Streaming Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while numerous players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom using just a stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single stick—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for such challenge runs, such as the instance he played the game using only bombs or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with no stamina. A single stick run, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole game. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him going through the intro and initial tutorial island, and this character gains maximum stamina and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

This creates new issues, though. The fused save file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy version of the title that refuses to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the introductory form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any weapons he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the durability issue, as the Link he pulls between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is still a ineffective item that renders battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally employs a bug that allows him to clip through the world. Some would find these means reason to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

The streamer manages to get through several of the game's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The video version of his quest spares the audience sit through the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take several long hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is still only a piece of wood. He can't necessarily duplicate objects midway the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. RIP.