AKheon | Xena Warrior Princess (PS2) - any% speedrun in 8:52 @AKheon | Uploaded January 2021 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
Things escalated quickly, and now just a few days later I have began speedrunning Xena, and the run has already sunk under 9 minutes. Some run comments follow.
0:56 - the first glitch that is used in the run is the "super speed" glitch. It's most useful inside long, straight corridors, but a good enough player can steer it around corners as well. Overall, I think the use of super speed could still be optimized all around this run.
1:07 - I use the nearby box to do another glitch called "box clip" to go through the first portcullis. This instance of the trick was discovered by Aftermath. You got to move the box a specific distance away from the portcullis, then jump or run against the top edge of the box to clip Xena through.
1:23 - then, there's a third glitch tactic called "enemy clip". This is a new glitch I discovered just 2 days ago. If you press L1 while running, then let go of L-stick, Xena will unsheathe / sheathe her sword while sliding forward. She sinks inside enemies during the slide. Pushing L-stick again will re-activate collision, suddenly ejecting Xena away from the enemy - and with right positioning, she will go through walls in the process. The rest of level 1 is skipped with a single enemy clip.
1:58 - level 2 is entirely skipped with an enemy clip too. This is one of the harder enemy clips in the run, and sometimes it can take six or more tries to get it.
2:36 - level 3 begins with super speed movement. If you have high enough speed, you can slide over both of the spike pits with a dodge, which is both fast and looks very stylish. It's hard to do, though, so I didn't go for it in this attempt.
2:57 - alright, so the exit to level 4 is blocked by four gates. Each of the gates can be lifted by pushing a switch in each of the four towers of the garden. Normally you would need 30 - 35 orbs of Zeus to enter these towers, but it's possible to jump up to them with the high jump potion as well. This tactic was discovered by Aftermath.
A fourth glitch tactic is used here - a type of "long jump" that is done by pressing X and O simultaneously while running. This is the only way to gain enough speed to reach the top of the hedge maze with a high jump.
3:29 - instead of lifting all four gates, I only lift one so that it's possible to enemy clip through the entrance. Clipping through is fairly easy, but afterwards you need a bit of good luck since it can be hard hitting the next loading zone. With bad luck, you can get suddenly zip out of bounds next to the gate, which means the run is over.
4:05 - level 4 is skipped with two clips. The first one is a variation of enemy clip where an enemy moving towards Xena pushes her through the door even without any extra input. It's not too difficult to manipulate this outcome. The second clip is a bog standard enemy clip, although like the level 2 enemy clip, it's somewhat random to get as well.
5:05 - the first floor of level 5 is skipped with a box clip. In some circumstances a box clip will allow Xena to "fall upwards", placing her to any platforms that are above. That works perfectly in this level where you're supposed to keep moving upwards. Some enemies will get in the way, but you can deal with them pretty quick using the chakram.
5:54 - same thing with the second floor of level 5. Pushing the box like this allows you to avoid attracting the attention of nearby skeletons, which makes the level much less chaotic. Two imps will bother Xena no matter what, but with good luck (like in this run) it's possible to ignore them completely.
6:23 - third floor of level 5 features a boss battle. Got to defeat a mage and a bunch of skeletons, who will revive once before going down for good. The skeletons start quite spread out, so I lure them all to the center and get Xena killed to replenish her energy bar. Then I take the power potion and one-shot all the enemies with chakram, or at least as many as I can until energy runs out. It's best to deal with the mage with chakram, since he is very annoying to have to chase around on foot.
7:32 - the final battle against Ares is a mess. Optimally, you can "quick kill" him with the chakram by first hitting him once or twice, getting killed to replenish energy, then hitting him with chakram four or five times more. That didn't happen in this run because I missed a few shots, and I lost maybe 30 seconds from having to chase him around the place. AAREEEES!!!
-- Watch live at twitch.tv/akheon
Things escalated quickly, and now just a few days later I have began speedrunning Xena, and the run has already sunk under 9 minutes. Some run comments follow.
0:56 - the first glitch that is used in the run is the "super speed" glitch. It's most useful inside long, straight corridors, but a good enough player can steer it around corners as well. Overall, I think the use of super speed could still be optimized all around this run.
1:07 - I use the nearby box to do another glitch called "box clip" to go through the first portcullis. This instance of the trick was discovered by Aftermath. You got to move the box a specific distance away from the portcullis, then jump or run against the top edge of the box to clip Xena through.
1:23 - then, there's a third glitch tactic called "enemy clip". This is a new glitch I discovered just 2 days ago. If you press L1 while running, then let go of L-stick, Xena will unsheathe / sheathe her sword while sliding forward. She sinks inside enemies during the slide. Pushing L-stick again will re-activate collision, suddenly ejecting Xena away from the enemy - and with right positioning, she will go through walls in the process. The rest of level 1 is skipped with a single enemy clip.
1:58 - level 2 is entirely skipped with an enemy clip too. This is one of the harder enemy clips in the run, and sometimes it can take six or more tries to get it.
2:36 - level 3 begins with super speed movement. If you have high enough speed, you can slide over both of the spike pits with a dodge, which is both fast and looks very stylish. It's hard to do, though, so I didn't go for it in this attempt.
2:57 - alright, so the exit to level 4 is blocked by four gates. Each of the gates can be lifted by pushing a switch in each of the four towers of the garden. Normally you would need 30 - 35 orbs of Zeus to enter these towers, but it's possible to jump up to them with the high jump potion as well. This tactic was discovered by Aftermath.
A fourth glitch tactic is used here - a type of "long jump" that is done by pressing X and O simultaneously while running. This is the only way to gain enough speed to reach the top of the hedge maze with a high jump.
3:29 - instead of lifting all four gates, I only lift one so that it's possible to enemy clip through the entrance. Clipping through is fairly easy, but afterwards you need a bit of good luck since it can be hard hitting the next loading zone. With bad luck, you can get suddenly zip out of bounds next to the gate, which means the run is over.
4:05 - level 4 is skipped with two clips. The first one is a variation of enemy clip where an enemy moving towards Xena pushes her through the door even without any extra input. It's not too difficult to manipulate this outcome. The second clip is a bog standard enemy clip, although like the level 2 enemy clip, it's somewhat random to get as well.
5:05 - the first floor of level 5 is skipped with a box clip. In some circumstances a box clip will allow Xena to "fall upwards", placing her to any platforms that are above. That works perfectly in this level where you're supposed to keep moving upwards. Some enemies will get in the way, but you can deal with them pretty quick using the chakram.
5:54 - same thing with the second floor of level 5. Pushing the box like this allows you to avoid attracting the attention of nearby skeletons, which makes the level much less chaotic. Two imps will bother Xena no matter what, but with good luck (like in this run) it's possible to ignore them completely.
6:23 - third floor of level 5 features a boss battle. Got to defeat a mage and a bunch of skeletons, who will revive once before going down for good. The skeletons start quite spread out, so I lure them all to the center and get Xena killed to replenish her energy bar. Then I take the power potion and one-shot all the enemies with chakram, or at least as many as I can until energy runs out. It's best to deal with the mage with chakram, since he is very annoying to have to chase around on foot.
7:32 - the final battle against Ares is a mess. Optimally, you can "quick kill" him with the chakram by first hitting him once or twice, getting killed to replenish energy, then hitting him with chakram four or five times more. That didn't happen in this run because I missed a few shots, and I lost maybe 30 seconds from having to chase him around the place. AAREEEES!!!
-- Watch live at twitch.tv/akheon
