Eric “PointCrow” Morino has accomplished his fair share of feats like beating The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom blindfolded or Breath of the Wild without walking. But now, his goldfish has one-upped him. The pet defeated the final boss of Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC live on Twitch on Tuesday.
This isn’t the first time PointCrow’s goldfish has beaten a difficult challenge in Elden Ring. The fish, named Tortellini, defeated several enemies and the final boss and base game of Elden Ring. But its DLC is known for being even tougher than the already difficult-to-beat base game, so even PointCrow wasn’t sure it would work out this time.
“I really don’t know if it’s possible. We might be able to beat him. I’m really unsure, but if you guys have any help with it, I will need your Elden Ring knowledge,” he said at the beginning of the stream.
PointCrow explained how the fish plays the game in the stream. Basically PointCrow uses custom-made software that utilizes a machine-learning algorithm to track the fish as it swims around in the tank. The tank is mapped out digitally so that when the fish swims to different parts of the tank, that’ll correspond to different button inputs. For example, if the fish swam to the top left corner, it would hit the A button, or if it swims to the bottom right corner, it “presses” the L button.
The fish doesn’t beat the game from start to finish or navigate menus. Instead, PointCrow levels up the character and gives it a weapon and armor kit so the fish has a fighting chance against the boss. So the goldfish’s character was level 713 when it fought Radahn, the final boss of the Shadow of the Erdtree.
The vast majority of the stream felt laid back. At times, Tortellini surprised viewers with a timely dodge or flurry of attacks, but much of the stream consisted of developing a strategy to help the fish win. It dragged on for nearly seven hours, but PointCrow and the chat slowly figured out a concoction of potions and blessings that would maximize the fish’s chances at success. In the end, the winning recipe included a grocery list of items like the Blessing of the Ertree, the Golden Vow spell, and the Iron Jar Aromatic to buff the character beforehand.
Finally, after hours of tinkering, a bit of fishy skill, and maybe luck, Tortellini beat the boss. It was a hard-won victory, and you can watch PointCrow’s elation below as he exclaimed, “That’s my goldfish!”
Even with all the help, it’s hard to believe the fish did it. It still had to dodge, use flasks, and fight. It was no easy task. There’s a reason so many people struggle with the challenge. But with more than a little help, the goldfish finally did it. So if you’re looking for some motivation to try and beat a difficult boss in Elden Ring, or any other game, this could be it.
