Twitch Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous players have attempted to finish the game using only a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a one branch—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the time he played the game using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with no stamina. A one-branch run, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially important when dealing with the weakest tool in the entire game. But if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he progresses normally, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him going through the intro and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains maximum endurance and hearts. From this point, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to tell the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and generates a third save file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

This creates fresh problems, however. The merged save file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to open some areas. As with everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory version of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the character he pulls across dimensions is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The stick is still a weak weapon that makes encounters onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a bug that allows him to phase through the world. A few would consider these means grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He further uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll ban a viewer from his live stream, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through many of the game's bosses, but the battles appear painful. The video edit of his quest doesn't make the audience endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last multiple long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf showdown, which erases Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is after all only a piece of wood. He can't necessarily duplicate items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he manages to defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to use the legendary weapon as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite fully a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

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