Streaming Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative challenge runs that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, while numerous players have tried to finish the game using only a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a single stick—specifically, the exact same stick throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, like the time he went through the game using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with zero stamina. A one-branch run, though, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole world. But if the stick shatters, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The complete answer, believe it or not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can tweak the game's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” save where he progresses standardly, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the intro and initial starting area, and this character acquires full stamina and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to tell the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates new problems, though. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the ability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the title that refuses to open some locations. Like everything else, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the introductory version of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the wear issue, as the character he pulls between dimensions is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart technique, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is still a ineffective item that makes battles tedious. But at that stage, it's all a question of grit and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of items to boost his attack, or stock up on revival fairies. He also employs a glitch that enables Link to clip through the world. Some would find these means reason to question the legitimacy of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of sorts stating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

The streamer manages to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video version of his journey doesn't make the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when some of them take several long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 hours. The final villain battle, which erases the hero's health as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all only a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software forces the user to use the Master Sword as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

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