Twitch Star Spends 37 Straight Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, while many gamers have attempted to finish the game using only a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the player who endeavored to clear the game with a single stick—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for such difficult playthroughs, such as the time he played the game using only bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the game with no energy. A single stick playthrough, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow creates a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this character gains full stamina and health. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and creates a third save file that merges the conditions of the original two.

That creates new issues, however. The merged save file has a protagonist that did not obtain the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to load some locations. Like other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue form of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any weapons he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the character he pulls between dimensions is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective item that renders battles tedious. But at that stage, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful supply of consumables to boost his strength, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that allows him to clip through the environment. Some would find these methods reason to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his audience. He further uses a safeguard of sorts stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Showdown

The streamer succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights look painful. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them last multiple long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, requires an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which erases Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still only a stick. He can't necessarily clone items during the fight.

Did he succeed? Technically, he does overcome the dragon version of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than a thousand users in his Twitch chat. RIP.