Twitch Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative challenge runs that apply unique restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, although many gamers have tried to finish the game using only a wooden stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to beat the game with a one branch—meaning, the exact same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the game using only explosives or the effort where he aimed to defeat the story with zero energy. A single stick playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this character gains maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses partway through to tell the game to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a third save file that merges the states of the first two files.

That creates new issues, however. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the capability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to load some areas. As with everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the wear problem, as the character he transfers across dimensions is the one from the start of the story. It's a smart trick, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also employs a glitch that enables Link to phase through the world. A few would find these means reason to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll remove a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to defeat many of the game's bosses, but the battles appear painful. The video version of his journey doesn't make the viewer endure the whole fights, which is a blessing when a few of them take several hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is still only a stick. He is unable to always clone items midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the game forces the player to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

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