I'm just bringing this up as a potential way to save time during a speed run for this game. (this was while i was doing a speed run on the xbox 360 version of the game and i recorded this too, but this might also apply to the pc or xbox one version) in the tomb of giants the part where you have to place all 5 skulls into the pit of fire, i was putting the first one into the fire area and at this moment max stared climbing as the skull was tilting into the hole gaining speed as he climbed. this caused him to clip into the wall in the fire pit completely ignoring the door and falling into the hole that leads to the next level completely skipping the need to put the five skulls into the fire pit. i will post the video of this on youtube if you want to have a look at this for yourself. I still can't believe this happened and i hope this might lead to a faster time for anyone who wants to give this a go.

On another note i found a way to stop the cutscene that plays as you are making your way into the tomb of giants as it shows the puzzle where you have to smash the gait with he weight of the stone. I somehow jumped over the trigger for the cutscene using momentum from the bone structure before the cutscene (sadly i didn't record this but i wish i did. Hopefully this information is enough to lead to something as well)

update: anyone reading this i have uploaded the video. You can find it with the youtube address i typed below

or Just search: Accidental Speedrun Skip Max the curse of brotherhood (By the channel Death Count Gaming)

another update: i just did a run of this game on the xbox one and i managed to get the skip in the game so it is possible to do on the xbox one. I almost tied the second place person :) i was behind by 5 seconds. i will try my best to submit it now but i just wanted to claim now that the skip works!!! Success!!!

Final update: It appears that the skip works on the right side of the pit of fire however i haven't tried it on the left which means that there are at least two attempts to get this working using the closest skulls positioned on the left side of the fire pit. I am still looking into this but yes. This skip works. I just don't know yet if this will change the rules of the any percent category. As far as i know there aren't any other skips like this one. If anyone else wants to look into this trick then be my guest i think i have more than enough proven that it works. In my opinion it probably saves around 5 or so minutes as you don't have to climb to the top to drag the skulls into the fire. My run will be available for review as soon as my internet will allow it to go up. thank you for reading. I hope this helps future "curse of brotherhood" runners.

it's confirmed ... this also works on the left side as well so there are possible three attempts to get this skip working before you have to climb to the top and get the two skulls.

a new thing to note about this skip: the safest method is using the two skulls on the left side of the fire pit. the one skull on the right has a chance to softlock the game and keep you stuck in a place under the map (happened to me three times now out of the five times i clipped in). but if it comes down to it the skull on the right does still work but with a soft lock chance.

In another note... if you do manage to mess up all three skulls. it is still worth it to attempt it on the two at the top as it does cut a cutscene. i managed to get it on the fifth skull and it attempted to play the cutscene but however skipped it as it registered that i fell to the next area before it could play.

i also now have a video of the cutscene skip (the one that plays before you destroy the gait to get in) here's the video:

There really isn't anything else i can add to this thread ... so i believe this is the end unless i discover something else. In any case if i discover anything new i will be sure to add it to this thread. Happy running. Hope this helps

before i forget ... About this cutscene skip. DO NOT STEP ON THE GROUND BEFORE THE BOULDER.... as this will activate the cutscene making this skip useless. It appears that the ground is the trigger for the cutscene so simply going over this spot will stop the scene from playing

If you by any chance are wondering which console/system is best to run the game on for the speed run then i believe the best method is the PC. This is because the xbox 360 (A device you cannot submit for anyways) is extremely awful when it comes to the loading screens. The pc seems (by the runs i watched so far) to have next to no loading screens while the xbox one has a fair few to sit through and will absolutely eat through the time comparing the pc which has next to none. You would have to step through more hoops in order for the xbox version to come out on top over a pc.

besides this fact there seems to be next to no differences between the xbox and pc in terms of the game itself so any trick you may have picked up on on the xbox will also work on the pc version... this also includes xbox 360 players (who really need to move to the next generation to even be able to submit a run). Just thought i might add this little bit of information. I know it doesn't go with the glitch information i supplied above but i hope this info helps as well

There are more tips and time saves I have discovered with my recent play-through(s) of the game.

It appears that the floors in the game if slanted on a slight ramp actually have the potential to push you forward (if only slightly). The floor seems to act like a slowing down tool to stop the speed of the player. However with a platform on its side, it does the reverse and speeds the player up by pushing them in the slanted direction. This comes especially in handy when the character is sliding down a ramp as by jumping over and over it pushes the player further and makes the player faster. This can come in handy in those bits where you are sliding down something. And When you do finally reach flat ground, just keep jumping and the speed will stay with you (only being taken away by the ground which is designed to slow you down and stop this.) I also noticed that at times if you press the jump button fast enough the character has the potential to double jump if the character is going over a corner. But as for the ground in this game this is all I have to say.

Simply put jumping seems to save time if used correctly. It may not be a lot of time but every second and advantage helps.

Here is another tip that could save time.

I would like to bring attention to the branches in this game..... they are kind of broken acting like trampolines more than anything. If drawn in certain ways and jumped on ... they actually make you jump much higher than what you would normally do. Not only that they appear to be slightly broken as if you draw them with a hook at the end ... you can climb them almost effortlessly and also save time by climbing them in this way. This can be a double edged sword for the part where you have to use the branch and travel down river. DO NOT HOOK THE END. It seems to be too easy to climb them in this way and I have actually ruined a fair few runs by doing this.

Simply put the branches can be easily exploited to save more time