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

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a gameplay session. However, although many gamers have tried to complete Tears of the Kingdom using just a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who aimed to beat the adventure with a single branch—specifically, the exact same stick throughout.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the instance he went through the game using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to beat the game with zero energy. A one-branch run, though, seems unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially important when working with the weakest tool in the whole game. But if the stick shatters, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him completing the prologue and first tutorial island, and this Link gains full endurance and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and halts midway through to tell the software to open an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets mixed up and creates a third save file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This causes new issues, however. The fused save file has a protagonist that did not acquired the capability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but executing it means depending on an unstable build of the title that fails to load some areas. Like everything else, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he cannot break any tools he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the durability problem, as the Link he transfers between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a weak item that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's entirely a matter of determination and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants 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 him to phase through the world. A few would find these means reason to discredit the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further implements a penalty of kinds stipulating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove a viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look painful. The YouTube version of his journey spares the viewer endure the whole fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is after all only a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone items during the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the software compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow banned more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.