Streaming Personality Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted novel challenge runs that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, while numerous players have tried to finish the game using only a stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to clear the game with a single branch—meaning, the very same stick from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, like the instance he played the game using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with no stamina. A single stick playthrough, however, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire durability mechanic, which is particularly important when dealing with the weakest tool in the entire world. Yet if the stick breaks, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he progresses normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The setup save has him going through the prologue and first tutorial island, and this character gains full stamina and hearts. From here, he starts a cutscene and halts partway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a new save file that combines the states of the original two.

This causes fresh issues, though. The fused file has a protagonist that never acquired the ability to access shrines. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the game that fails to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is coded so that he cannot damage any weapons he wields, presumably to avoid a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear issue, as the Link he transfers between dimensions is the version from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is still a weak item that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of grit and perseverance. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables him to phase through the environment. A few would find these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive player who is willing to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He also uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll ban a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video version of his journey spares the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them last several hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes 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 just a stick. He can't necessarily duplicate objects during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the game compels the user to use the legendary weapon as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than a thousand people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.