Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a gameplay session. However, while many gamers have tried to complete the game with only a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the adventure with a one stick—meaning, the exact same one throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the instance he played the game using only explosives or the effort where he aimed to defeat the story with zero energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire durability system, which is especially relevant when working with the most fragile tool in the entire world. But if the stick shatters, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator does a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup file has him completing the intro and first starting area, and this character gains maximum stamina and health. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses partway through to tell the game to open an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets confused and generates a third save file that merges the states of the first two files.

That creates new problems, however. The merged file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to access shrines. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means depending on an unstable build of the game that refuses to open some areas. Like everything else, he has a technical solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he cannot damage any tools he wields, likely to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the durability problem, as the Link he transfers between universes is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all potential difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective item that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of determination and dedication. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant supply of items to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that allows him to phase through the environment. Some would consider these means grounds to discredit the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He further implements a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll ban one fan from his live stream, establishing an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

The streamer manages to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the viewer endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when some of them last several long hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is after all just a stick. He can't necessarily clone objects during the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he manages to defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the software compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

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