“A lot of the joy is in the difficulty”: After spending 400+ hours dying 15,000 times in a painful Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree run, streamer admits challenges have “ruined normal gaming” for him

The Soulsborne community is packed with people determined to make difficult games even harder, but that has its consequences, as one Elden Ring player fresh off their latest challenge run victory admits that taking on trials like his recent Shadow of the Erdtree playthrough have “ruined normal gaming” for him.

Last year, streamer Dan Gheesling embarked on a grand quest in Shadow of the Erdtree, aiming to complete the whole thing without using the DLC’s Scadutree Fragments (essential to boost your attack and resistances in the expansion), resin to craft weapon-buffing greases, or leveling up his vigor stat for more HP. It’s definitely not the way FromSoftware intended anyone to play, and his 423-hour playtime and 15,522 deaths prove it, but after finally finishing the run a few days ago, he’s already on the lookout for his next challenge.