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

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that apply special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, although many gamers have attempted to complete the game using just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a single branch—meaning, the exact same stick throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the title using only bombs or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with zero stamina. A single stick playthrough, however, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile tool in the whole game. Yet if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward answer is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the intro and initial tutorial island, and this character gains maximum stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets confused and generates a third save file that merges the states of the original two.

This creates new issues, however. The fused save file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy build of the game that refuses to load some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot damage any tools he wields, likely to prevent a scenario where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the wear problem, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective item that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a matter of grit and dedication. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of items to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also makes use of a bug that enables him to clip through the world. Some would find these means grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He also implements a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, establishing an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The video edit of his quest doesn't make the viewer sit through the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them take multiple hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is after all only a piece of wood. He is unable to always clone items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the player to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. RIP.