This week saw the announcement of the schedule for AGDQ 2020. AGDQ stands for Awesome Games Done Quick, and is an event that hosts a series of speeruns for various games, with some of the best speedrunners out there, all to raise money for charity.
I tune into as much of the event as I can each year, even if I’m just listening. The best part of AGDQ is how interesting the commentary is, because these speedrunners have spent hundreds of hours playing your favourite games, and they know all the secrets it has to hide. Sometimes those secrets are game-breaking bugs, but other times they’re really interesting pieces of information about the game’s development, and it all comes together really well.
However, there are some games that I think are missing from this year’s schedule. Granted, the event is open for applications, and some of these games may yet make the roster. But I can’t see these games in the list right now, so here’s what I want to see speedrun, and why.
Pokemon Sword and Shield
Okay, you’ve got me. These games aren’t even out yet, so it’s totally reasonable for them not to be at AGDQ 2020. However, I think that a slot should be provided for a Pokemon runner, because there will be people finding all the secret glitches in these games from day one. As the latest Pokemon games in the mainline series, these are going to be extremely exciting games. I always take my time with Pokemon titles, so I think it would be really interesting to see a Pokemon game of this scale completed in some stupid amount of time, such as one hour.
The reality is that Pokemon Sword and Shield almost certainly won’t be at AGDQ 2020, but if they are, you can bet that I’ll be watching them avidly.
A Plague Tale: Innocence
If you haven’t played A Plague Tale: Innocence, you’re missing out. The game is a phenomenal double A release, and every aspect of it is more polished than many triple A games, like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. The music, story, and gameplay all come together to create a beautiful experience that I personally enjoy even more every time I play it.
The reason I want to see this game run at AGDQ is because I love it so much, but also because I know there’s already a speedrunning scene for it. If you search online for speedruns of A Plague Tale: Innocence, you can see the world record is just under three hours. My playthroughs take about fourteen hours, though that is with me taking my time. What I really want to see is how speedrunners tackle the boss fights, since they have some very specific requirements before any damage can be dealt. I took about an hour to defeat one boss, so I have no idea how to finish the game in the two I’d have left. I think this speedrun would be very interesting to watch, so I hope someone submits their run for next year’s event.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for Nintendo Switch
This is a very specific request, but I do have a valid reason for it. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for Nintendo Switch, Switcher for short, has just launched, and it’s the perfect opportunity to jump back into the incredible world this game has to offer. However, I also think that it’s the perfect opportunity for speedrunners to perfect their times in the game. If you think about it, there’s no better game to speedrun, because it’s well known, incredibly impressive if you can shorten it to just a few hours, and completely portable.
I think that any speedrunner who has this as their main game will be able to deliver some amazing stories about the discoveries they make in it, and where they made them. We may not see this at AGDQ 2020, but I don’t think it’s too far away now that it can be practised on the go.
Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 is completely nuts. I’m playing through it right now, and I love how crazy the enemies are, and all the random weapons and gear you can pick up. While I think the game itself is a good speedrun on its own, I think that we could do better than a single speedrun.
Part of the joy of Borderlands 3 is all the different character builds it’s possible to make. I think that there should be a section at AGDQ 2020 where a speedrunner has to run Borderlands 3 in the best way possible to them, but with a specific character build. This would mess up what the speedrunner is used to doing in their normal runs, since one character is definitely going to have superior speed, but it would also be really fun to watch as they adapt to the very specific character requirements set by the build they must stick to. The only caveat that I’ll allow is if a certain ability is needed for a skip or glitch, in which case the character build needs to be changed so that it accommodates that ability.
I could go on and on, but I think this is enough to show you just how far AGDQ could go. The event is honestly brilliant, and definitely worth watching if you’re even remotely interested in games. I think that if there was enough funding available, then all of these speedruns would happen. However, the more important aspect to AGDQ is raising money for charity, so if we have to wait to see my mental Borderlands 3 speedrun idea come to fruition, I can wait.
Let me know your thoughts on AGDQ in the comments.