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

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, although many players have attempted to finish the game with just a wooden stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single stick—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, like the instance he went through the game solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with no energy. A one-branch run, however, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest weapon in the entire game. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple explanation is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator creates a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this character gains full stamina and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the game to load an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and creates a new save file that merges the states of the first two files.

This causes new problems, however. The merged file has a protagonist that did not acquired the ability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the game that refuses to open certain locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the Link he pulls across universes is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eradicates all potential difficulty. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of grit and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant number of consumables to improve his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows Link to phase through the environment. A few would consider these means grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive player who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also uses a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll ban a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The video version of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the entire fights, which is a blessing when a few of them take several long hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone items midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the user to wield the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.