You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while many gamers have tried to complete the game with only a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the adventure with a one stick—specifically, the exact same stick throughout.
The streamer is famous for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the game using only bombs or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with zero energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially relevant when working with the weakest weapon in the entire world. But if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.
The Method Behind the Madness
So, how? The straightforward answer is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him going through the intro and initial starting area, and this Link gains maximum stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and halts partway through to instruct the game to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that merges the states of the first two files.
This creates fresh issues, though. The merged save file has a protagonist that did not obtain the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the game that fails to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to make sure it starts working properly.
Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Challenges
Curiously, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he cannot break any tools he uses, likely to prevent a scenario where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the Link he transfers between universes is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a weak weapon that makes battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful number of consumables to improve his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a bug that enables him to clip through the environment. Some would find these means grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not overly rely 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 YouTube edit of his quest doesn't make the audience sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take several hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all only a piece of wood. He can't necessarily clone items midway the fight.
Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the player to use the legendary weapon as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?
In the end, PointCrow banned over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. RIP.
