Streaming Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that impose unique rules on a playthrough. Yet, while numerous players have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom using only a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a one branch—specifically, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, like the instance he went through the game solely with bombs or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with no energy. A single stick run, however, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” file where he advances standardly, and the real file, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this Link gains maximum endurance and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

This creates fresh problems, however. The merged save file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable version of the title that refuses to load some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a situation where the user gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the wear issue, as the character he transfers between universes is the version from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is nonetheless a weak weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of grit and dedication. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful number of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that enables Link to clip through the world. A few would consider these means grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further uses a penalty of kinds stating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, establishing an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights look painful. The video edit of his quest spares the viewer sit through the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take several long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which erases Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is after all only a piece of wood. He can't always clone items midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the game forces the user to wield the Master Sword as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.