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

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted creative challenge runs that apply special restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while many gamers have attempted to finish the game using just a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the game with a single branch—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the game solely with bombs or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with zero stamina. A single stick playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole durability system, which is especially important when working with the weakest weapon in the entire game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's it. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” save where he progresses standardly, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The setup save has him going through the prologue and first starting area, and this character acquires full endurance and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to tell the game to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That causes new problems, however. The merged file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit fixes easily, but executing it means depending on an buggy build of the title that fails to open some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the introductory form of Link is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the durability problem, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective item that makes battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant number of items to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also makes use of a bug that enables him to phase through the environment. A few would find these means reason to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer 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, establishing an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the battles look painful. The video version of his journey spares the audience sit through the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last several long hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is still only a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software forces the player to wield the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned over a thousand users in his live stream. Rest in peace.