Twitch Star Spends 37 Hours Attempting to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: 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 self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while numerous players have attempted to finish the game using only a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the game with a one stick—meaning, the very same stick throughout.

The streamer is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the title using only explosives or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with no stamina. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which forces the hero to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire durability system, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole game. But if the branch breaks, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is glitches. The complete story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he advances normally, and the actual file, where he's restricted. The setup file has him going through the intro and first tutorial island, and this character acquires full endurance and health. From here, he triggers a cinematic and halts partway through to instruct the software to load an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets confused and creates a new game file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

That creates fresh issues, however. The merged save file has a Link that did not acquired the ability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable build of the game that refuses to load certain locations. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the software partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to break any weapons he wields, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the game. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the Link he pulls across universes is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of items to improve his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that allows Link to clip through the world. A few would consider these means grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also uses a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll ban a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

The streamer manages to get through many of the game's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube edit of his quest spares the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when some of them take several long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases the hero's health as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to always duplicate objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, he does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not quite fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow removed over a thousand people in his live stream. Rest in peace.