Twitch Personality Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while many players have attempted to finish the game with just a stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a single branch—specifically, the very same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he played the game using only bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with zero energy. A one-branch run, however, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole game. But if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. 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 advances standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this character gains maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cinematic and halts partway through to instruct the software to open an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That creates new problems, however. The fused file has a Link that never acquired the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an unstable version of the title that fails to load some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He begins 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.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue form of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the wear issue, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eliminates all possible difficulty. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that makes battles tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant number of consumables to boost his attack, or accumulate on revival fairies. He also makes use of a bug that allows him to phase through the world. Some would consider these methods reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights look painful. The video version of his quest doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them last multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the user to use the legendary weapon as the final attack, so technically, it's not fully a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned over 1,000 people in his live stream. RIP.