Streaming Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that impose unique rules on a gameplay session. However, while numerous gamers have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom using just a wooden stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the player who endeavored to clear the game with a one stick—specifically, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is famous for such difficult playthroughs, like the instance he played the game solely with bombs or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with zero stamina. A single stick playthrough, though, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly important when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him completing the intro and initial tutorial island, and this Link acquires full stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the game to load an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets confused and creates a third save file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates new issues, though. The fused file has a Link that never acquired the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but executing it means depending on an buggy build of the game that refuses to open some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, likely to avoid a scenario where the user gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the wear problem, as the Link he transfers across universes is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a weak weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of consumables to improve his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He also makes use of a glitch that allows Link to phase through the world. A few would find these means reason to discredit the validity of the run, 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 penalty of sorts stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles look grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take multiple hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all just a stick. He can't necessarily duplicate objects during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the player to use the Master Sword as the final strike, so technically, it's not quite fully a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than a thousand people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.