Twitch Personality Spends 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that apply unique restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while many gamers have attempted to complete the game using just a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the player who aimed to clear the game with a one branch—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he went through the title using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire durability mechanic, which is especially important when working with the most fragile tool in the whole game. But if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward answer is glitches. The complete answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The setup file has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link acquires full stamina and health. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a new game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That creates new problems, however. The merged file has a Link that never obtain the ability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable version of the game that refuses to open some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of the hero is coded so that he cannot break any tools he uses, likely to avoid a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the durability issue, as the character he transfers between universes is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is still a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a matter of grit and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of consumables to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also makes use of a glitch that enables him to phase through the world. Some would find these methods reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, establishing an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights appear painful. The video version of his journey spares the viewer sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take multiple long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 hours. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all only a piece of wood. He can't always clone items during the fight.

Did he succeed? Technically, PointCrow manages to defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the last attack, so technically, it's not fully a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow removed more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.