Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that apply special rules on a gameplay session. However, although numerous players have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom using only a stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a one branch—specifically, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, like the time he went through the game solely with bombs or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with no energy. A single stick playthrough, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator does a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the actual file, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this character gains full endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cinematic and pauses partway through to instruct the game to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that merges the conditions of the original two.

That causes fresh issues, though. The merged file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses easily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy version of the title that fails to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game midway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the character he transfers across universes is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart technique, but not one that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of grit and dedication. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful supply of items to boost his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that enables Link to phase through the world. Some would consider these methods grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He also implements a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear painful. The video edit of his journey spares the viewer sit through the whole fights, 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 battle, which erases the hero's health as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still just a piece of wood. He can't necessarily clone items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the user to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so technically, it's not quite fully a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed more than a thousand people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.