Twitch Star Spends 37 Hours Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although many players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom using only a stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the game with a one stick—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the game using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch run, though, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest weapon in the whole game. But if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is exploits. The full story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” save where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The setup file has him going through the prologue and first starting area, and this Link acquires full endurance and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and creates a new save file that merges the states of the first two files.

This causes fresh problems, however. The fused save file has a protagonist that did not obtain the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit fixes easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the game that fails to open some locations. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game midway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to damage any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the character he pulls between dimensions is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The stick is still a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant number of items to boost his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to phase through the environment. Some would find these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive player who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll ban one fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to defeat many of the game's bosses, but the fights appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them take multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an incredible 23 hours. The final villain battle, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects midway the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software forces the player to use the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.