Streaming Personality Dedicates 37 Hours Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Stick

You might assume that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that apply special restrictions on a playthrough. However, while numerous gamers have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same stick throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the title using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with zero stamina. A single stick run, however, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is especially relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the whole world. Yet if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple explanation is glitches. The complete story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the intro and initial starting area, and this character acquires full endurance and hearts. From this point, he starts a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the game to load an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets mixed up and generates a third save file that merges the states of the original two.

This creates new problems, however. The fused save file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit fixes readily, but executing it means depending on an unstable build of the title that fails to open some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is programmed so that he cannot break any tools he wields, likely to prevent a scenario where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the wear issue, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective item that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of items to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a glitch that allows Link to phase through the environment. Some would find these methods reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of kinds stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of the game's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video edit of his quest doesn't make the viewer endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when some of them take several hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all only a stick. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the game compels the user to wield the legendary weapon as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over a thousand people in his live stream. RIP.