Twitch Star Dedicates 37 Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a Single Branch

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have run out of creative self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although many players have tried to finish the game using just a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the player who aimed to clear the adventure with a single branch—meaning, the exact same one throughout.

PointCrow is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the instance he went through the game using only bombs or the effort where he aimed to beat the game with zero stamina. A single stick run, however, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when working with the weakest tool in the whole world. But if the stick shatters, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple explanation is glitches. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup save has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this character gains full stamina and hearts. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts partway through to tell the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and creates a new game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This creates new problems, though. The merged save file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to load certain areas. Like other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's additionally how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the Link he transfers between dimensions is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all possible friction. The branch is still a weak item that makes battles tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of items to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also makes use of a glitch that enables Link to clip through the environment. Some would consider these means reason to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a inventive player who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He further implements a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

PointCrow manages to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look painful. The video edit of his journey doesn't make the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when a few of them last multiple hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is still just a stick. He can't always duplicate items midway the fight.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, he does overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the player to use the Master Sword as the final strike, so technically, it's not completely a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over a thousand users in his Twitch chat. RIP.