Twitch Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Stick

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted creative challenge runs that apply unique rules on a playthrough. Yet, although numerous players have tried to complete the game using just a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to beat the adventure with a one branch—specifically, the very same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for such challenge runs, such as the time he went through the game solely with explosives or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with no stamina. A single stick run, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability mechanic, which is especially important when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So the creator creates a “setup” save where he progresses standardly, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this character acquires maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the game to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

This causes fresh problems, however. The fused file has a protagonist that did not obtain the capability to access shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses easily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy build of the game that refuses to open some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot damage any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the Link he transfers across universes is the version from the start of the game. It's a smart trick, but not a method that eliminates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective item that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of determination and dedication. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant supply of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also makes use of a bug that enables Link to phase through the world. A few would find these means reason to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to engage his audience. He further uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll remove one viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the battles appear painful. The YouTube version of his quest spares the viewer endure the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them last multiple hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned over a thousand people in his Twitch chat. RIP.