Streaming Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although many gamers have tried to finish the game using only a wooden stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a one stick—meaning, the exact same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, like the instance he went through the game using only bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the game with no energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest tool in the whole world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The full answer, believe it or not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can tweak the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he progresses standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The setup save has him going through the prologue and first tutorial island, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a new game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That creates new problems, however. The merged save file has a protagonist that never acquired the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy build of the game that fails to open some locations. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the prologue form of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the character he pulls between universes is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eliminates all potential friction. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of consumables to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also makes use of a bug that allows Link to clip through the environment. A few would consider these methods grounds to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further implements a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll remove one viewer from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Showdown

The streamer succeeds to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear grueling. The YouTube version of his journey spares the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them last multiple long hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all only a stick. He is unable to always clone objects during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the final strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.