Twitch Star Spends 37 Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that impose unique rules on a playthrough. However, although many players have tried to complete the game using only a stick, content creator PointCrow holds the record as the individual who aimed to beat the adventure with a one branch—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the game solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to defeat the game with zero energy. A one-branch run, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. But if the stick breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward answer is exploits. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” save where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him going through the prologue and initial starting area, and this character gains maximum endurance and health. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the game to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a third save file that merges the states of the first two files.

That creates new issues, however. The merged file has a Link that never obtain the ability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the game that refuses to load some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game midway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is coded so that he cannot break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the durability issue, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is still a weak weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant supply of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows him to clip through the world. A few would consider these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He further uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

The streamer succeeds to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The YouTube edit of his journey spares the viewer endure the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take multiple hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing 23 hours. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is still just a stick. He is unable to always clone items during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned more than 1,000 people in his live stream. Rest in peace.