Streaming Personality Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a gameplay session. However, although many players have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, content creator PointCrow holds the record as the player who aimed to beat the game with a single branch—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the time he played the title solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with zero energy. A single stick playthrough, however, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly important when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole world. Yet if the stick breaks, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward answer is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he advances normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this Link acquires full stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and halts partway through to tell the software to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that merges the states of the original two.

That causes new issues, though. The merged file has a Link that did not obtain the ability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable version of the title that fails to open some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the game midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any weapons he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the durability issue, as the Link he transfers between dimensions is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that makes battles onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful number of items to improve his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables him to phase through the environment. Some would consider these methods reason to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also implements a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove one viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them last several long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which depletes Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is after all only a stick. He is unable to always duplicate objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the user 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?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.