“Getting better” or “player toxicity” doesn't matter when we're talking about just enjoying a cool video game in this shitty life. That said, the criteria for judging who really “got good” at Souls Bone games are very high: streamers who play on dance pads and donkey conga drums, challengers and speedrunners, the guy in his college dorm who plays Dark Souls 1 on his MacBook Air without a controller or mouse. A guy playing with a windowed view (WASD to move and arrow keys to control the camera) comes to mind. And now YouTube's MouseInATutu has joined the old and honorable ranks, thanks to their preference for the most excruciating challenge runs I've ever seen.

MouseInATutu joins us as a rune level 1 Wretch, with limited weapons to wield with his base stats and Soreseal Talisman. That alone is a challenge, but the most important feature that sets MouseInATutu apart is that they do not perform the most basic functions of soulsborne combat: rolling and blocking. Instead, they rely entirely on timing and positioning, running out of the way of attacks and sometimes jumping to dodge unavoidable moves like Lelana's twin moons.

Against Messmer, MouseInATutu chose a magic-infused iron ball fist weapon, drawing additional damage from the Lazuli Glintstone Crown, a set of Rakshasa, and a Talisman that boosts charge attacks and attack power when low on health. With this setup, they did surprisingly decent damage to Messmer, but such a victory still required maximum skill and, according to MouseInATutu, “absolutely divine RNG.”

Beating Messmer like this is an amazing feat, but the big one is still out there: is it possible to defeat Promised Consort Radahn without dodging, blocking, or getting hit? Forget about making it even harder at rune level 1, with his aggressive combos and strong health bar, the fight would already be a marathon. Add to that his arena-filling explosion attack, not another floating attack to charge. If it is possible, I am sure one of our Yeoman Soul's Kama Challenge runners will find a way.