Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a gameplay session. However, although many players have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a single stick—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for such difficult playthroughs, such as the time he went through the game using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch run, however, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is particularly important when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple answer is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The setup save has him going through the intro and first starting area, and this Link gains full stamina and health. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses partway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and creates a new game file that combines the states of the original two.

That causes fresh issues, however. The fused save file has a Link that did not obtain the ability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means depending on an unstable version of the title that refuses to load certain locations. Like everything else, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of Link is programmed so that he is unable to break any tools he uses, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the character he transfers across universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective item that makes battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of grit and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also makes use of a bug that allows him to phase through the world. Some would find these means grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also implements a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll ban one viewer from his live stream, creating an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

The streamer manages to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look grueling. The video edit of his quest spares the viewer endure the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The unbreakable stick is after all just a stick. He can't always clone items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than a thousand people in his live stream. Rest in peace.