Twitch Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Hours Trying to Beat <em>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 exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous players have tried to complete the game with just a stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the player who aimed to beat the adventure with a one stick—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the title solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with no stamina. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to use the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is especially important when dealing with the most fragile weapon in the whole game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he progresses standardly, and the real save, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character gains full endurance and health. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and creates a third save file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates fresh problems, though. The fused save file has a Link that never obtain the capability to access shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable version of the title that refuses to load certain locations. As with other obstacles, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the software midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue form of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to break any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the game. But that's also how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the Link he transfers across universes is the version from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The stick is nonetheless a weak weapon that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It further aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of consumables to improve his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables him to phase through the environment. A few would consider these means grounds to question the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also uses a safeguard of kinds stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll ban one viewer from his live stream, establishing an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the fights appear painful. The YouTube edit of his quest spares the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when some of them last multiple long hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing 23 straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still only a piece of wood. He can't necessarily duplicate objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, he manages to defeat the beast form of Ganon. But the game compels the user to wield the legendary weapon as the last strike, so technically, it's not fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, PointCrow removed over a thousand users in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.