I don't fully understand the effects of the armlet of the sun, but my personal experience with it is that it does indeed lop off Squidward's tentacles in 1 less hit, and causes the zombies in the altar room on Very Hard to fall a bit faster with the dragon sword. If nothing else, it has a psychological effect on me that makes it feel like I'm hitting harder, which is no less important than actual DPS in my experience. I'll also check the fight against Marbus, since after you stun lock him, you can finish him off with 1 combo

You're not exaggerating when you say it's frustrating yet super fulfilling. I've been working on it for 4.5 years, and it's proven to be the best and hardest thing I've ever done in video games

My personal scarab route is 40 on VH difficulty (I'll have to update this once I've familiarized myself with normal more) in order to get the armlet of tranquility, simply because I don't pick up health potions or talismans of rebirth, and I find the armlet helps make the last few chapters a lot easier for me. Having said that, though, if my route of the game changes to the point I don't need the armlet of tranquility, I can see myself stopping after getting the spirit of the devils in chapter 7

Thanks for the prompt response. Black is the same plot, same 16 chapters, but with a few added weapons and techniques, as well as updated graphics. I don't fully understand the nuances of how the 2 games would compare, so I'll definitely be posting the same question in the NGB forum.

All I really mean by get the word out is present my gameplay in a place where more people will see it that have an interest in it than I've experienced with my Twitch stream alone, and possibly promote the differences between my play style and the styles of other players. Truth is, I have some ideas for donation incentives that I've never seen done at a GDQ event, and would like to discuss the game with the community to determine if they'd be both appropriate and unique enough to attract attention.

Thanks for the tips. I agree it's definitely early to put up a submission video, but my main goal here is to get community support while working my way towards the best run I can perform before the submission date deadline, then subsequently before my run at the marathon itself (all circumstances willing, of course). My main concern at this point is getting people watching, so if everything works out, I can start worrying about fundraising. Not to worry, I told myself I'd be attending the event regardless of the result, and I've committed myself to trying my best to get into this event and any in the future. If that's not good enough, I'm ok with that.

I've been working on a Ninja Gaiden '04 speedrun over the past 4.5 years, and I'm almost ready to upload my first speedrun on normal difficulty, and another on VH. My first question is, will my '04 run be accepted within the Black community, considering that it's very similar to Black and there doesn't seem to be a community for '04? Second, I've been streaming it live to Twitch but don't seem to have a whole lot of viewers. It seems relatively irrelevant in the scheme of speedrunning in general, and Twitch specifically. However, Black has been featured at GDQ events, which means the runners have managed to get enough publicity to make it happen. I'm wondering if anyone can give some insight into the process of networking this game. What sites will get the kind of traffic I need to get the word out, and all that jazz? Finally, what's the best way I can find the community so I can contact other runners of this game and discuss it? Thank you all in advance