Twitch Personality Dedicates 37 Straight Attempting to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique rules on a playthrough. However, while many players have attempted to complete the game with just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the player who aimed to clear the adventure with a single branch—meaning, the exact same stick throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the title using only bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the game with zero stamina. A single stick run, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is especially relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So the creator creates a “setup” save where he advances normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this Link gains full stamina and health. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the game to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That creates new problems, however. The fused file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the game that fails to open certain areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory form of Link is coded so that he cannot damage any tools he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the character he transfers across universes is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective item that makes encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful number of items to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that allows him to clip through the world. A few would find these means reason to question the validity 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 spirit he employs, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The video edit of his quest spares the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take several hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf showdown, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable stick is after all only a piece of wood. He is unable to always clone objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the software forces the player to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer banned more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.