Twitch Star Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that apply special restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while numerous gamers have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom using just a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for such challenge runs, such as the time he played the game solely with bombs or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with no energy. A single stick run, however, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole game. But if the stick shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the real save, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this Link acquires full endurance and health. From this point, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third game file that combines the states of the first two files.

This causes new problems, though. The merged file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable build of the game that fails to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory form of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the durability issue, as the character he pulls across dimensions is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not one that eliminates all possible difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that makes encounters onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of grit and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant supply of consumables to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to clip through the environment. A few would find these means reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of sorts stating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll ban one viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

The streamer succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video edit of his journey spares the audience sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them last several long hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing 23 hours. The Ganondorf showdown, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable stick is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily duplicate items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the game forces the player to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

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