Streaming Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. However, although numerous players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom with only a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a one stick—specifically, the exact same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the time he went through the game using only explosives or the effort where he tried to beat the story with zero stamina. A single stick playthrough, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is glitches. The full answer, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” save where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup file has him going through the prologue and initial starting area, and this character acquires maximum stamina and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and halts midway through to instruct the game to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that combines the states of the original two.

This causes new issues, though. The merged save file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable build of the game that fails to open some areas. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is programmed so that he cannot break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the wear issue, as the character he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all possible difficulty. The branch is still a weak weapon that makes battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of consumables to boost his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows him to phase through the world. A few would consider these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll ban one viewer from his live stream, creating an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the battles look grueling. The video edit of his quest spares the viewer sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take multiple long hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's health as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily duplicate items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software forces the user to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow banned over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.