A Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom player has learned the hard way that it's not possible to beat the game without using key items.
Since Tears of the Kingdom's launch, players have tackled the game in all sorts of ways, with some speeding to the end in record time and others using Link's newfound abilities to create all kinds of weird and wonderful contraptions with which to explore Hyrule. Now, one player has attempted to complete the game without relying on any key items, rendering a whole host of objects and abilities, such as the paraglider and the Purah Pad, unusable.
The player, SmallAnt, shared their attempt on YouTube, and as the footage shows, things get difficult pretty quickly when one of the first things the player has to do is obtain a key item, the Purah Pad. "The game is trying to get me to cheat immediately, and I will not do it," the streamer defiantly says as they pocket the device and continue onward to the next objective without using it.
Unfortunately for the player, this challenge means that abilities such as Ultrahand, Ascend, and Fuse are also off-limits, making navigating Hyrule and completing shrines much more problematic. Still, with some creative thinking, including strategically placed bombs, speed potions, and the infinite height glitch, they manage to overcome a multitude of situations that would normally involve using one key item or another.
Having managed to make their way across the Great Sky Island, disaster strikes when, 6 hours and 22 minutes in, their progress is halted by a sealed door in the Temple of Time. To open the door, SmallAnt needs another Heart Container, which can be exchanged for four Light of Blessings at the nearby Goddess Statue.
The problem is that Light of Blessings are key items, and obtaining the Heart Container means they have to be used, thus failing the challenge. "I think this is over," the player says. "So, with the current knowledge, it's impossible to beat Tears of the Kingdom with no key items."
While they may not have been successful in their attempt, the methods they use to complete the various challenges the Great Sky Island presents are nothing short of ingenious, and the full video is certainly worth a watch - thankfully, they tend to skip through the thousands of height glitches required during the challenge.
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