Streaming Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Stick

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique rules on a playthrough. However, while many players have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom using only a stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the player who aimed to beat the game with a one branch—meaning, the very same stick throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, like the instance he went through the game solely with bombs or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with zero stamina. A one-branch playthrough, however, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole durability system, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he progresses standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the intro and initial tutorial island, and this character acquires maximum endurance and health. From here, he triggers a cutscene and halts midway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a new game file that combines the states of the first two files.

That creates fresh problems, though. The fused save file has a protagonist that did not obtain the ability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an unstable version of the game that fails to load certain locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the game partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to break any tools he uses, presumably to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the durability problem, as the character he transfers across universes is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The stick is nonetheless a weak weapon that makes encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows Link to clip through the environment. A few would consider these methods grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He further uses a penalty of kinds stating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll ban one viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube version of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is still just a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.