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

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. However, although many gamers have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom with just a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the player who aimed to beat the adventure with a single branch—meaning, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, like the instance he played the title using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with no energy. A one-branch run, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward answer is glitches. The full story, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” save where he progresses normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this character acquires maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and halts midway through to instruct the game to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third save file that merges the conditions of the original two.

That creates fresh problems, however. The merged file has a Link that did not acquired the ability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an buggy version of the game that refuses to load some locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He starts the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of Link is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the character he transfers between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eliminates all possible friction. The stick is still a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of grit and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He also employs a bug that allows him to phase through the world. Some would consider these means reason to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He also implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles appear painful. The video version of his quest doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take several hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is still just a stick. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the player to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. RIP.