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

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel challenge runs that apply special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although many gamers have attempted to complete Tears of the Kingdom using just a wooden stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the player who endeavored to beat the adventure with a one branch—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

The streamer is famous for such difficult playthroughs, like the instance he went through the title using only bombs or the attempt where he aimed to beat the game with no stamina. A single stick run, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability mechanic, which is especially relevant when working with the weakest tool in the entire world. But if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple explanation is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the actual file, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this character gains full endurance and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the software to open an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and generates a new game file that merges the conditions of the original two.

That creates fresh issues, however. The fused save file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy version of the title that refuses to load some areas. As with everything else, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the wear issue, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the version from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that makes battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant number of consumables to improve his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows Link to clip through the environment. A few would find these methods reason to question the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through many of the game's bosses, but the fights appear grueling. The video edit of his journey doesn't make the audience sit through the entire fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last several long hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 hours. The final villain battle, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all only a stick. He can't always clone objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the player to wield the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.