A speedrunner completed the Generation IV Sinnoh remake, Pokémon Shining Pearl, in just under 30 minutes.
Despite only having been out for 11 days, speedrunners are finding exploits to swiftly beat Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, though YouTuber Werster seemingly took things to the next level. Werster attempted an any% speedrun of Shining Pearl several times, exploiting various glitches and tricks to reach the Hall of Fame room. After a first speedrun attempt, coming in at around 50 minutes, Werster managed to break through the sub-30-minute barrier on his fourth attempt, beating the game in 29 minutes and 46 seconds.
An early glitch that Werster employed allowed him to completely glide through routes with the menu open, skipping any potential wild encounters and trainer battles. Another glitch sent him forward from Sangem Town, an early game location, to the mid-to-late game settlement Pastoria City. Despite having to restart the game several times to activate certain cheats and glitches, Werster was able to traverse Sinnoh with minimal ease.
This was also the first of his speedrun attempts where Werster picked Chimchar as his starter Pokémon, having previously picked Piplup and Turtwig. Werster explained this switch at around 24 minutes into the video, stating that Chimchar is more likely to faint quicker. This seems to be an invaluable change as there are moments where Werster needed to lose to NPC trainers on purpose to quickly return to a previous location.
Even with a time of just under 30 minutes, Werster noted mistakes such as avoidable wild Pokémon encounters and, on one occasion, a Goldeen that refused to attack to cause a blackout. However, despite these minimal setbacks, the YouTuber completed the game without earning a Gym Badge and skipping the Elite Four with just his Chimchar. In the video's description, Werster teased an even quicker run saying that they "already have a better route than this run by the time this will be uploaded, that was put together within a hour of this one being comp[l]eted."
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are remakes of the original 2006 Generation IV games for the Nintendo DS. Both were released on Nov. 19 as part of the franchise's 25th-anniversary celebrations. Pokémon trainers will return to Sinnoh, or rather Hisui, when the much-anticipated Pokémon Legends: Arceus releases on Jan. 28, 2022, for which there may already be a teaser hidden in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are currently available exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
Source: YouTube