Twitch Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that apply unique rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although many gamers have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom with only a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a single branch—specifically, the exact same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he went through the game solely with explosives or the effort where he aimed to beat the game with zero stamina. A one-branch playthrough, however, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire durability mechanic, which is particularly important when working with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. Yet if the stick shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is exploits. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator creates a “setup” file where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains full stamina and health. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets confused and generates a new game file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

This causes fresh problems, though. The merged file has a Link that never acquired the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable build of the game that refuses to open certain locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He begins the game on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is coded so that he cannot break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the durability problem, as the character he transfers across dimensions is the version from the start of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of determination and dedication. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful supply of items to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a bug that enables him to phase through the world. Some would find these methods grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He further implements a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take multiple hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing 23 hours. The Ganondorf battle, which erases Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone items during the fight.

Did he succeed? Technically, he does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the user to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.