Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Hours Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Branch

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, while numerous gamers have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom using only a wooden stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the player who aimed to clear the adventure with a one branch—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he went through the game solely with explosives or the attempt where he aimed to beat the story with zero stamina. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear mechanic, which is especially relevant when working with the most fragile tool in the entire world. Yet if the stick breaks, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is glitches. The full answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the software to load an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and generates a new save file that combines the states of the first two files.

That causes new issues, however. The fused save file has a Link that did not acquired the capability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy build of the game that refuses to open some 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 patches the software midway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue form of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the character he transfers across universes is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not one that eliminates all potential difficulty. The stick is nonetheless a weak weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that stage, it's all a question of determination and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant number of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs 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 whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He also implements a safeguard of sorts stating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to get through many of the game's main enemies, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube edit of his quest doesn't make the audience endure the entire fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last several long hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which erases Link's health as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is still just a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow does defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the software forces the user to wield the legendary weapon as the last strike, so technically, it's not completely a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow removed over 1,000 users in his live stream. RIP.