Twitch Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while many players have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom using only a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a single stick—specifically, the exact same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the game solely with explosives or the attempt where he aimed to beat the game with zero energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is especially relevant when working with the weakest tool in the entire game. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator creates a “setup” save where he advances normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this character gains maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and pauses partway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets confused and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates new problems, though. The merged save file has a Link that never acquired the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy build of the title that fails to load certain locations. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game midway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue form of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to damage any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer gets around the wear problem, as the Link he transfers between universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The stick is nonetheless a weak weapon that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a matter of grit and dedication. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that enables Link to phase through the environment. A few would consider these methods grounds to question the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive player who is willing to do anything necessary to engage his audience. He further uses a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban a fan from his live stream, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

The streamer succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey spares the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them last several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all just a stick. He can't always clone items midway the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the player to use the Master Sword as the final strike, so technically, it's not quite fully a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over a thousand users in his live stream. RIP.