Twitch Star Dedicates 37 Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, while numerous players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, content creator PointCrow holds the record as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a one stick—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, such as the time he went through the game solely with explosives or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with zero energy. A single stick playthrough, however, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” save where he advances normally, and the real file, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this character acquires full endurance and health. From here, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to tell the game to load an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That causes fresh issues, however. The merged save file has a Link that did not obtain the ability to enter sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes easily, but executing it means depending on an unstable version of the game that refuses to open some areas. As with everything else, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue form of the hero is programmed so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the game. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear issue, as the character he transfers across dimensions is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The branch is still a ineffective weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of consumables to improve his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables him to clip through the environment. Some would consider these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his audience. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll remove a viewer from his live stream, establishing an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The video version of his journey spares the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them last several hours. One enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf showdown, which erases the hero's health as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to always clone objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer banned over a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.