Streaming Personality Spends 37 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 Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a gameplay session. However, although many gamers have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom using just a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the player who endeavored to clear the game with a one branch—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the title using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with zero energy. A single stick run, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. But if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” save where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this character gains full stamina and health. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third game file that merges the conditions of the original two.

That causes new issues, though. The fused file has a Link that never acquired the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit fixes readily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable build of the title that refuses to load some locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game midway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the introductory version of Link is programmed so that he cannot damage any weapons he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the wear issue, as the character he pulls across universes is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a clever trick, but not one that eradicates all potential difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and dedication. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful number of consumables to boost his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables Link to clip through the world. Some would find these methods grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also implements a penalty of sorts stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll ban one viewer from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The YouTube edit of his journey spares the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last multiple long hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an incredible 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is still only a stick. He can't always duplicate objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, he does overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the software forces the player to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.