Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Hours Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Stick

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted novel challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, although many players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom with only a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a one branch—specifically, the exact same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the time he played the title using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is particularly important when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains full endurance and health. From here, he triggers a cutscene and halts midway through to instruct the game to open an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets mixed up and generates a new game file that combines the states of the first two files.

This causes fresh issues, however. The merged save file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to access shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable version of the title that fails to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins the game on its early version 1.0, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the introductory form of Link is programmed so that he is unable to damage any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the game. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the character he pulls across universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible friction. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful number of consumables to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that allows him to phase through the world. Some would find these means reason to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Showdown

The streamer succeeds to defeat many of the game's main enemies, but the battles appear painful. The YouTube version of his quest doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when some of them take multiple long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable stick is after all only a stick. He can't necessarily clone items during the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the player to use the legendary weapon as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow banned over a thousand users in his Twitch chat. RIP.