Twitch Streamer Defeats Shadow of the Erdtree Bosses Using Mind Control

Twitch streamer Perri Karyal has accomplished an incredible feat by taking down two major Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree bosses using a hands-free 'mind control' virtual controller. This innovative setup decodes electrical signals directly from her brain in real-time.

Before the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki stated that the DLC would challenge players like never before. True to his word, many players have found the new content extremely difficult, with some even complaining about performance issues, resulting in mixed reviews on Steam.

Despite the difficulty, Karyal used her unconventional control method to defeat bosses, proving that most of a FromSoftware boss fight is a mental game. Last year, she made headlines by beating Elden Ring’s base game with an electroencephalography (EEG) brain monitoring headset, which she adapted to control in-game actions like attacking and rolling.

Karyal, while studying for a master’s degree in psychology, discovered the EEG technology and wondered if it could control video games. By coding the software to recognize patterns in her brain's electrical activity, she could execute game actions through mental imagery. For example, imagining pushing a cube forward made her character roll, and imagining a plate spinning triggered an attack.

In her previous Elden Ring run, Karyal still used a physical Xbox controller for movement. For Shadow of the Erdtree, she went fully hands-free, using eye-tracking software for movement and voice prompts for specific actions. This setup added another layer of complexity, as she needed different command setups for navigating to bosses and fighting them.

Karyal has already defeated two challenging early DLC bosses, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion and Rellana, the Twin Moon Knight, using her mind-control method. This isn't the first time FromSoftware fans have used unconventional controllers. Twitch streamer MissMikkaa beat two Malenias simultaneously with a Dance Pad and a PS5 DualSense, and Dr. Decomposing completed a no-damage run using a modified electric saxophone as a controller.