Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that apply special rules on a playthrough. Yet, although many gamers have attempted to complete the game with just a wooden stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to clear the adventure with a one stick—specifically, the exact same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, like the time he went through the game using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch run, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the whole game. But if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward answer is glitches. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this character acquires maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a third game file that merges the conditions of the original two.

This creates fresh problems, however. The merged save file has a protagonist that did not obtain the capability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means depending on an buggy version of the game that refuses to load certain areas. As with everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is programmed so that he is unable to break any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a situation where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the game. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the character he pulls across dimensions is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a matter of grit and dedication. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of consumables to improve his attack, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a bug that enables him to clip through the environment. A few would find these means reason to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The video version of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them last multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still only a stick. He is unable to always clone objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he manages to overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the game forces the user to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, 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 Twitch chat. RIP.