Twitch Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, although numerous players have attempted to complete the game using just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a one branch—specifically, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the game solely with bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with zero energy. A one-branch run, however, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest tool in the entire game. But if the branch breaks, that's it. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator does a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him going through the intro and initial starting area, and this character gains maximum stamina and hearts. From here, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a third game file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

This causes fresh issues, however. The merged save file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy version of the game that refuses to load some locations. As with everything else, he has a technical solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer gets around the wear issue, as the character he transfers between dimensions is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart technique, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is still a weak weapon that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of items to improve his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally employs a glitch that enables Link to clip through the world. A few would find these methods reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll ban a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear painful. The YouTube version of his journey spares the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when some of them last several hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which erases Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible branch is after all just a piece of wood. He can't necessarily duplicate objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he manages to overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to use the Master Sword as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

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