Twitch Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique rules on a playthrough. However, although many players have attempted to complete the game using just a stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the game with a single stick—specifically, the very same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the time he went through the game solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to beat the story with zero stamina. A single stick playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly important when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire game. Yet if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” save where he progresses standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him going through the prologue and initial starting area, and this character gains full endurance and health. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and creates a new save file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

That causes new problems, however. The merged save file has a protagonist that did not obtain the ability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch fixes easily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy version of the title that fails to load some locations. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory form of Link is coded so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, likely to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the Link he pulls across dimensions is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a weak item that renders battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a bug that allows him to clip through the environment. Some would find these methods grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll ban one viewer from his live stream, creating an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look painful. The YouTube version of his journey spares the audience endure the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them last multiple hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing 23 straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to always duplicate items during the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he manages to defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the software compels the user to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed over a thousand people in his live stream. Rest in peace.