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

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that impose unique rules on a gameplay session. However, although numerous gamers have tried to finish the game with just a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the time he played the title using only bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the game with zero stamina. A one-branch run, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest tool in the entire game. But if the branch shatters, that's it. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple explanation is glitches. The complete answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual save, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the intro and first starting area, and this Link gains maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cinematic and halts partway through to tell the game to open an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new save file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

This causes fresh issues, though. The merged file has a protagonist that never acquired the ability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means depending on an unstable build of the game that fails to open some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game midway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to break any weapons he wields, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear issue, as the character he pulls across universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart trick, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is nonetheless a weak item that renders encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of grit and dedication. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of items to improve his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows Link to clip through the world. A few would find these means grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He also implements a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll remove a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights look painful. The video version of his quest doesn't make the audience endure the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them last several hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable stick is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the game forces the player to use the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed more than a thousand people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.