Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, although numerous players have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom using just a wooden stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who endeavored to clear the game with a one stick—meaning, the very same one from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, like the time he went through the title solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he advances standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this Link gains maximum stamina and health. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and halts partway through to instruct the game to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and creates a new game file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

This creates new problems, though. The merged save file has a Link that never obtain the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means depending on an buggy build of the title that refuses to open some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is coded so that he cannot damage any tools he uses, likely to avoid a scenario where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between universes is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eliminates all possible difficulty. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of grit and dedication. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant supply of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally employs a glitch that allows Link to phase through the world. A few would find these methods reason to discredit the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He also implements a penalty of sorts stating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights appear painful. The video edit of his journey spares the audience endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when some of them last multiple long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 hours. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all only a piece of wood. He is unable to always duplicate objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the game compels the user to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow removed over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. RIP.