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

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that apply unique rules on a playthrough. Yet, although many players have tried to complete the game using only a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the player who endeavored to clear the game with a one stick—meaning, the very same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the game using only bombs or the attempt where he aimed to beat the game with no energy. A single stick run, however, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly important when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the stick shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the intro and initial starting area, and this Link acquires maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the software to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that merges the states of the first two files.

That causes new issues, though. The fused save file has a Link that did not acquired the ability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses readily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy version of the title that fails to load some locations. As with everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is coded so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the wear problem, as the character he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not one that eliminates all possible friction. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective item that makes battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant number of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a bug that allows him to clip through the world. A few would find these methods grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The video edit of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them take multiple long hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an incredible twenty-three hours. The final villain battle, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is still only a piece of wood. He can't necessarily clone objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, he manages to defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to use the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed over a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.