Streaming Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, although many gamers have attempted to finish the game using only a wooden stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, like the instance he went through the title using only bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the story with no energy. A single stick run, however, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is glitches. The complete story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this character gains full stamina and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and halts partway through to instruct the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and creates a new game file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

That creates fresh problems, however. The fused file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the game that refuses to open some locations. As with other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of Link is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, presumably to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the Link he transfers across universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is still a ineffective item that makes encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a matter of grit and perseverance. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of items to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a bug that allows him to phase through the environment. Some would find these means grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video edit of his journey spares the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them last multiple long hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all only a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone objects during the fight.

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

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned more than 1,000 people in his live stream. Rest in peace.