Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Hours Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Branch

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique rules on a gameplay session. However, although numerous players have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom using just a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single stick—specifically, the very same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, like the instance he went through the title solely with bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch run, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the whole world. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple answer is exploits. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” save where he progresses normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this character acquires full endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the game to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and creates a new save file that combines the states of the first two files.

That causes new issues, though. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the ability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable version of the game that fails to open certain areas. As with everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is coded so that he cannot break any tools he wields, likely to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between universes is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The stick is still a ineffective item that makes battles tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant number of consumables to boost his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He also makes use of a glitch that allows him to clip through the environment. A few would find these methods reason to question the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of sorts stating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

The streamer succeeds to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights appear grueling. The YouTube version of his journey spares the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them last several long hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still just a piece of wood. He can't necessarily duplicate items during the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, PointCrow does overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to use the Master Sword as the final strike, so technically, it's not quite fully a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned more than 1,000 users in his live stream. Rest in peace.