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

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that apply unique rules on a gameplay session. Yet, while numerous players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom with only a stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the player who aimed to beat the adventure with a single branch—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

The streamer is famous for such challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the title using only bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch run, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this Link gains full endurance and health. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts partway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and generates a new game file that merges the conditions of the original two.

This causes fresh problems, however. The merged file has a Link that did not acquired the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes readily, but executing it means depending on an buggy version of the game that refuses to load certain areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the software partway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue form of Link is coded so that he cannot break any weapons he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the wear issue, as the character he pulls across universes is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful number of items to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables Link to phase through the world. Some would find these methods grounds to discredit the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He also uses a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look painful. The video version of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the whole fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last multiple hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing 23 straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is after all only a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the game compels the user to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer banned over 1,000 people in his live stream. RIP.