Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, although many gamers have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom using only a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the player who endeavored to clear the adventure with a single branch—meaning, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the title solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to beat the game with no stamina. A single stick run, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire durability system, which is especially important when working with the weakest weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator creates a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the real save, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the intro and first starting area, and this character gains maximum endurance and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to tell the software to open an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and creates a new game file that merges the conditions of the original two.

That creates fresh problems, however. The merged save file has a protagonist that never obtain the ability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but executing it means relying on an buggy build of the title that fails to open some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins the game on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory form of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the Link he pulls between dimensions is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a smart technique, but not one that eliminates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that makes battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful supply of consumables to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally employs a glitch that enables Link to clip through the environment. Some would find these means grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further implements a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

PointCrow manages to get through several of the game's bosses, but the battles appear painful. The video version of his quest spares the audience sit through the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take multiple hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which erases Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is after all only a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate items during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he manages to defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the game forces the user to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so technically, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer removed over a thousand people in his live stream. RIP.