Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, while numerous players have attempted to finish Tears of the Kingdom with only a wooden stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the game with a one stick—specifically, the exact same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the game solely with bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the game with zero stamina. A single stick run, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole game. Yet if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” file where he progresses standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this character gains full endurance and health. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the game to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a new game file that merges the conditions of the original two.

This causes fresh issues, though. The fused file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to access shrines. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the title that refuses to load certain locations. As with other obstacles, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then updates the game midway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue form of Link is coded so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, likely to avoid a scenario where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer gets around the wear issue, as the Link he pulls between universes is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective item that makes battles tedious. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful supply of items to boost his attack, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that enables Link to phase through the world. Some would find these methods grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also implements a safeguard of kinds stating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Showdown

PointCrow manages to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The video version of his journey spares the viewer sit through the entire fights, which is a good thing when some of them take several long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an incredible twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf showdown, which erases Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is still only a stick. He can't always clone objects during 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 player to wield the Master Sword as the final attack, so technically, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer banned more than 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.