Twitch Star Spends 37 Hours Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose special rules on a playthrough. Yet, while numerous gamers have attempted to finish the game using only a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the game with a one branch—specifically, the very same one throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he went through the title using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with no energy. A single stick run, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the whole game. Yet if the stick breaks, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple answer is exploits. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” save where he advances standardly, and the real save, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this character acquires full stamina and hearts. From here, he starts a cutscene and halts partway through to tell the software to open an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and creates a new game file that combines the states of the original two.

This creates new issues, however. The merged file has a Link that never acquired the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means depending on an buggy build of the title that refuses to open certain areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then updates the game partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer gets around the wear issue, as the character he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all potential difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of grit and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful supply of items to boost his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally employs a glitch that enables him to phase through the environment. Some would find these means reason to question the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll ban one viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube edit of his quest spares the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them take several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all only a stick. He can't always clone items midway the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the game compels the user to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow removed more than a thousand people in his live stream. RIP.