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

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that apply unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while numerous players have tried to complete the game with just a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a one stick—specifically, the very same one throughout.

PointCrow is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the title using only bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the game with zero energy. A single stick run, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire durability mechanic, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole game. Yet if the stick breaks, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this character gains full stamina and health. From this point, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and creates a new save file that combines the states of the original two.

This causes fresh problems, though. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the title that fails to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is programmed so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the Link he pulls across dimensions is the version from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective item that renders encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a bug that enables Link to clip through the environment. A few would find these means grounds to question the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive player who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also implements a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll remove a fan from his live stream, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

The streamer succeeds to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube version of his quest doesn't make the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them last multiple hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 hours. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still only a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate objects during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the software compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer banned more than 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. RIP.