Twitch Star Spends 37 Straight Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Stick

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel challenge runs that apply special rules on a playthrough. However, while many players have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom using only a wooden stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to beat the adventure with a one branch—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the time he went through the game using only bombs or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with zero stamina. A single stick run, however, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly important when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. But if the stick breaks, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he advances standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the intro and first starting area, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and health. From here, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the software to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and creates a new game file that combines the states of the first two files.

That causes new issues, though. The merged save file has a protagonist that never acquired the ability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy build of the game that fails to open some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins the game on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the introductory form of Link is programmed so that he cannot break any tools he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the character he transfers between universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows Link to phase through the world. Some would find these means 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 penalty of sorts stipulating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll ban a viewer from his live stream, establishing an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles appear painful. The YouTube version of his quest spares the viewer endure the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them take multiple hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all only a stick. He can't necessarily clone items during the fight.

Did he succeed? Technically, he manages to overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.