Twitch streamer RockyNoHands, defeated Elden Ring without the use of magic, armor, summoning, or his own hands.
Beating Elden Ring is no easy task for many players, especially without the use of magic, armor, or summoning.
Streamer Rocky Stoutenburgh, also known as “RockyNoHands” on Twitch, did it without using his hands. While wrestling at a party in 2006, Stoutenburgh fell and dislocated two of his thoracic vertebrae. As a result, he was paralyzed from the neck down at the age of 19.
It took several years for Stoutenburgh to be able to play video games again, thanks to his brother’s discovery of the Quadstick.
The Quadstick started out as a Kickstarter project before growing into its own production company. It has multiple holes that can be sipped or puffed to act as input, while the device’s body can be used as a joystick.
Rocky’s first experiences with the specialized controller were rough due to the original model’s proclivity for breaking, but after the company released their FPS model, he was able to play video games successfully once more.
Since starting to stream on Twitch in 2018, he has amassed a long list of impressive accomplishments.
There are three Guinness World Records in this category: Most Fortnite Victory Royales with Quadstick (2018), Most Kills in a Single Fortnite Battle Royale Match Using the Quadstick (2018), and Most Kills in a Single Call of Duty Warzone Battle Royale Match Using the Quadstick (2018). (2020).
Luminosity eventually noticed Stoutenburgh’s talent, and he became the first quadriplegic player to join a major esports team in 2020.
Since then, Stoutenburgh has continued to rack up accomplishments, such as reaching Masters rank in Apex Legends Season 12 this past April with his teammates.
Stoutenburgh has also beaten games like Dark Souls 3 and Cuphead, which many people consider to be quite difficult.
He even clocked a time of 6 minutes and 45 seconds on the notoriously difficult physics puzzle game Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, and 8 minutes and 6 seconds on the first map of PogoStuck: Rage With Your Friends.
To summarize, Stoutenburgh has demonstrated that disabled gamers do not require easy modes to beat difficult games, but rather the appropriate accessibility tools.
On May 12th, Stoutenburgh defeated FromSoftware’s latest medieval title, slaying the Elden Beast with nothing but a sword and his wits.
As previously stated, some people have frequently confused discussions about gaming accessibility with discussions about video game difficulty.
Gaming journalists are one of the most prominent groups to blur these lines, with many being accused of attempting to ‘dumb down’ gaming to compensate for their own lack of skill.
Genuine video game enthusiasts are on the other side of the debate, and they are increasingly repulsed by attempts to use disabled gamers as an excuse to argue in favor of making games easier.
Though not a journalist, Steve Saylor, a disabled gamer and YouTuber, recently faced backlash after claiming that Elden Ring’s difficulty was due to an accessibility issue.
We asked Rocky if he had anything to say to those who claimed Elden Ring was too difficult or didn’t have enough accessibility options for handicapped players, and he confidently stated, “It is accessible.”
Despite these ongoing debates, Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Elden Ring and the creator of the Souls genre, has repeatedly defended FromSoftware’s business model.
