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

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of novel challenge runs that impose special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous gamers have tried to complete the game with only a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a one stick—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for such challenge runs, like the time he went through the game using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with no stamina. A single stick playthrough, however, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability system, which is especially important when working with the most fragile tool in the entire game. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is exploits. The full story, believe it or not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” file where he advances normally, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup save has him going through the intro and first starting area, and this character acquires maximum endurance and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and halts partway through to tell the game to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and creates a new game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This creates new problems, though. The merged file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an buggy build of the game that fails to open some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is coded so that he cannot damage any tools he wields, presumably to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the Link he pulls between universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever technique, but not one that eliminates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an abundant number of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows Link to phase through the world. Some would find these means grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of sorts stating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll remove one viewer from his live stream, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles look grueling. The video edit of his quest doesn't make the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a blessing when some of them last multiple hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes Link's health as it unfolds, is a memorable nail-biter. The unbreakable stick is still only a stick. He can't necessarily clone objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow manages to defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game compels the player to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.