Twitch Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight 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, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, while many gamers have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom using just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a single stick—meaning, the very same one throughout.

PointCrow is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the game using only explosives or the effort where he tried to beat the game with zero stamina. A single stick playthrough, however, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability system, which is especially relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple answer is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the prologue and initial starting area, and this Link gains full stamina and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new save file that merges the states of the first two files.

This causes new issues, though. The merged save file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses readily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable build of the title that fails to open certain locations. As with everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game partway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory form of Link is coded so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the durability issue, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that makes battles tedious. But at that stage, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally employs a bug that enables him to clip through the world. A few would consider these methods reason to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also implements a penalty of sorts stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to get through many of the game's bosses, but the fights appear painful. The YouTube version of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the entire fights, which is a good thing when some of them take multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all only a stick. He can't necessarily clone items during the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software forces the player to wield the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer banned more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.