Streaming Personality Dedicates 37 Hours Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. However, although many gamers have tried to finish the game using only a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a one stick—meaning, the very same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the title solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with zero stamina. A one-branch playthrough, however, seems impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly important when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the intro and first starting area, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets mixed up and generates a new game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That causes fresh issues, however. The fused save file has a protagonist that never acquired the ability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit fixes readily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy build of the title that fails to load certain locations. As with everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its early version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Other Challenges

Curiously, the introductory form of Link is coded so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, likely to prevent a situation where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the durability issue, as the Link he transfers between dimensions is the version from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that renders battles tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of grit and perseverance. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a bug that allows Link to phase through the environment. Some would find these methods grounds to discredit the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll ban a fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

The streamer succeeds to get through several of the game's bosses, but the fights appear painful. The YouTube version of his journey doesn't make the viewer endure the entire fights, which is a good thing when some of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's health as it unfolds, is a memorable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all only a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone objects midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the user to wield the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned more than 1,000 users in his live stream. Rest in peace.