Not speedrun related, but- figured I'd rip the game theme from the CD and upload it over the intro sequence! The PS1 version doesn't seem to have it from the longplay I flicked through, which is a shame as it's great.

Lyrics:

Let me show you what hell is

Hell is a friend with no smile

Hell is a dream that turns to a scream

A dusty road, mile after mile

Let me tell you what hell is

A place that so few have seen

A kiss from a foe, a torment you know

A stranger, it knows everything

Let me show you what hell is

Your woman, your daughter, your son

A drought and a storm, a cloak to be worn

A nightmare, from which you can't run

Can you feel what hell is?

Hell is a fear of the light

Hell is a beat from which you retreat

A chain, tied to the night

I bought a copy of this game and completed it casually. I've written a guide for GameFAQs (at the time of writing it's pending approval) and curiously I checked out the SRC entry for the PC version. I've noticed some tech for optimizing the route. I tested it and the route does work, but for execution I'd need to be more mindful of the actual route required and practise it more to get an actual good time.

Day One

Current route: enter the hotel, walking to the counter, ring the bell, say you need a room, say you're just passing through, pay $5, take the room key, go upstairs, take the chair, enter room, turn around, use chair on door to barricade, turn around, sleep on the bed, turn around, take chair, exit room, walk downstairs, walk behind counter, take gun, walk out from behind counter (and drop room key to save inventory) and leave to trigger Cain's interaction.

New version: Just walk left, enter stables, take stick, turn around, use stick on door, turn around, sleep on the hay, turn around, take stick and leave. Grab the Cleaver and Pan from the kitchen as you're already right next to it, then back out twice to trigger Cain's interaction.

Day Two

Not renting the room in the hotel for the night saves $5 (or, the $2 by not actually paying the hotel clerk to sleep in the stables)- which means you have enough money from the start to buy the 2 Ales, the Rope, the Matches, the Photograph from the Undertaker (to grab the Hammer and the Hook) and the Bullet Mould Press. This eliminates having to go upstairs in the saloon, talking to Sheila until she leaves so you can take the Loaded Die, walk back downstairs and cheat the gambler until you've gotten enough cash.

This does mean you can't sleep in Sheila's room as you won't have interacted with her to be able to climb the tree, but I think it's slightly faster to just go back to the stables and repeating the same steps for sleeping as it is for mashing through her dialogue in the saloon, going to her room and mashing through again and hiding through the Sheriff visit.

You don't need to visit the graveyard or grab the Locket from the grave to finish the game.

Leave getting the Lantern until the end of Day Two- you'll be heading back over to the stables to sleep anyways. Can grab it and then exiting puts you right next to the stable doors.

Day Three

I noticed from the current WR video that the Gloves are picked up. If you're not cursed (and you won't be as the run skips Sheila's storyline entirely) they're not needed. You can pick up the Silver directly in the mine, and you only need the Forge Tongs to remove the Melted Silver from the train's boiler.

Light the Lantern as usual, then take out another single Match which you can put into your inventory. Leave the Matchbox on the ground. As skipping the Sheriff minecart dynamite puzzle, can then light the boiler fire faster when making the Silver Bullets as you don't need to move the Matchbox to the ground a second time.

After looking at through the telescope to see the abandoned train, you can then fast travel directly to it from the map without having to visit it first. Minor time save if you grab the Robe and use the telescope before entering the mining camp as you can then fast travel straight to the train to begin making the Silver Bullets.

• What is Minus Edition?

Enemy Zero has unskippable cutscenes and an unskippable voiceover story recap on reloading saves. Minus Edition is a custom version of the official PC port of the game that removes as many cutscenes as possible, trims others down to the minimum possible and removes the voiceover story recaps on loads.

• Why is there no Standard Edition speedrun leaderboard?

Normal run on either Sega Saturn or PC standard edition would be around 2 hours due to the unskippable cutscenes. If there is enough interest the category can be introduced but, considering Minus Edition is roughly a 35 min run versus 35 mins of gameplay in a 2 hour run...

• Why is there no MinusNormal% mode leaderboard?

Easy and Normal routing is virtually identical (except for charging 1st gun in locker room- which is less than 1 min in difference). Hard mode however has a routing difference in Disc 1 alone that requires going to the Tool Room multiple times in the Duct Maze to recharge the gun so warrants its own board.

• Why is saving not allowed in MinusHard% runs?

It's a challenge, plus avoids trying to verify if save file has been swapped out for Easy/Normal mode as no readily available indicators for difficulty setting on loading on Disc 3.

• What is Gauntlet% and why does it not cover entirety of Disc 3?

Disc 3 is pure movement/combat/avoidance, has no disc swaps and no puzzles/FMVs (except the brief transition Rest Room between F3 and F4 then the stairwell transitions) and is easily the hardest section of the game. After Parker's Room, enemies are not an issue. Stopping the category at this point cuts out the run back through Winter Basement, the elevator transitions and the voice guided maze section back to the escape craft. Difficulty level is not specified as easy to swap out a Hard save file for Easy/Normal.