Streaming Personality Dedicates 37 Hours Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. However, although many players have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom with only a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the player who aimed to beat the game with a single branch—meaning, the very same one throughout.

PointCrow is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he went through the game using only explosives or the effort where he tried to beat the game with no energy. A one-branch run, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple explanation is glitches. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the real file, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the intro and first tutorial island, and this character acquires maximum endurance and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the game to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and generates a new save file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This causes fresh problems, however. The fused file has a Link that never acquired the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the title that fails to load some locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He starts the game on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to break any tools he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the wear issue, as the character he pulls across dimensions is the one from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective item that makes encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant number of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also employs a bug that enables him to clip through the environment. Some would consider these means grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles look painful. The video version of his quest doesn't make the audience sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take multiple long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is after all just a stick. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the game forces the player to use the legendary weapon as the last attack, so technically, it's not fully a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned over a thousand users in his Twitch chat. RIP.