Twitch Star Spends 37 Straight Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose unique rules on a playthrough. Yet, while many gamers have tried to finish the game with only a stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the individual who aimed to beat the adventure with a single branch—meaning, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he went through the game using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with zero energy. A single stick run, however, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly important when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward answer is exploits. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “setup” file where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him going through the intro and initial starting area, and this Link gains full stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the game to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and creates a third game file that combines the states of the first two files.

This creates new problems, however. The merged save file has a Link that never obtain the ability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the game that fails to open some areas. Like everything else, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot damage any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the Link he transfers between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is nonetheless a weak item that makes battles tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful supply of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a bug that allows Link to clip through the environment. Some would find these means reason to question the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also uses a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the battles look grueling. The video edit of his journey spares the viewer endure the whole fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an incredible twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is still only a piece of wood. He can't always clone items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, PointCrow does defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow removed over 1,000 users in his live stream. Rest in peace.