Streaming Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Stick
One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that apply special restrictions on a playthrough. However, although numerous players have attempted to finish the game with just a wooden stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the player who endeavored to clear the game with a one stick—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.
PointCrow is famous 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 stamina. A one-branch playthrough, however, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly important when dealing with the weakest tool in the whole world. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.
The Method Behind the Madness
How did he do it? The straightforward answer is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains maximum endurance and health. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the game to load an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets confused and generates a new save file that combines the states of the original two.
That causes new issues, though. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the game that refuses to load certain areas. As with other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game midway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.
Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges
Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he wields, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart trick, but not one that eliminates all possible friction. The branch is still a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also employs a glitch that allows him to phase through the world. A few would find these methods grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also uses a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll ban a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.
Major Battles and the Last Showdown
PointCrow succeeds to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the battles appear painful. The video edit of his quest doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them last several long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone items midway the fight.
So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the game compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?
In the end, the streamer banned more than 1,000 users in his live stream. Rest in peace.
