Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Straight Attempting to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while many gamers have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom using just a wooden stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the game with a single stick—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the game solely with bombs or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with zero energy. A single stick run, however, seems impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile tool in the whole game. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So the creator does a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual save, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character gains maximum endurance and health. From here, he triggers a cutscene and halts midway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and creates a new game file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

That creates fresh issues, however. The merged save file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but executing it means depending on an buggy build of the title that fails to open some locations. Like everything else, 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 make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is coded so that he is unable to break any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the wear problem, as the Link he pulls across universes is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful supply of consumables to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also makes use of a bug that enables Link to phase through the world. Some would find these methods grounds to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll remove a viewer from his live stream, establishing an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them take several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a memorable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all just a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone items during the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he manages to defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the user to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer banned over a thousand users in his live stream. RIP.