Streaming Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Stick

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted novel challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although numerous players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a single stick—specifically, the very same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the time he went through the game using only bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with zero stamina. A single stick run, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile tool in the whole world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” save where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him going through the prologue and first tutorial island, and this character acquires maximum stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cinematic and halts midway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This creates fresh issues, though. The merged file has a protagonist that did not acquired the ability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable version of the game that refuses to open some locations. As with other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of Link is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the durability issue, as the character he pulls across universes is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eliminates all possible friction. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that makes battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful supply of consumables to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that enables him to phase through the world. Some would find these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He also implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll remove one viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

The streamer manages to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube version of his journey spares the audience endure the entire fights, which is a good thing when some of them last multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an incredible 23 straight. The final villain battle, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still only a stick. He is unable to always duplicate items midway the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the game forces the player to wield the legendary weapon as the final attack, so technically, it's not quite fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.