Streaming Star Spends 37 Hours Trying to Beat <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 debuted, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, while many gamers have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the adventure with a one stick—meaning, the very same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for such difficult playthroughs, like the time he went through the title using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to beat the game with zero energy. A one-branch playthrough, however, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole game. But if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple answer is glitches. The complete answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator creates a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this character acquires full stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets confused and creates a new save file that combines the states of the first two files.

This causes fresh issues, however. The fused save file has a Link that never obtain the ability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the game that refuses to open some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins the game on its early version 1.0, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between dimensions is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart technique, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is still a weak item that makes battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant number of consumables to improve his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to clip through the world. A few would find these means grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He further uses a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll remove one viewer from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

The streamer manages to defeat many of the game's bosses, but the battles look painful. The YouTube version of his quest spares the viewer endure the whole fights, which is a good thing when some of them take several hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which erases the hero's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible stick is still just a stick. He is unable to always clone objects during the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, he does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to use 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 removed over a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.