Twitch Star Spends 37 Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. However, although numerous gamers have attempted to finish the game using just a wooden stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a single stick—meaning, the exact same stick throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the instance he played the game using only bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the game with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is exploits. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and creates a new game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This creates new issues, though. The merged save file has a Link that did not acquired the ability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an unstable version of the game that refuses to open some areas. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the software partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue form of the hero is programmed so that he cannot break any tools he uses, presumably to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the character he pulls across universes is the version from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all potential friction. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a question of grit and perseverance. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant number of consumables to boost his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally employs a bug that enables him to phase through the environment. A few would find these methods grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The video edit of his quest spares the audience endure the whole fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last several long hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which erases the hero's health as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is still just a piece of wood. He can't necessarily duplicate items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he does defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the software forces the player to use the legendary weapon as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than 1,000 people in his live stream. RIP.