Streaming Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a playthrough. Yet, although numerous players have tried to finish the game using just a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who endeavored to clear the game with a one branch—meaning, the exact same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, such as the time he played the game solely with bombs or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with zero energy. A single stick run, however, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the weakest tool in the entire game. But if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator does a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the real file, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the intro and first starting area, and this character acquires full stamina and health. From here, he starts a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the game to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a new game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates new problems, however. The fused save file has a Link that never obtain the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy version of the title that refuses to load some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game midway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to damage any weapons he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between universes is the one from the start of the game. It's a smart trick, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant supply of consumables to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows Link to phase through the world. A few would find these means grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll ban a fan from his live stream, creating an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Showdown

The streamer manages to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video edit of his journey spares the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them last several long hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still only a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the game forces the player to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so technically, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer banned more than 1,000 users in his live stream. Rest in peace.