Streaming Personality Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, while many players have attempted to finish the game with just a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a single stick—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the time he went through the title using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with zero energy. A single stick run, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. But if the branch shatters, that's it. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple answer is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” save where he advances standardly, and the actual save, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the prologue and first tutorial island, and this character gains full endurance and health. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to tell the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a third save file that combines the states of the first two files.

This creates new problems, however. The merged file has a Link that never acquired the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but executing it means depending on an unstable build of the game that refuses to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is programmed so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the character he pulls between universes is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is still a ineffective item that renders battles onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant supply of items to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that allows him to phase through the world. Some would consider these methods reason to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He also uses a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll remove a fan from his live stream, establishing an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

PointCrow manages to defeat several of the game's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey spares the viewer sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take several long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero'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 clone objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than a thousand users in his live stream. RIP.