Streaming Personality Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that apply special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous gamers have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom using only a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a one branch—meaning, the very same stick throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the title using only bombs or the attempt where he aimed to beat the game with no energy. A single stick playthrough, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple explanation is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup file has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this Link gains maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and halts midway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and creates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

That causes new problems, however. The fused save file has a Link that never acquired the ability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy build of the title that refuses to load some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the wear issue, as the character he pulls between dimensions is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is still a weak weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of grit and dedication. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant number of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that allows Link to clip through the world. Some would find these means reason to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He further uses a safeguard of sorts stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights appear grueling. The YouTube version of his quest doesn't make the audience sit through the entire fights, which is a blessing when some of them last multiple long hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all just a stick. He is unable to always clone items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he manages to overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the user to wield the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer removed over a thousand users in his live stream. RIP.