Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a gameplay session. However, although numerous players have tried to complete the game with only a wooden stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a one stick—meaning, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he played the title using only bombs or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the story with no energy. A single stick playthrough, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest weapon in the whole game. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him going through the intro and first tutorial island, and this Link gains maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

That creates new issues, however. The fused file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an buggy version of the title that refuses to open certain locations. As with everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of Link is coded so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the durability issue, as the Link he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the game. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a weak weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant supply of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally employs a bug that enables Link to phase through the world. Some would consider these means grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further implements a penalty of sorts stating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll remove a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the entire fights, which is a good thing when some of them take multiple long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible 23 hours. The final villain battle, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all just a stick. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he manages to overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the game forces the user to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned over a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.