Twitch Star Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

You might assume that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of novel challenge runs that apply special rules on a gameplay session. However, while many players have tried to complete the game using only a stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to beat the game with a single branch—specifically, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the title solely with bombs or the effort where he aimed to beat the game with zero energy. A single stick playthrough, however, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is especially important when working with the weakest weapon in the entire game. But if the branch breaks, that's it. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward answer is exploits. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that affect one another. So the creator does a “setup” save where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him going through the prologue and first starting area, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cutscene and halts midway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and generates a new game file that merges the states of the first two files.

That causes new issues, however. The fused save file has a Link that did not obtain the ability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the file exploit addresses readily, but pulling it off means depending on an unstable version of the game that fails to open certain locations. Like other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game partway through to make sure it begins working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is coded so that he cannot break any tools he uses, presumably 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 transfers between dimensions is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart trick, but not one that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is still a weak item that renders encounters tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a question of grit and dedication. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful supply of items to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that enables Link to clip through the environment. Some would find these means grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do anything necessary to engage his viewer. He further uses a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he employs, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

The streamer manages to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the battles look painful. The video version of his quest spares the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them last several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an incredible twenty-three straight. The final villain battle, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is still only a stick. He can't necessarily duplicate items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow manages to overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so technically, it's not completely a stick-only run. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.