Twitch Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick
You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while numerous players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom using only a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the adventure with a single stick—meaning, the exact same stick throughout.
PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, such as the time he went through the game using only bombs or the attempt where he aimed to beat the story 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 whole durability system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's it. It's over.
The Method Behind the Madness
How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” file where he advances normally, and the real file, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him going through the intro and initial tutorial island, and this Link acquires full endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the game to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.
That causes new problems, though. The merged file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the title that fails to open some areas. Like everything else, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.
Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles
Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between universes is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant number of items to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that enables him to clip through the environment. Some would find these means grounds to discredit the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his audience. He also implements a penalty of sorts stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll ban a viewer from his live stream, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.
Major Battles and the Last Encounter
PointCrow succeeds to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when some of them last several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all only a piece of wood. He can't necessarily clone items midway the battle.
So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the software forces the user to use the legendary weapon as the last attack, so technically, it's not quite fully a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?
When everything is said and done, the streamer banned more than 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.
