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

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that apply special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous players have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom with only a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the player who aimed to clear the game with a single branch—meaning, the exact same one throughout.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the instance he went through the title solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to defeat the game with zero stamina. A one-branch playthrough, however, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is especially important when dealing with the weakest tool in the whole game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is glitches. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this Link acquires maximum stamina and health. From this point, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to tell the game to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and creates a new save file that merges the states of the original two.

That creates new problems, however. The fused save file has a protagonist that never acquired the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the title that fails to open certain locations. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the software midway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is coded so that he cannot break any tools he uses, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is still a weak weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful number of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables Link to clip through the world. A few would consider these means reason to question the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further implements a penalty of kinds stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll remove one viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of the game's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The video edit of his quest spares the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them last multiple hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an incredible twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which depletes the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still only a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate objects midway the fight.

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

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.