Twitch streamer EdyBot recently redefined what a “fists-only” Elden Ring run looks like by using a punchable martial arts dummy as her controller and literally beating FromSoftware‘s open-world game.
“This is the dream, baby,” EdyBot says on stream, 1,097 deaths into her run. “We’re so close.”
The Century training dummy she’s using appears to be rigged with motion control wires that allocate each section of its body to a button – she hits and presses on the top middle of its chest, for example, to deliver standard and heavy hits – while a cord in her shorts connect her to both the dummy and a heart rate monitor. To run and roll, she seems to be using a modified dance pad.
That means, during her fight with Malenia – who is notoriously difficult to conquer, since she regenerates health each time she lands a hit – EdyBot was tired. Using the Bloodhound’s Fang curved greatsword, EdyBot huffs as she rapidly punches her dummy’s pecs to carve out big slices of demigod. She only breaks her flow to glug Crimson Tears, which she swigs by knocking her dummy, who she calls Fleshman, directly in the groin.
The moment Edybot finally manages to take down Malenia, she collapses to the ground completely out of breath.
“Oh my God,” she wheezes, “I fucking did it.” She pulls Fleshman in for a big hug, and then she brings out a stool that also seems to be fixed with motion control censors. EdyBot squats over it, and her bald Elden Ring character performs a few fatigued teabags.
Ultimately, EdyBot wrapped up her knuckle-breaking Elden Ring challenge after 2 weeks, with 1,428 deaths down. It doesn’t sound like my preferred method of gaming, but it does seem more entertaining than the elliptical.