So Gouki put out an amazing Inferno run clocking in at 49:21. One thing I've seen people ask is "Can you even beat that?", and to which I shall respond by figuring out a theoretical bottom.
So what areas of Gouki's run could be improved upon by any masochist willing to grind Inferno?
First and foremost: Gouki did a great run, and every Inferno runner out there deserves a round of applause for tackling a grueling category that offers little room for mistake.
Now then, time for a simple dissection from a non-runner. We can already tell right off the bat that Gouki's run can be improved based on the Apartment time(Flat 1:07). The best time I've heard for apartment so far was a 1:06.3, by 7Ray(Or so I was told).
He also lost .1 getting to the subway timer somewhere(I think due to a nudge on a pillar that slowed his dodge down a teeny amount).
Aside from the apartment the next "big" time save is that he doesn't go into Caution. While it might seem like a timeloss having to get chewed on, being backbit by the first zombie in the streets outside the subway can save 4+ seconds by the time you reach Deimos(Powerstation).
Next the First Alleyway. One can use a Double Dodge going into the corner for a tiny save(.1 or so), and one can also use a Double Dodge going into the Gate Opening Zombie for another time save(.2-.4).
Gouki shoots the barrel. You can YOLO the crowd for a time save, but it's NOT recommended. Gouki shoots the Donut Plaza zombies to manipulate them, again you can YOLO the crowd on the return but again...you really shouldn't. Both of those combined can save over a second.
BTW I am ignoring all points where Gouki could save time by dodge chains while in Fine, because for optimal time you want to be in Caution during these moments.
On the way back to the FireHydrant he stopped to shoot a zap box and he was partially pushed back by a zombie while dodging. Best case these combined are a .5 timeloss.
He could do a risky triple dodge for boltcutter and the door, which is at least .1 faster than the strategy he utilized. Not recommended btw. He also failed to get the Nicholai door skip, which is another tiny time loss.
He was pushed by a dog in the alleyway and hit by a tentacle, which was at least a second of time loss.(Timer went from -.6 to +1.1)
For PowerStation Entry he went with the safe strat of 1 dodge/1 dodge. That's at least a half second a player can do better by doing the 2D/2D.
While in Fine at the start of Deimos you can do a triple dodge for a .2-.3 time save. It requires practice since if you end in the wrong spot you can get facehugged.
He didn't have to stop to shoot one of the Deimos(One of the WallBreakers after switch 2), you can actually run by it if you get the right angle.
During the WallBurst Nemesis Escape he pauses to shoot the box. You can, on Inferno, actually get away from there without shooting it.(not recommended)
He pauses at KiteBros to shoot the Tentaclehead, which you can get by via dodging(Goodluck). He also wallhugged the doorframe which is a pretty rough timeloss.
On the way out of KiteBros the second time he does the two-pump strategy to get the grenade and exit. This is a timeloss versus a well placed triple dodge(good luck).
He pauses to zap Nemesis at the Donut Plaza, timeloss versus just YOLOing it through his punch with a well angled dodge to avoid the TEntacleboy.
He does the Outside Line on the Alleyway Cop Zombie. You can utilize a similar strategy as Standard here to Triple through him for a big time save(Half a second at least).
For sewer there is probably very little bit of time that can be saved. I still haven't tested if the Early Spawn strat that works so well on standard can work on Inferno(Or nightmare).
He pauses to shotgun the zombie outside of the Construction Zone. You can actually save time(roughly .3) with a well angled chain dodge there.
Wallhug before Nemesis1 is a nasty timeloss. Also does the single dodge to get to the ladder before the fight, you can do a two zigzag that saves a sliver of time.
During Nem1 he fuddled a little when trying to switch to the grenade. At least a half second loss there.
Hit and had to heal outside of Kendos. There's also a time save you can take if you want to be risky, and utilize the double dodge found in Standard runs. Not recommended due to tentacles.
PreRocket Nem you can actually do chain dodges on both tentacles before the cutscene. Not recommended.
During the Rocket Escape he was hit once and flinched once, combined that's over three seconds. On a side note you CAN chain dodge the rockets AND the tentacles for maximum time save. This is highly unadvised, even though you can save a second(Or more) you're more likely to reset.
