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

You might assume that after two years since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have exhausted novel self-imposed challenges that apply special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although many gamers have tried to finish the game using only a stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the player who aimed to clear the adventure with a one stick—specifically, the very same stick throughout.

PointCrow is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, such as the instance he played the title solely with explosives or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with zero energy. A one-branch run, however, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear system, which is especially important when working with the most fragile weapon in the entire world. But if the stick breaks, that's it. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple explanation is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator does a “setup” file where he advances standardly, and the actual file, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the intro and initial tutorial island, and this character acquires maximum stamina and hearts. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This creates fresh issues, though. The fused save file has a protagonist that never obtain the capability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to load some locations. Like everything else, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its early 1.0 build, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he is unable to break any weapons he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the character he pulls across universes is the one from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not a method that eliminates all possible friction. The branch is still a ineffective weapon that makes encounters tedious. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It further helps that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant number of items to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also employs a glitch that allows him to phase through the environment. Some would find these methods reason to discredit the validity of the attempt, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He further implements a penalty of kinds stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of the game's bosses, but the fights appear grueling. The YouTube version of his journey spares the viewer sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take several hours. A particular boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to always duplicate objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does overcome the beast form of the antagonist. But the software compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so technically, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer banned more than a thousand users in his live stream. RIP.