Twitch Star Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, although many gamers have tried to complete the game using only a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who endeavored to clear the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he played the title solely with bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the story with zero stamina. A single stick playthrough, though, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is particularly important when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he advances normally, and the real save, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character gains maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts partway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets confused and creates a new game file that merges the conditions of the original two.

This causes fresh issues, though. The merged file has a protagonist that did not obtain the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an unstable build of the game that refuses to open certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he cannot damage any weapons he uses, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the durability issue, as the Link he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eliminates all potential difficulty. The stick is still a weak item that renders battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a question of grit and perseverance. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant number of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He also makes use of a bug that allows Link to phase through the world. Some would find these means grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He further implements a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll ban one fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The video edit of his quest doesn't make the audience endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when some of them last several long hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is after all only a piece of wood. He is unable to always clone objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the game forces the player to wield the legendary weapon as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.