Twitch Star Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Branch

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative challenge runs that apply special restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while many gamers have attempted to complete the game with just a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a single branch—meaning, the very same stick throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the game using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to beat the game with no stamina. A single stick playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him going through the intro and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains full stamina and health. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the game to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates new problems, however. The merged file has a protagonist that never acquired the ability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an buggy version of the title that refuses to open some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any weapons he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the character he pulls between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that makes battles onerous. But at that stage, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant number of items to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that enables Link to clip through the world. Some would consider these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He further implements a penalty of kinds stating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll remove a fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through several of the game's bosses, but the fights look painful. The YouTube version of his journey doesn't make the viewer endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when a few of them take several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is still only a stick. He can't always clone items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the software compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.