Twitch Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, while numerous gamers have tried to finish the game with just a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a single stick—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, like the instance he played the game solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch run, however, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The setup file has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this character acquires full endurance and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and pauses partway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a new save file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

This creates fresh problems, though. The fused file has a protagonist that did not acquired the capability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the game that fails to open certain areas. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to break any tools he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the character he transfers between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eliminates all possible difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that makes battles tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant number of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a bug that enables Link to clip through the world. A few would consider these methods reason to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He further implements a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban a fan from his live stream, establishing an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights appear grueling. The video version of his quest spares the audience endure the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 straight. The final villain battle, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible branch is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned over a thousand people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.