Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim Speedrun (PC, Normal) - 1:56:52

EDIT: I never expected this run to last, but nevertheless, it has recently been beaten quite handily by someone on Nicovideo. Here are the links to said run for those interested: Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY198U2yUFA Nicovideo Part 1 - http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm25977628 Nicovideo Part 2 - http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm25978046 Nicovideo Part 3 - http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm25978554 Anyway, this is a speedrun of Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim for the PC (version 1.3.1.0). With regards to timing, there does not appear to be an in-game timer, so I started as soon as I was able to move after the opening cutscenes, and stopped as soon as Napishtim's HP reached 0. Anyway, this run contains about 4 minutes of "major" mistakes (dying against both of the optional bosses I fought (damn plant thing only had 12 HP left the first time), as well as failing to skip the cutscene where Ernst dies), and a ton of small ones; truthfully, I think the time can be pushed to under 1:50:00, or perhaps even 1:45:00 or so via segmentation. However, I'm uploading this to show what an updated speedrun route perhaps should look like, as the current ones could use some refinement. With that, I'll comment on some of the choices I made. First thing to note is the out of bounds clip on the beach, which I can use to reach a Capla Water very early on, which is traded to Agu for the Emel Mallet as soon as I enter Port Rimorge. I don't know if the clip is possible on the PS2 version or not, but even if it isn't, you don't see much of an increase in Emel until the Limewater Cave. Worst case scenario, a Capla Water from the Ruins of Amnesia can be obtained and traded afterwards. Speaking of Emel, that was the reason for all those extra enemy kills before Zonplas, to obtain 370 to upgrade Blirante for the Ruins boss (being the PC version, I do not have access to Alma's Trials, but even so, I believe those take too long to be of any use - *maybe* one or two would be helpful in the PS2 version, but I don't know). And speaking of the Ruins boss, that pre-fight kill is not doable in the PS2 version (at least, not without maxed out Fire magic), but it doesn't really matter, as the actual battle is still pretty easy. The bee boss is unnecessary, but I chose to kill it to obtain the Bell of Silence, which is equipped later on to repeatedly grind on a cluster of the hard-shelled enemies. Not sure it's the fastest grinding method, but it's by far the easiest (I got to level 37, though 35 or 36 is doable for Orjugan, just harder). Either way, Blirante needs a couple more upgrades before tackling Orjugan, so it's not terribly out of the way. The Lucky Silver Coin and Emelas Crown I obtained primarily to help my chances in surviving Ernst (a very difficult battle with this setup - surprised I didn't die there). As mentioned above, I failed to skip the resulting cutscene, which is done by dash jumping back out of the room before the cutscene activates (you have a small window to do this where the arena borders are temporarily lifted, but you have to be quick about it - requires killing him on the lower part of the screen, I think). To be honest, I'm not 100% sure this is doable on the PS2 version (I suck at dash jumping using a controller), but I believe it should be, as the arena borders are still momentarily lifted. As for Napishtim, the blue orb gave me trouble, and so I had to use my Capla Waters earlier than I would've liked, but thankfully, I didn't die this time around (fairly easy to do with this setup). I'm not sure, but having Livart 1 level higher may be beneficial. Of course, the real problem is the blue orb's starting position is right next to a couple lasers, so you can't do a whole lot before it wanders away (it's position will be different if you die and restart, but obviously, you don't want to resort to that). Just for the record, I don't plan on seriously running this game, but if I do, it'll likely be in the single segment format. Segmented would be too much of a drain on a perfectionist like myself (too much dash jumping, for one), and getting a decent run like this recorded was already starting to wear on me. In any event, my speedrunning priority will likely be given to Ys II Complete before this game, but I felt it was necessary to post this to show just what can be done with the game.