Twitch Personality Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, although many players have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom using just a wooden stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single branch—specifically, the exact same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, like the instance he went through the game using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with no stamina. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially important when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire game. But if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator does a “setup” file where he progresses standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cinematic and pauses midway through to instruct the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets confused and creates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

That causes new problems, however. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the capability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but executing it means depending on an buggy version of the title that refuses to open certain areas. Like everything else, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to damage any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a situation where the user gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the character he pulls across universes is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders battles tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that allows Link to clip through the world. A few would find these means grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He also uses a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll ban one fan from his live stream, establishing an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Showdown

The streamer manages to defeat many of the game's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube version of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole fights, which is a blessing when a few of them take several hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's health as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible branch is after all only a stick. He is unable to always duplicate objects midway the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the user to wield the legendary weapon as the last attack, so technically, it's not quite completely 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. Rest in peace.