The Twitch streamer GoodGame_Ethan was perfectly prepared for his permadeath run in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, but the challenge ended prematurely and ingloriously.
What was the challenge? The Twitch streamer Goodgame_Ethan wanted to master Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on “Grand Master” difficulty without dying a single time.
To be optimally prepared for his run, he grinded the tutorial level for hours until he had acquired all skill points, only to spectacularly fail afterward.
When is a death a death?
What went wrong? After GoodGame_Ethan reportedly grinded the tutorial for 24 hours, he finally wanted to face Dagan, the first “real” boss of the game. However, everything went wrong on the way there.
The Twitch streamer attempts to make a daring jump to the next platform, but bounces off a Stormtrooper’s shield and is thrown into the abyss. GoodGame_Ethan ends his run by curling up in a fetal position on the ground.
You can watch the entire clip here:
What makes the clip controversial? While the inglorious end of the run is undoubtedly bitter at first glance, it raises questions upon closer examination: For after his fall into the abyss, Cal Kestis is not “dead”; he is simply transported back to his starting platform.
At this point, GoodGame_Ethan is already trying to overcome the pain with frustrated push-ups, leaving the Stormtroopers a clear shot to eliminate the motionless character – despite their meme-accurate hit rate.
You can learn what a successful run looks like here:
The Twitch streamer could have continued his run. Apparently, his views diverge from those of the game regarding what constitutes a death.
This is due to the Souls-like structure of Jedi: Survivor. The game features so-called meditation points where you can save the game and also use them for fast travel. However, a visit also respawns all the enemies you had previously defeated.
GoodGame_Ethan took advantage of this to eliminate the same enemies in the tutorial to level up. Since Jedi: Survivor also has numerous acrobatic maneuvers that can easily send your character into the abyss, it would be extremely frustrating to be sent back to the last meditation point each time and have to defeat all enemies again.
Thus, the falls are not lethal and are only punished with some fall damage. A Reddit user pointed this out in a thread about the clip, but the Twitch streamer insists on his definition: “No, it’s a real permadeath run. That definitely counts. I wouldn’t say it’s not a death to respawn with less health.”
However, the downvotes under the comment suggest that many players cannot agree with GoodGame_Ethan’s perspective (via Reddit).
Players continuously come up with new and creative challenges to have an incentive to play a game again years after its release. A challenge in the shooter Halo was considered nearly impossible for almost 20 years:
Twitch streamer completes insane Halo challenge that has eluded everyone for 18 years