Gouki's RPD was pretty solid but he had a few points that slowed him down. He had a zombie in the way outside the RPD First Floor Locker room that cost him time, he fumbled a bit trying to get from the keypad to the locker, he had to walk on his way back(there's a strategy to avoid this), he had to shoulder a pale head at shower, and he grabbed the red herb in RPD. All in all there's probably ~3 seconds that can be shaved off his RPD.
The Nemesis 2 fight was solid and I believe clocked in at about 53 seconds. You can potentially go faster but lets ignore that for now.
And now the Hospital. So first off the shoulder strategy is slightly slower than the shoot down(Shooting the licker with a single bullet to prompt him to drop). The shoulder, however, is more reliable since if you "Flinch" the Licker he doesn't drop and instead murders you. In the second floor room filled with zombies he pauses to shoot one. You can actually run back out after grabbing the ID card without shooting any of them, but it's risky. It's a solid one second save if not more, however. He gets hit in the taperoom. Good luck not getting hit. In the Red Glass Hallway he pauses to shoot two zombies and gets bit by one. He runs past the licker on the first floor slowly and is very careful due to his low health.
Nobody cares about Siege/Cabin.
The Pre-Warehouse/Warehouse section has a lot of potential timesaves in it that could possibly add up to 4+ seconds. Most are tiny things that merely add up, but such as the Crawlspace zombie he opts to stop and shotgun versus chain dodging into the crawlspace. That's over a second time loss for something like 50 less DA. He also did an unnecessary dodge coming out of the Fuse3 area(I don't blame him) that cost him valuable time.
He didn't get the full Tyrell boost, and also did an unnecessary dodge into the door, adding up to over a second time loss.
He did an unnecessary dodge after killing the first PaleHead in Nest.
He did the slower Culture->Test Tube strategy and then also had a lot of minor mistakes and unnecessary uses of shotgun adding up to probably 4+ lost seconds.
His orgy room was rough, losing at least one second.
He didn't trigger the Hunter fight faster by dodging into the activation zone.
We're also going to promptly ignore Nemesis 3 and 4 because he did great on those and just beating them is better than what I can do. :(
In the end yes you can beat Gouki's run, there is still plenty of room for improvement. However it often requires riskier strategies or a reliance on RNG.
Even though I'm not including every time save possible in this dissection I think it's obvious that a sub 49 is theoretically plausible. So if you became discouraged by his run don't be, world records are made to be broken and good luck everyone!
Good analysis. The run is definitely beatable and I expect eventually we'll see 48:5# in this category if a dedicated runner or two stick with it. It will take a special runner for sure, but the game is only 6 months old and runners are constantly improving. We just saw Jikkachan spend a month grinding No Time to Mourn for a one second improvement, so there are RE runners out there committing to difficult WR improvements. I expect Gouki was still working on Inferno after his previous WR given how quickly he took the record back from Orchlon.
That said, from putting ~500 attempts into Inferno myself and observing other Inferno runners, this category is toxic to one's mental health. It's a stressful category to run given there is no margin for error with caution strats, coupled with all of the other run killers including final Nemmy's random acid as one last FU to runners.
I don't stream so I was just doing challenge runs, but one thing that casual viewers may not realize is the amount of practice runners have to do, even ones with hundreds of hours in the category. You may go days without seeing Nemmy 3 & 4 which means if you don't load up a save and do a few practice rounds, your timing may be off just enough to ruin a run if it makes it that far. As a casual it was a real pain because I didn't have 5-6 hours a day to grind it. Some days I couldn't play at all, and others I would have 2 hours tops which means even more practice. At least I was able to rage quit whenever I wanted, whereas streamers may feel compelled to keep pressing which adds to the toxicity.
I believe Gouki has moved over to the Nightmare Category.
And yes this category(Inferno) is mentally brutal. I consistently tell runners who think of running it to do Nightmare instead because it has certain forgiveness aspects. Inferno doesn't.
Thanks for the dissecting and analysis. Yes Gouki is now grinding Nightmare and I believe he'll move on to Hardcore after, then standard accordingly. He told me he'll challenge every difficulty in this game before switching to RE2. But someone on Bilibili(the Chinese site where Gouki and I are on) just put up a bounty on Inferno run again for a sub 49 who claim they have already raised about $600. Maybe he'll return to Inferno? I don't know lol.
