Streaming Star Spends 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Branch

One could think that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, although numerous players have attempted to complete the game with only a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who endeavored to beat the adventure with a one branch—specifically, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, like the time he played the title using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to beat the game with no energy. A one-branch run, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially important when dealing with the weakest tool in the entire world. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. 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 separate playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” save where he progresses standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him going through the prologue and first starting area, and this Link acquires full stamina and hearts. From here, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The game gets confused and creates a third save file that merges the conditions of the original two.

This creates new problems, however. The fused file has a Link that never acquired the ability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable version of the title that refuses to open some areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the software partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the prologue form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, likely to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the character he pulls across dimensions is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant number of items to improve his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a bug that enables him to phase through the environment. Some would find these methods grounds to discredit the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He also uses a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to not overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat many of the game's main enemies, but the battles appear grueling. The video version of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when a few of them take multiple hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes Link's health as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all just a piece of wood. He can't necessarily clone items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, he manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a stick-only playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow removed over a thousand people in his live stream. Rest in peace.