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

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted novel challenge runs that apply special rules on a gameplay session. However, although many players have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom with only a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a one branch—specifically, the exact same one throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of challenge runs, like the time he played the game solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to defeat the game with no stamina. A single stick playthrough, however, sounds impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly important when working with the most fragile weapon in the whole game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate playthroughs that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he progresses normally, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup save has him going through the intro and first starting area, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and hearts. From here, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to instruct the game to open an auto-save from the stick file. The system gets confused and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That creates new problems, though. The fused file has a Link that never acquired the ability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an buggy build of the title that fails to open certain areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its early version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue form of the hero is programmed so that he cannot damage any tools he wields, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer gets around the wear issue, as the Link he transfers between universes is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a clever trick, but not one that eradicates all possible difficulty. The stick is still a weak item that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and dedication. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful number of items to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that allows Link to clip through the world. Some would consider these means grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for every spirit he uses, he'll remove a fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to defeat several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The YouTube edit of his quest spares the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them take several long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which erases Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, he does defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the user to use the legendary weapon as the final strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.