Streaming Personality Dedicates Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Stick

You might assume that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, although many gamers have attempted to complete the game using just a stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the player who endeavored to clear the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the instance he played the game using only bombs or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest weapon in the entire world. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple answer is glitches. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” save where he progresses normally, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the intro and first tutorial island, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and health. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets confused and creates a third save file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

That causes fresh problems, however. The merged file has a Link that never acquired the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the game that fails to load some areas. As with everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software partway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the durability issue, as the character he transfers across dimensions is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The stick is still a weak weapon that renders battles tedious. But at that point, it's all a matter of grit and perseverance. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful number of items to boost his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that enables him to clip through the environment. Some would find these methods grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He further implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban one fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video version of his quest doesn't make the audience endure the whole fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to use the legendary weapon as the final attack, so technically, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow removed over a thousand people in his live stream. RIP.