2017 Speedrunning Year in Review

2017 Speedrunning Year in Review
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Okay so I'm on my flight to AGDQ 2018, and as tradition I write up my 2017 year in review for Speedrunning. Time to go over accomplishments and progress in games.

AGDQ 2017: Started the year with the obvious, and ran Batman and Dark Souls 3. Could have done both runs much better, but they were a lot of fun. Batman was the most fun I've ever had doing a GDQ run, just so relaxed.

SGDQ 2017: Had a bonus run of Dark Souls, doing Kiln Skip(now named "Any% Force Quit"). It was really fun there, took 50k to get the run to happen and it was raised really fast. Not a single death or missed warp, super proud of that.

TwitchCon 2017: I organized and moderated the Speedrunning panel for the event, with other speakers Romscout, MrShasta, and Sinister1. Went by real well, and time flew. I hope some people learned well from it, and maybe I'll do it again next year.

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Batman: Arkham City
Any% (Hard, no cat) 1:27:37 -> 1:19:45
100% (Hard, no cat) 4:26:48

Loved Batman this year, did a lot of it for the first half of 2017. Just decided to get good and get a sub 1:20 on any%, and I fully routed 100% over the course of two weeks(tweaks were made to the route after I finished, it's a complicated category).
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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Any% No OoB 32:23 -> 29:57

Just wanted to get a sub-30 time, took about a week or so after derusting. I could have spent another month on it and gotten a 27 or something, but it didn't mean enough to me and I had more games to play. I'll come back to this.
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Fallout 4
Any% 49:12 -> 41:54

My most recent speedgame, if anyone has been keeping up. I went back when a new route was available, and now there is even a newer route. I'm just gonna keep on grinding and trying to finish more runs for the low 41.
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Dark Souls
PVP Any% 4:55 -> 4:32
Any% Kiln Skip 22:49

I've always wanted to run this category, and since now it's possible on PC I finally learned it. Not too hard, once you get the execution down it's basically just grinding O&S for good RNG. Ended up running this at SGDQ 2017 and I'm so happy I did.
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Rugrats: Search for Reptar
Any% 16:20

Each year, after GDQ's, they have the 12 hour challenge thing, and I did Rugrats for it. Best decision of my life. I got record in a week, raised some competition and awareness for it, and now I have 3rd. The record is now about 2 minutes faster than it was in 2016.
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Hydrophobia
Any% 5:24

I did like 10 runs of this one night just spontaneously. It's probably my least favorite game, so I looked up the speedrun, noticed it was five minutes, then gave it a go. I could improve and get record, I found a way to skip an animation during a cutscene so I can beat the record by a few seconds, but I would really rather not.
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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Glitchless Any% 1:00:31

I want to run this more, and I've had so many runs that were on sub-50 pace. I only ran this for about 3-4 days, but it's been a very busy second half of 2017, and I had to put the run aside to do other games. This is something I'll come back to for sure.
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Where's Waldo
Any% 2:15

Yo this shit is fire. You actually have to be good at finding Waldo. 2:15 ain't bad, but I think Crak_atak got a 1:59. A super luck dependent game for finishing runs, but the true skill comes with having some quick eyes.
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Horizon: Zero Dawn
Any% 3:15:18

Now I never got to get the time I wanted with this game, because when I wanted to come back to it after a month break I couldn't find my PS4(and still can't). I'll have to save up for another PS4+Game+SSD. I really like this game and the run is kinda sweet.
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Conclusion: If I had this kind of year in 2016 or 2015, I would be stoked, but this year I'm really pushing myself and thinking I can always do better. That's healthy in my eyes. I think 2018 will be strong and steady as well, but I really hope I can get the times I want in my games faster because time is finite and I got a lot to get through.