Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, although numerous players have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single branch—specifically, the very same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the instance he went through the title using only explosives or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the whole game. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” save where he advances normally, and the real file, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character gains maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the game to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and generates a new game file that combines the states of the original two.

That causes new issues, however. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the game that fails to load certain locations. As with everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the introductory form of Link is coded so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the Link he transfers between dimensions is the version from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows Link to phase through the environment. A few would consider these means reason to discredit the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube edit of his quest spares the viewer endure the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take multiple hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing 23 hours. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone objects during the fight.

Did he succeed? Technically, he does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the game compels the user to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than a thousand users in his live stream. RIP.