Streaming Personality Dedicates Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, while many players have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom using only a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to beat the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same stick throughout.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the game using only bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the game with zero stamina. A single stick run, however, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when working with the weakest tool in the entire game. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The complete answer, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he progresses standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains full endurance and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and halts partway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a new save file that merges the states of the original two.

That causes fresh issues, though. The fused save file has a Link that did not obtain the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy build of the game that fails to load certain areas. Like everything else, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the software midway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the introductory version of Link is coded so that he cannot break any tools he wields, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the Link he transfers across universes is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart technique, but not one that eradicates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a weak weapon that renders battles tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that enables Link to clip through the world. Some would consider these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He further implements a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat several of the game's main enemies, but the fights look painful. The video edit of his journey doesn't make the viewer endure the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all only a stick. He is unable to always clone objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, PointCrow does overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the user to use the Master Sword as the final attack, so technically, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. RIP.