Twitch Star Dedicates 37 Hours Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that apply special rules on a playthrough. However, while numerous 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 adventure with a one branch—specifically, the exact same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, such as the instance he played the game solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to beat the game with zero energy. A single stick run, however, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator does a “preparation” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual save, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains full stamina and hearts. From here, he starts a cutscene and halts midway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

This causes new issues, though. The fused save file has a protagonist that never obtain the ability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means depending on an buggy build of the game that fails to open certain locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he cannot break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the wear issue, as the Link he transfers between universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective item that makes battles tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant number of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a bug that allows him to phase through the environment. Some would consider these means grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of the game's main enemies, but the battles look grueling. The video version of his journey spares the viewer sit through the whole fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last multiple long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the user to use the Master Sword as the final strike, so technically, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. RIP.