Streaming Star Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that impose unique rules on a gameplay session. However, although numerous gamers have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom using only a wooden stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the game with a single branch—specifically, the exact same one throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he played the game using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with zero energy. A single stick playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” save where he progresses standardly, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character acquires full stamina and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That causes fresh problems, though. The fused save file has a Link that did not obtain the ability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch addresses readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the title that fails to open some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the game midway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory form of Link is coded so that he cannot damage any tools he uses, likely to avoid a scenario where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the character he pulls across universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all possible friction. The stick is still a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a matter of grit and perseverance. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant supply of items to boost his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to phase through the environment. A few would find these methods reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the battles appear painful. The video edit of his quest spares the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a blessing when some of them take several long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero's health as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily duplicate objects midway the fight.

Did he succeed? Technically, he does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the user to use the legendary weapon as the final attack, so technically, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.