Streaming Personality Dedicates 37 Hours Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that apply unique rules on a playthrough. Yet, although numerous players have tried to finish the game with only a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single branch—specifically, the very same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the title solely with explosives or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with no stamina. A one-branch run, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly important when dealing with the most fragile tool in the entire game. But if the stick breaks, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” save where he progresses standardly, and the real save, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and first tutorial island, and this Link acquires full endurance and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to tell the game to load an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That creates new issues, however. The merged file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to open certain locations. As with everything else, he has a technical solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he is unable to break any tools he uses, presumably to avoid a situation where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the game. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the Link he transfers across universes is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a smart technique, but not one that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a weak weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of items to improve his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally employs a bug that allows Link to phase through the environment. Some would find these methods grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further uses a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll ban a viewer from his live stream, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the fights appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his quest spares the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is still only a stick. He can't always clone objects during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the software compels the user to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed more than 1,000 users in his live stream. Rest in peace.