I love self-imposed gaming challenges. A while back, I wrote about Final Fantasy 14 streamer Pint, who set himself the challenge of breaking the world record on Kugane's Tower. It is now part of speedrunning history.

But some, like streamer Goodgame_Ethan, go a little too far. In preparation for his short journey, Ethan saved his XP until he had unlocked all the skill points in the early stages of "Jedi: Survivor". While this is a bit tiresome to even think about, it is a great feat and should have prepared him for a successful deathless run on the "Grand Master" difficulty level of the game.

This was made possible by the soul-like design of "Jedi: Survivor." Visiting a "meditation point" (like a bonfire) would cause enemies to respawn, allowing Ethan to grind the same mooks for hours in order to fully equip Kal Kestis before leaving Coruscant. But it is this same design that makes the following "tragic" run-ending shield bonk problematic.

Alone, the clip is hilarious, and the heroic leap that Kal Kestis makes seems like slapstick, only to slam into a stormtrooper's shield and fall 10 feet to "die." You may have noticed that Ethan does not return to his meditation point. While he is curled up on the floor, the stormtrooper across from him sends the stoic Kal Kestis to a cruel death.

This is intentional. Unlike other soul-like games, "Jedi: Survivor" features a plethora of triple-A brand platformers. Cal swings ropes, escapes from walls, slides down slopes, and even unlocks air dashes. It's pleasant and nimble, but occasionally you'll be pushed straight into the void.

Knowing that the complete death of returning to the last meditation point and repositioning all enemies would be unforgivably annoying under these circumstances, Respawn's developers wisely decided to spend a bit of Cal's energy just to fall and drop him on the nearest ledge. Goodgame_Ethan aborted this maneuver anyway.

This was addressed by several commenters in the thread below the video: "Falling off a cliff doesn't kill you, you just take fall damage," wrote puzzled user wilkinsk, to which Ethan replied: "No, a genuine permadeath. It definitely counts. I wouldn't say respawning with reduced health is not death."

In other words, it's all relative. Unless we are talking philosophy, respawning with no health would count as death. After all, there is endless debate in the Star Trek community about whether a sci-fi teleporter will kill you. Perhaps the same thing is happening here. Can we really say that the Cal Kestis that went into the hole and the Cal Kestis that teleported out of the hole are the same person?

Seriously, I disagree with this definition of streamer, but the free Internet allows gamers to define a challenge run however they like. Just this year, Elden Ring players replaced all their bosses with Marenia. Even if Jedi: Survivor's platform was unreliable and the developers themselves were forced to show mercy, it would be impressive to complete the game without dying in combat or falling off a ledge. But if Goodgame_Ethan wants to torture himself, who can stop him?