Streaming Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique rules on a playthrough. However, although many gamers have tried to complete the game using just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the adventure with a single stick—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, such as the time he went through the game solely with explosives or the effort where he aimed to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch playthrough, however, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. But if the branch shatters, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator does a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this Link gains maximum endurance and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the game to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a new save file that combines the states of the first two files.

This creates fresh problems, however. The merged file has a Link that never obtain the ability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch fixes easily, but executing it means depending on an buggy build of the game that refuses to load some locations. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is coded so that he is unable to break any weapons he uses, likely to avoid a scenario where the user gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the Link he pulls between universes is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He also makes use of a bug that allows Link to phase through the world. A few would find these methods reason to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He also implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

The streamer succeeds to defeat many of the game's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his quest spares the audience endure the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still just a stick. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects during the fight.

Did he succeed? Technically, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the game forces the player to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not fully a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow removed more than 1,000 people in his live stream. Rest in peace.