Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Hours Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose unique rules on a gameplay session. However, while numerous gamers have attempted to complete the game using only a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a one branch—meaning, the very same stick throughout.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, like the instance he went through the title solely with bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with no energy. A single stick run, however, seems impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest tool in the entire world. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple answer is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” file where he advances standardly, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the intro and initial tutorial island, and this Link acquires full stamina and health. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a new game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This creates fresh problems, however. The merged save file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses readily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy build of the game that fails to open certain areas. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the game midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the durability problem, as the character he pulls across dimensions is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is still a ineffective item that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant number of consumables to boost his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that allows Link to clip through the environment. Some would consider these methods reason to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He further implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove a viewer from his live stream, creating an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

The streamer manages to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey spares the audience endure the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them take several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone items during the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he manages to overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the software compels the user to use the legendary weapon as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed more than 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.