Twitch Personality Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of novel challenge runs that apply special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although numerous players have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom with only a wooden stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a single branch—meaning, the exact same stick throughout.

The streamer is famous for such difficult playthroughs, like the time he went through the title using only bombs or the effort where he aimed to beat the story with zero energy. A single stick run, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly important when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple answer is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character acquires maximum stamina and health. From here, he starts a cinematic and pauses partway through to instruct the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and creates a third game file that combines the states of the first two files.

This causes fresh issues, however. The merged file has a protagonist that never acquired the capability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch fixes easily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to open some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue form of Link is coded so that he cannot break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the wear problem, as the character he pulls between universes is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is nonetheless a weak item that makes battles tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of grit and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that enables Link to phase through the environment. A few would consider these means reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He further implements a penalty of sorts stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban a fan from his live stream, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the fights look painful. The video edit of his quest spares 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 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero's health as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is still just a piece of wood. He can't always clone objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer banned over 1,000 people in his live stream. RIP.