Streaming Personality Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, although many gamers have tried to complete the game with just a stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to beat the adventure with a one branch—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the game solely with bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole game. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple answer is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So the creator creates a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the real file, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the intro and initial starting area, and this Link gains maximum endurance and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and generates a new game file that combines the states of the first two files.

That creates new problems, however. The merged file has a Link that never acquired the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to open some locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game midway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of the hero is coded so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the durability issue, as the character he pulls across dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective item that makes encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of consumables to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also employs a bug that allows Link to clip through the environment. Some would find these methods grounds 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 viewer. He further uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll remove a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights appear painful. The video version of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole fights, which is a blessing when some of them last multiple hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible 23 straight. The final villain battle, which erases Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is still just a stick. He can't always duplicate items midway the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the last attack, so technically, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed over 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.