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

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, while many players have attempted to finish the game with just a stick, content creator PointCrow holds the record as the individual who endeavored to clear the game with a single stick—meaning, the very same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the game solely with explosives or the effort where he aimed to beat the story with no stamina. A single stick run, though, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is especially important when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire game. But if the branch breaks, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple explanation is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the intro and first tutorial island, and this character acquires full stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the game to open an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets mixed up and generates a third save file that merges the conditions of the original two.

That causes new problems, however. The merged file has a Link that never acquired the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses easily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy build of the game that refuses to load certain areas. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the player gets stuck 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 one from the start of the story. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is still a weak item that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant number of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that allows him to clip through the world. A few would find these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of kinds stating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll ban a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer manages to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video edit of his journey spares the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a blessing when some of them take several hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain battle, which depletes the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all only a stick. He is unable to always clone items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software forces the player to use the legendary weapon as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than 1,000 people in his live stream. RIP.