR MOD BY Bob Fred

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Now that I'm a full time content creator, I can finally put all my energy into posting more awesome Hollow Knight content than ever before. If you want to support me in this endeavor, I would greatly appreciate it.

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CONTENT

0:00 Introduction
2:37 WunderlingDX (Sponsor)
3:39 November 11th, 2017
7:42 October 18th, 2018
10:12 June 18th, 2019
12:45 February 3rd, 2020
15:36 February 27th, 2020
18:01 October 14th, 2020
20:29 December 7th, 2020
21:16 December 9th, 2020
22:24 January 10th - January 25th, 2021
23:59 January 27th, 2021
26:22 February 26th, 2021
28:59 March 2nd, 2021
30:31 March 7th, 2021
32:38 March 29th - June 21st, 2021
34:07 July 13th, 2021
35:29 July 27th, 2021
37:14 August 4th, 2021
38:47 August 9th, 2021
40:45 October 5th, 2021
42:50 October 8th, 2021
44:26 October 12th, 2021
46:03 October 18th, 2021
48:52 November 3rd, 2021
49:59 November 22nd, 2021
51:20 November 24th, 2021
52:50 February 3rd, 2022
54:19 February 16th, 2022
55:39 Conclusion

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MY SOCIAL MEDIA

#hollowknight #worldrecord #speedrun

[silverschmid]

what i especially like about this video are the slow motion parts, because not only do they show exactly what the player is doing, but also the beautifully detailed animations that are usually overlooked because they are small and happen so quickly.

[jamie_owo]

Coming back this after the news about Schy passing away is honestly incredibly sad, but at least their legacy has been immortalised as one of the all time greats in the Hollow Knight community. 💙

[Rusty._]

Probably one of my favorite series right now.

[ErPaniX]

Schy: *breaks a second barrier*
Also Schy: "Wanna see me do it again?"
Still Schy: _"Wanna se me do it again?"_
Schy, once again: _"WANNA SEE ME DO IT AGAIN?"_

[Marion_MyAnh]

1 hour that felt like 5mins because it was so captivating. Speedrunners are INSANE and I love it. Thanks for your work on this series! <3

[pomidorpomidorowsky]

I love how each time fire talks about a speedrunner I go: "here it is, that's the GOAT" and get hyped and then fire goes : " and that's when this NEW player appeared!"

[rafaelsanchez]

The people who worked in the TAS also deserve recognition, props to them

[gavinsutherland]

For anyone revisiting this video later, the current record is 1:55:660, which includes more optimized routes and strategies, including my favorite, the thorn skip skip. It's pretty epic.

[Ani]

banger as usual fire, god gamers never disappoints as a series! :D

[mildlymarvelous]

Can we talk about how insanely cool the 3d effect around 2:00 in the intro is?! Who knew you could get cinematic camera angles in Hollow Knight lol!

[DwarfWoot]

This series is incredibly satisfying to watch, and the breakdowns are fantastic for someone like myself that has no idea normally what all goes into getting these kinds of records! Thank you for creating this for everyone.

[jck]

I don’t speedrun or ever plan on it, but it’s mesmerizing to watch the insane amount of raw talent and years of dedication it takes to master this craft. It’s like watching a gold metal Olympian at peak performance, but in the gaming world.

[bbstool]

The 3D preview at the beginning of the video is amazing! fire how long did it take you to finish it?

[cyrosimulacra]

I remember watching Yihou’s stream while he was pursuing the WR speedrun! As a somewhat shitty player myself, it truly is an experience to watch someone else with immaculate skill and such incredible dedication achieve a goal all players thought impossible just mere weeks ago. Huge respect towards all the players in the speedrun community!

[PulseDog]

That 3D rendering of the game looks soooo cool

[Windette]

I saw the thumbnail for this vid the second it came out, and apparently waited until today to watch it.
CHRIST I LOVE THESE VIDS FIRE!
I've said it before and I'll say it again, your improvement with scripts, their delivery and relevant footage is so impressive

[CMP]

Fire, you've outdone yourself again, this video looks like it's going to be amazing! Keep up the absolutely amazing content, sooo excited for this one!

[gemandromeda]

as of Oct 4, 2023, Yihou has been beaten by a speedrunner known as wszOwO who has a leading world record of 1m 57s 550ms which is actually insane

[smatt]

49:01 I love schy's reaction to yihou doing the tas r1

[Zaliant]

the quality of your work just gets better and better