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

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous gamers have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom using only a stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the game with a one branch—specifically, the very same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for such challenge runs, such as the time he played the title using only bombs or the effort where he aimed to beat the game with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest tool in the whole game. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. The complete story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” save where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The setup file has him going through the prologue and initial starting area, and this Link acquires full stamina and health. From here, he starts a cutscene and halts partway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

This creates fresh issues, though. The merged file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit fixes readily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy version of the title that refuses to load some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the software partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is programmed so that he cannot damage any weapons he uses, likely to avoid a scenario where the player gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the wear issue, as the character he transfers between universes is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of consumables to improve his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that allows him to phase through the world. A few would find these methods reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also uses a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The YouTube version of his journey doesn't make the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is after all just a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone objects midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the game forces the player to wield the Master Sword as the final strike, so technically, it's not completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned over 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.