Posting this for history's sake.

Japanese runner "maxwel" documented their run of 7th Dragon 2020 from November 2012 on ultimagarden.net. Time began upon difficulty selection and ended on the post-credits save. The run was performed on console and the final time was 13:08:31. This run was glitchless, though it seems that the only bug the runner was aware of was reusing EXP/SP Bonus skills via reloading. The general strategy maxwel used was Intercept Stance + Too Hot to Touch + Bush Trap (the party was D/P/T).

The full document is here: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://ultimagarden.net/report/maxwel_7thdragon2020_rta.txt&prev=search&pto=aue

Hey, what's up? I don't run 7th Dragon and, in fact, I haven't even played past the prologue (I run 2020, though). But I've got some info I think might be worthwhile for those reading this.

First, there seems to be a Japanese runner named Peta who has allegedly achieved an Any% PB of 3:38:49. I say allegedly because, due to niconico's archiving system, video proof doesn't appear to be available. I am, however, inclined to believe that the run is legitimate due to the sheer quantity of information about the game this person has posted to their blog and Twitter about 7th Dragon.

Peta's Blog: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://akmeda.3rin.net/&prev=search Peta's Twitter: https://twitter.com/7thRTA/media

And although video evidence is absent, Peta has apparently typed out the route they used from start to finish, which you can find here: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://peta.sdbx.jp/%25E3%2582%25BB%25E3%2583%2596%25E3%2583%25B3%25E3%2582%25B9%25E3%2583%2589%25E3%2583%25A9%25E3%2582%25B4%25E3%2583%25B3RTA%25E3%2583%2581%25E3%2583%25A3%25E3%2583%25BC%25E3%2583%2588/7thRTA%2520ver4.01.pdf%3F__module%3Doff&prev=search

Lastly, there is an annual speedrunning marathon in Japan called "RTA in Japan." Presumably due to COVID-19, they've switch to online delivery this year, and have just opened submissions. One submission, interestingly enough, is 7th Dragon Any% with an estimate of 4:20:00 by a runner named sora. I haven't been able to track down video evidence of sora's runs, either, but I'm preeeetty sure I've got their Twitter. So, there is at least a non-zero chance that there will be a marathon run of this game in a couple of months.

RTAinJP Online 2020 Submission List: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Frtain.jp%2Fplayer%2Fsubmission%2Fgame%2Fsubmission-rtaij2016%2F&prev=search sora's Twitter I think?: https://twitter.com/sora_soramame99?lang=en

I apologize for the absolutely garbage formatting.

Sorry, I would handle this in a private message if speedrun.com had such a feature but since it does not I'll have to do it here.

My All Levels, 1-1 IL, and 1-2 IL runs were performed using a physical cartridge of the game played on an original DS outfitted with a capture card, not an emulator. I might have accidentally specified that an emulator was used when I submitted the run, and if I did, that was my mistake.

Thanks.

(And also thank you for repeatedly retiming my runs. Maybe I'll get one right one day. :P)