Twitch Star Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while numerous gamers have tried to finish the game with only a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to clear the adventure with a single stick—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the title solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with zero energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is particularly important when working with the weakest weapon in the entire world. But if the stick shatters, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple explanation is exploits. The complete answer, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” save where he advances standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this character gains full stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and halts midway through to tell the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and generates a third game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

This creates fresh problems, though. The fused file has a protagonist that did not obtain the ability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable version of the title that refuses to load some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the software midway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the durability issue, as the Link he pulls across dimensions is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is still a weak item that makes battles onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of grit and perseverance. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant supply of consumables to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also makes use of a glitch that allows him to clip through the environment. A few would consider these methods reason to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He further uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll ban one viewer from his live stream, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The video version of his quest doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole fights, which is a blessing when a few of them take several long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is after all just a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate items during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the game forces the player to use the legendary weapon as the final attack, so technically, it's not fully a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

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