Ocarina of Time Speedruns Are Getting So Fast, They Don't Even Need an Ocarina

The Any% category for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has been rapidly evolving over the course of the last month, and thanks to another newly discovered skip, it's starting to look like runs could start going faster than 10 minutes.

Over the last few weeks, Ocarina runners have been demolishing previously established world records thanks to a new technique called ACE, or "arbitrary code execution." In simple terms, speedrunners can use a combination of positioning and timed inputs to trick the game into reading save file data and reacting accordingly, allowing them to change where a room transition might send Link or even spawn an Arwing.

With this trick, players can warp right from Kokiri Forest into the end credits, thus theoretically satisfying the requirements of the "Any%" category—you beat the game with any percentage of completion. However, there is still a checklist of things runners have to do before they can even pull the trick off. Now, a new discovery from "blini plz" is allowing players to skip getting the Ocarina. You know, the Ocarina, the thing in the title of the game. Runners originally needed it for a certain setup, but with a new Ocarina-less setup, they can skip getting the instrument and the pesky cutscene that comes with it.

Lozoots, who has been leading the charge on the Ocarina of Time record chase, put up a 10:16 run today using the new trick. It's a little scary how fast you can beat the game at this point.

Some already seem optimistic that a sub-10 minute record is in reaching distance, though Lozoots thinks that might be a stretch. Either way, it's incredible to see how far the route has progressed in such a short amount of time. It was years ago that Narcissa Wright wowed GDQ audiences with a warp from the Deku Tree to the endgame tower escape; now, speedrunners don't even have to fight the bosses anymore.