PS2 Killer7 - Hopper7 Speed Run in 19:38
19Defying expectations, throwing a curve ball!
While there is technically already a PS2 Hopper7 run on my channel ( • PS2 Killer7 - Hopper7 Speed Run in 19:47 ), I unlisted it as it suffers from poor audio quality and because I admittedly forgot to export to Youtube until I caught it years later. As such, I've been meaning to make a better run (in both gameplay and audiovisual quality) for years. To keep the surprise, I opted to do the run off-stream, so there is no live audio commentary, but here are some notes to make up for it.
Route/version difference notes:
-I recommend checking out my version differences guide for a full breakdown of the PS2 differences, especially since some details are fairly subtle: https://www.speedrun.com/killer7/guides/vrviv
-In spite of the major PS2 differences, the core route is 99% the same as it is on PC. The amount of rooms that are explicitly different can be counted on one hand.
-Unbelievably, the PS2 version takes so long to read memory cards that it's faster to actually remove the memory card before pressing New Game. You just need to keep mashing X for the "would you like to continue without a memory card?" screen.
-The stair room after the parking garage: Iwazaru's junction swings around so weirdly that I ran up the stairs rather than dodging rolling, as I could never manage to get the instant enter up the stairs while rolling.
-The Micro Smile hallway: when walking into the cutscene, there is a small chance on PS2 that the Smile will hit you coming out of the loading screen (albeit it will always explode either way). Annoyingly, despite going through this room a dozen times while grinding runs, this is the first time it happened.
-Due to taking the hit out of the cutscene, I slightly shifted the blood route: I shot the Micro Smile in the laundry room and then healed at the next menu. It is not necessary to shoot the Micro Smile here, and I did it cost me a little time, but I wanted an extra vial to heal just in case I took a dumb hit later (which fortunately didn't happen in this attempt).
-In the bathroom on PS2, after using the Fire Ring, your character's position is automatically moved to face the door.
-Right before entering Vinculum Gate, I deliberately ran into the last Heaven Smile as hitstun mashing is actually better on PS2.
-At 9:55, a known glitch happened: an audio clip from Con played in the loading screen. Still vexed by this one...
-In typical PS2 tradition, the wind sound effect got stuck at 12:10, sticking around for the rest of the run.
-Skipping the final cutscene of Angel on PS2 also skips the Complete screen.
General notes:
-As usual, I recorded this on my regular PS2 Slim with my disc copy, booting the game into 480p with homebrew.
-Due to PS2 being PS2, I didn't want to spend too much time grinding on the parking garage Camellia, so I went for a regular HP kill rather than a critical kill. You need to reload at least once for an HP kill (assuming all of your shots connect), but the Camellia stumbles frequently enough, which gives you barely enough time to squeeze in the reload. A critical kill would have been faster, no doubt, but since this is a non-competitive category (read: nobody else has done a PS2 Hopper7 run besides me), I'm not particularly torn up about it.
-The run went well overall, with only a few mistakes.
-As mentioned earlier, the annoying hit out of the cutscene caused me to shift the route, losing a little time, but nothing major.
-Poor Speed Smile.
-Solid Angel fight. Aiming is rather stiff on PS2, so I played it conservatively, opting not to do any quick shots. One of the better PS2 Angel fights I've had in general.
-Unfortunately, I missed the penultimate Kun Lan shot due to the aforementioned stiff aim as well as PS2 lag, costing me about eleven seconds. I actually did try another attempt to fix this mistake, and made it all the way to end...only to miss the shot again. Rather than beating my head against the wall, I decided to cut my losses and accept this run. Who knows, maybe I'll come back in another six years.
An extraordinarily niche run, I'm glad I waited for just the right time to pull it off. PS2 Killer7 will always be PS2 Killer7, but I had fun, even if it did try my patience towards the end. I imagine this run will stay standing for a long time for obvious reasons, but maybe someone will throw me the curve ball one day.
*****
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