Streaming Star Spends 37 Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that apply unique rules on a gameplay session. Yet, while numerous gamers have tried to complete the game using just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the individual who aimed to clear the game with a single stick—specifically, the exact same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for such challenge runs, like the time he went through the title using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to beat the game with no energy. A one-branch run, however, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest tool in the whole game. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator does a “preparation” save where he progresses standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The setup save has him going through the intro and first tutorial island, and this character gains full stamina and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third save file that merges the conditions of the first two files.

That causes fresh problems, however. The merged save file has a protagonist that did not obtain the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an buggy version of the title that fails to load certain areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He starts the game on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to make sure it begins functioning correctly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he cannot damage any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the durability issue, as the Link he transfers between dimensions is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective item that makes encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful number of items to improve his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a bug that enables Link to clip through the world. Some would find these means reason to question the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll remove one viewer from his live stream, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat several of the game's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video edit of his journey doesn't make the viewer endure the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them last multiple hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The final villain battle, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is after all only a piece of wood. He can't necessarily clone objects midway the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the game compels the user to wield the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer banned more than 1,000 people in his live stream. RIP.