Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting 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 arrived, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, while numerous gamers have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom using just a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who endeavored to clear the adventure with a one branch—meaning, the exact same one throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the title using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with zero energy. A one-branch run, however, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly important when working with the weakest tool in the entire game. Yet if the stick shatters, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward answer is exploits. The complete story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he advances standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him completing the intro and initial tutorial island, and this character acquires maximum endurance and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a new save file that merges the states of the first two files.

That creates fresh issues, however. The fused save file has a protagonist that did not acquired the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the title that fails to open some areas. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the durability issue, as the character he pulls between dimensions is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is still a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of consumables to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to phase through the environment. Some would find these means reason to discredit the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive player who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He also implements a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

The streamer succeeds to defeat many of the game's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video version of his quest doesn't make the viewer endure the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them last several long hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which erases Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to always clone items midway the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the user to wield the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than a thousand users in his live stream. Rest in peace.