Twitch Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, although many players have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom with only a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the player who aimed to clear the game with a single branch—meaning, the very same stick throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the title using only explosives or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with no stamina. A single stick playthrough, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. Yet if the stick breaks, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete answer, believe it or not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “setup” save where he advances standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him going through the prologue and initial starting area, and this Link gains maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and halts midway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets confused and generates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

This creates new issues, however. The merged file has a Link that never obtain the capability to access shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the game that refuses to load some areas. As with everything else, he has a technical workaround for it: He starts the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the software partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory form of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he wields, likely to avoid a situation where the user gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the character he transfers across universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The stick is still a weak item that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of grit and perseverance. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also employs a glitch that allows Link to phase through the world. Some would find these methods grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll remove one viewer from his live stream, establishing an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look painful. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take several long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is still just a stick. He is unable to always duplicate items midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow manages to defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned more than 1,000 people in his live stream. Rest in peace.