Twitch Personality Dedicates 37 Straight Attempting 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 debuted, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a playthrough. However, although numerous players have tried to finish the game with only a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, like the time he played the title solely with bombs or the attempt where he aimed to beat the game with no stamina. A single stick run, however, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the weakest tool in the entire game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” save where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this character gains full endurance and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to tell the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets mixed up and generates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

That creates new problems, however. The fused save file has a Link that did not acquired the ability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy build of the game that refuses to open certain areas. As with other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the game midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the version from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective item that makes battles onerous. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of items to improve his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables him to phase through the environment. A few would find these methods grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is willing to do anything necessary to engage his audience. He further implements a penalty of sorts stating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll ban a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to defeat many of the game's main enemies, but the fights appear grueling. The video version of his journey doesn't make the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is after all just a stick. He can't necessarily clone objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the software compels the user to wield the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not completely a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned over 1,000 people in his live stream. Rest in peace.