Twitch Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted novel challenge runs that impose unique rules on a playthrough. Yet, although numerous gamers have attempted to complete the game using just a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a single branch—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he went through the title using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to beat the game with zero energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire world. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the actual file, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this character acquires maximum stamina and health. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts partway through to tell the software to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a third save file that merges the conditions of the original two.

That causes new problems, though. The merged file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy version of the game that refuses to open certain areas. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, likely to prevent a scenario where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is still a weak item that renders encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant number of consumables to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that allows Link to phase through the environment. A few would find these methods grounds to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further uses a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll ban a viewer from his live stream, establishing an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through many of the game's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube version of his quest doesn't make the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is after all just a stick. He can't always duplicate objects during the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he manages to overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software forces the player to wield the legendary weapon as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer banned more than 1,000 people in his live stream. Rest in peace.