Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Straight Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although numerous players have attempted to complete the game with just a wooden stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the player who aimed to clear the adventure with a one stick—specifically, the exact same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the title using only bombs or the attempt where he aimed to defeat the game with no stamina. A one-branch playthrough, however, seems impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire durability mechanic, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile tool in the entire game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward answer is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he progresses normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The setup file has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character acquires full stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets mixed up and creates a new game file that combines the states of the first two files.

This creates new problems, though. The merged file has a protagonist that did not acquired the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means depending on an unstable build of the title that fails to open some areas. As with other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue form of Link is coded so that he cannot break any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the version from the start of the game. It's a smart trick, but not one that eliminates all possible difficulty. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders battles onerous. But at that stage, it's all a question of grit and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant number of items to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that enables him to clip through the world. A few would find these means reason to question the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive player who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He also uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll remove a fan from his live stream, creating an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles appear painful. The video edit of his journey spares the viewer endure the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take several hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is still only a piece of wood. He is unable to always duplicate objects during the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, the streamer removed over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.