Twitch Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique rules on a playthrough. Yet, although many players have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a single branch—specifically, the exact same stick throughout.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, like the time he played the title using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch run, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly important when working with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The complete answer, believe it or 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 creates a “preparation” file where he progresses standardly, and the real file, where he's restricted. The setup file has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link acquires full endurance and health. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts partway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a third save file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

That creates fresh problems, though. The merged file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy build of the title that refuses to open some locations. As with everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the game midway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Curiously, the introductory form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to break any weapons he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer gets around the durability issue, as the Link he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the game. It's a smart technique, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant number of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables him to clip through the environment. Some would find these methods reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of the game's bosses, but the battles look painful. The YouTube edit of his quest doesn't make the audience sit through the entire fights, which is a blessing when a few of them take several long hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is still just a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone objects midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he manages to overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the user to use the legendary weapon as the final strike, so technically, it's not quite fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer removed over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.