Twitch Personality Dedicates 37 Hours Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a playthrough. However, although many gamers have tried to complete the game using just a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a single branch—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, such as the instance he played the game solely with explosives or the effort where he aimed to beat the game with no energy. A one-branch run, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is particularly important when working with the weakest weapon in the whole game. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple explanation is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” file where he advances standardly, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup save has him going through the intro and initial starting area, and this character gains maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses midway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a new save file that combines the states of the original two.

This causes fresh issues, though. The fused file has a protagonist that did not obtain the ability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses easily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the game that fails to open some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, likely to avoid a scenario where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the durability issue, as the Link he transfers between universes is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all potential difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a weak item that makes encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a matter of grit and dedication. It also 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 bug that allows Link to phase through the world. A few would consider these methods grounds to question the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He also uses a penalty of kinds stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The YouTube version of his journey spares the audience endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when some of them take several long hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero's health as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is after all only a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the final attack, so technically, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over 1,000 people in his live stream. Rest in peace.