Streaming Personality Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while numerous players have attempted to finish the game with just a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a one stick—specifically, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is famous for such challenge runs, such as the time he went through the game using only explosives or the effort where he tried to beat the story with zero stamina. A single stick playthrough, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole game. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. The complete story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he advances standardly, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this character acquires maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets mixed up and generates a new save file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That causes fresh issues, however. The merged save file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses easily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy build of the game that fails to open certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the game. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the wear issue, as the character he transfers between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is nonetheless a weak weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful number of consumables to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to clip through the world. A few would find these methods grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Showdown

The streamer manages to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the fights look painful. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take multiple hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The unbreakable stick is after all just a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone objects midway the fight.

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

In the end, the streamer banned more than a thousand people in his live stream. RIP.