Streaming Star Spends 37 Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous players have tried to finish the game using only a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the player who aimed to clear the game with a one branch—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the game using only explosives or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with zero stamina. A single stick run, however, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially relevant when working with the most fragile tool in the entire game. Yet if the stick shatters, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” save where he progresses normally, and the actual file, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this character gains full endurance and hearts. From this point, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the software to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a new save file that merges the conditions of the original two.

This creates new problems, however. The merged file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the game that refuses to open some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of the hero is coded so that he cannot damage any weapons he uses, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is nonetheless a weak item that renders battles tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of items to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a glitch that allows Link to clip through the environment. Some would consider these methods reason to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll remove a fan from his live stream, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of the game's bosses, but the fights appear grueling. The video version of his journey doesn't make the viewer endure the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them last multiple long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software forces the user to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.