The most subscribed Twitch streamer on Earth, Kai Cenat has finally beaten Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, the latest output from FromSoftware. Cenat beat the DLC’s final and arguably, its most challenging boss after 99 hours of streaming and dying 1 070 times throughout the DLC.

The final boss itself took a large chunk of the marathon stream, as Cenat spent around 50 hours bashing his head against the singular challenge. Elden Ring has proven highly popular for Cenat, not known for streaming Souls gameplay, who tried the game on a whim before the release of the DLC and quickly and honestly fell in love with the gameplay, despite its punishing nature.

Cenat’s unwavering perseverance against the game was highly enjoyable for his audience and has earned him respect among the often insular community of online weirdos that unhealthily obsess over FromSoftware’s creations.

Through his never giving up, and never dropping the title – unlike some other “streamers” – Cenat has unwittingly captured the essence of the Souls games and put it on display for a massive, worldwide audience.

Kai Cenat beat Elden Ring just like its creator intended it to be beaten

In a 2022 interview with the New Yorker on the verge of the release of Elden Ring, its director Hidetaka Miyazaki told the publication “Hardship is what gives meaning to the experience.” This statement has been the throughline of his games since the release of Demon’s Souls (2009), which was lambasted by critics and players when it first came out for being way too difficult.

What Demon’s Souls did at the time planted a seed that would change mainstream gaming. Miyazaki wanted to create a way for players to immerse themselves in the world of his games, and at the time when the first “Souls” title came out, gaming was packed with AAA hits that hand-held their audience, with players sleep-walking through experiences.

The prevailing attitude to game design at that time was that a Game Over was something to be avoided at all costs. Miyazaki instead wanted to turn this on its head and make the death of the player character not a failure of game design, but as a feature instead. You see, when the player has to pay attention to every second of gameplay or they will face the dreaded “You Died” screen, they really pay attention – and they really learn to care.

“I die a lot [when playing games]. So, in my work, I want to answer the question: If death is to be more than a mark of failure, how do I give it meaning? How do I make death enjoyable?” Miyazaki, now in his late forties and the president of FromSoftware muses on the question that would create the “Souls-like” genre.

Death becomes enjoyable, or rather it is given meaning in Elden Ring, when it is overcome, usually through keen concentration and perseverance. When you finally defeat that boss, after days of trying, after multiple build attempts, after learning its patterns and its phases, after embarrassing death after death, victory transcends the game and overwhelms your body.

“The joy that comes from overcoming hardship”

You know you’re playing a Souls game when you beat a boss and notice your heart is pounding against your rib cage.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.”

You can see this “full effort” plainly in the last few minutes before Cenat beats the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree. His face does not change, he doesn’t even blink for minutes. He is fully locked in, and when he realises that he has won, the emotions are self-explanatory.

Days after its release, the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC quickly received a Mixed rating on Steam, as customers lamented its difficulty as overly unfair. Others have responded that the DLC is aimed at being the “ultimate challenge,” one where players must rely on all possible methods – summoning phantoms, using items, calling in for multiplayer help – to beat it.

Once again, the difficulty conversation has reared its ugly head. Should FromSoftware make its games easier in order to welcome as many people as possible to the experience?

“I do feel apologetic toward anyone who feels there’s just too much to overcome in my games,” Miyazaki told The New Yorker. “I just want as many players as possible to experience the joy that comes from overcoming hardship.”

If Elden Ring wasn’t as difficult as it is we wouldn’t have Let Me Solo Her, we wouldn’t have the community around Miyazaki’s games that exist now. We wouldn’t have the moment of Kai Cenat struggling and finally tasting sweet Elden Ring victory.

It’s a moment that most who have ever given Miyazaki’s games a fair shake can immediately relate to.