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

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, while many gamers have attempted to complete the game with only a wooden stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the adventure with a one branch—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the time he went through the game using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to beat the story with no stamina. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly important when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire world. But if the stick shatters, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” save where he advances normally, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this Link gains maximum stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses partway through to instruct the game to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets confused and creates a third save file that combines the states of the original two.

This causes new issues, however. The merged save file has a Link that never acquired the ability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy build of the game that refuses to load certain locations. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the game partway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the character he transfers across universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not one that eliminates all possible difficulty. The stick is nonetheless a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful number of items to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a glitch that allows him to phase through the world. A few would find these methods grounds to question the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also uses a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

PointCrow manages to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear painful. The video version of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take multiple hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all just a stick. He can't always duplicate objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the game forces the user to wield the Master Sword as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed over a thousand people in his Twitch chat. RIP.