Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only 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 creative self-imposed challenges that impose unique rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous gamers have tried to complete the game with just a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the individual who aimed to clear the game with a one branch—meaning, the exact same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he went through the title solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with zero energy. A single stick run, however, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially important when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. Yet if the stick shatters, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The complete answer, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him going through the intro and first starting area, and this Link gains maximum stamina and health. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to instruct the software to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a new game file that combines the states of the first two files.

This creates new problems, though. The fused save file has a protagonist that never obtain the ability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the title that fails to load some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is programmed so that he is unable to break any weapons he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer gets around the wear issue, as the Link he transfers across universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant number of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that enables him to clip through the environment. A few would find these methods reason to question the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer manages to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights appear grueling. The video version of his quest spares the viewer endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last several hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all just a stick. He is unable to always duplicate items during the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the player to use the legendary weapon as the last attack, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow banned over a thousand people in his Twitch chat. RIP.