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

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose special rules on a playthrough. However, while numerous gamers have tried to complete the game with just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single stick—specifically, the exact same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for such difficult playthroughs, like the instance he played the game solely with bombs or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with zero stamina. A one-branch run, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple answer is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator does a “setup” file where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this Link gains maximum stamina and hearts. From here, he starts a cinematic and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and creates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

This causes new issues, however. The merged save file has a Link that never obtain the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy version of the title that fails to load certain locations. As with everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the game midway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is coded so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, likely to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the character he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is still a weak weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of consumables to boost his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that allows him to phase through the environment. A few would consider these means grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He also uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the battles look grueling. The video version of his quest spares the audience endure the whole fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible stick is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to always clone objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he manages to defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the game compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not quite fully a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow removed more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.