Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel challenge runs that apply special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while many players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom with just a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who endeavored to clear the game with a single branch—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, like the time he went through the title solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with zero stamina. A one-branch run, however, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when working with the most fragile tool in the entire game. But if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The complete 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 “setup” file where he progresses normally, and the actual file, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this character acquires full stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and halts partway through to tell the software to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates new problems, though. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but executing it means depending on an unstable build of the title that refuses to open certain locations. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the software midway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the prologue version of Link is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the durability issue, as the Link he transfers across universes is the one from the start of the game. It's a smart technique, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a weak weapon that makes encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a matter of grit and perseverance. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant supply of consumables to boost his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that enables Link to phase through the world. A few would find these means grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He also uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll remove a fan from his live stream, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

PointCrow manages to defeat many of the game's main enemies, but the battles look grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take multiple hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is still only a stick. He is unable to always clone items during the fight.

Did he succeed? Technically, he manages to overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over a thousand people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.