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

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have run out of novel challenge runs that apply special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while many players have tried to finish the game with just a wooden stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the player who endeavored to clear the adventure with a single branch—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the time he went through the game using only explosives or the effort where he aimed to beat the game with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest tool in the entire game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him completing the prologue and first tutorial island, and this character acquires full endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cinematic and halts midway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and creates a new save file that combines the states of the original two.

That causes new issues, however. The merged file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes easily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy version of the title that fails to open some locations. As with other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins the game on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game midway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the Link he pulls across universes is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of grit and dedication. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant supply of consumables to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that enables Link to phase through the environment. A few would consider these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also implements a penalty of kinds stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to defeat several of the game's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video version of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last multiple hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 hours. The Ganondorf battle, which erases the hero's health as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still only a stick. He can't necessarily duplicate objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the game forces the player to wield the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned over 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.