A Rookie Speedrunner Shattered Dragon Age: Inquisition's World Record

Yes, just about every game has a speed running scene, it turns out: even RPGs that usually demand players to sink in dozens upon dozens of hours as they carefully consider dialogue choices. Dragon Age: Inquisition is one of these games, and yet there is a robust speedrunning community centered around the game.

Previously, a speedrunner and moderator known as Camgotay at Speedrun.com held the record, having completed Inquisition in just under two hours. Now, the record stands at less than a half hour. That is a very speedy playthrough.

Tricking an 80-hour game into letting you fly through it takes some glitches, such as clipping conveniently through the world here and there. A newbie speedrunner known as Issala was poking around for glitches when they discovered was the miraculous ability to warp to any location on the map. It was this fast traveling hack that allowed them to jump around the world map, even to areas that hadn't yet been unlocked. 

Other speedrunners on a BioWare Discord were doubtful when Issala suggested it might be possible to beat the game in under an hour, but then Issala did it, posting a speedrun of 29:02 onto their YouTube channel. This was the very first speed run they had ever attempted, having been inspired by other speedrunners who've been attempting to quickly blow through the game for years.

Because of the waves Issala made, interest in speedrunning Dragon Age: Inquisition has suddenly come back with force. Even Camgotay — who previously stopped speedrunning the title — said they were looking into running the game again. Maybe it won't be long until Issala's record is surpassed by an Inquisition speedrunning vet. 

Somehow, we don't think Issala will mind.

In an interview with US Gamer, Issala attributes their world record, jokingly, to beginner's luck. Even if their run was just the result of luck, we're still impressed, and a little dizzied, to see anyone fly through a behemoth of an epic like Dragon Age: Inquisition in such a short amount of time.