Twitch Star Spends 37 Straight Trying to Beat <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose special rules on a playthrough. Yet, while many gamers have tried to complete the game with just a stick, streamer the streamer holds the record as the player who endeavored to beat the adventure with a one branch—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, such as the instance he played the title using only bombs or the effort where he tried to beat the game with zero stamina. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at face value. There's the opening sequence, which requires the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire world. But if the branch breaks, that's it. It's over.

So, How?

So, how? The simple answer is exploits. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator does a “preparation” file where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link acquires full endurance and hearts. From this point, he starts a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a new save file that combines the states of the first two files.

This creates new issues, however. The merged file has a Link that did not obtain the ability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the save glitch addresses readily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy build of the title that fails to load some locations. As with other obstacles, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its early version 1.0, and then updates the game midway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he cannot damage any tools he uses, likely to avoid a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the character he pulls across universes is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever technique, but not one that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and perseverance. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of items to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows Link to phase through the world. A few would find these methods grounds to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He also uses a penalty of kinds stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll ban one viewer from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Final Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to get through many of the game's bosses, but the fights appear grueling. The YouTube version of his journey spares the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them last multiple hours. A particular enemy encounter, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing 23 hours. The Ganondorf showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The indestructible branch is still just a piece of wood. He is unable to necessarily clone objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow manages to overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the software compels the player to use the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only 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.