Twitch Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Stick

One could think that two years post-launch 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 gameplay session. Yet, although many gamers have attempted to finish the game using just a wooden stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the player who aimed to beat the adventure with a one branch—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the instance he went through the title solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with no energy. A one-branch run, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole durability system, which is especially important when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire world. But if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” file where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him going through the intro and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains full stamina and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the game to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a new game file that combines the states of the original two.

This causes fresh problems, however. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the ability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the game that refuses to load some areas. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any tools he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer gets around the wear problem, as the character he pulls across dimensions is the version from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all possible difficulty. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a question of grit and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful number of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to phase through the world. A few would consider these methods grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He further uses a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll ban one viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through several of the game's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The video version of his quest spares the audience sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing 23 hours. The final villain battle, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is still only a stick. He can't necessarily clone items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he manages to overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the software compels the user to use the legendary weapon as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.