Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel challenge runs that apply unique rules on a gameplay session. Yet, while numerous players have attempted to finish the game using only a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the player who aimed to clear the game with a one branch—specifically, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the game solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to beat the game with no stamina. A one-branch playthrough, however, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire game. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him going through the intro and initial starting area, and this character gains maximum stamina and health. From here, he starts a cinematic and pauses partway through to tell the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates new problems, however. The fused save file has a protagonist that did not acquired the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the game that fails to load some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of Link is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear issue, as the Link he pulls between universes is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that makes battles onerous. But at that stage, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant supply of items to boost his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows Link to clip through the world. A few would consider these methods grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive player who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

PointCrow manages to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the fights appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last multiple hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which erases the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable stick is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to always clone objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the user to wield the legendary weapon as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer banned over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.