Streaming Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that apply special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous gamers have attempted to complete the game using only a wooden stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who aimed to clear the adventure with a one branch—specifically, the exact same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is renowned for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the title solely with explosives or the effort where he aimed to beat the game with zero stamina. A one-branch run, though, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly important when working with the most fragile tool in the entire world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's it. Game over.

The Method Behind the Madness

So, how? The straightforward explanation is glitches. The full story, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” save where he progresses normally, and the real file, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him completing the intro and first tutorial island, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and health. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to tell the software to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets confused and generates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That causes new problems, though. The merged save file has a protagonist that did not obtain the ability to access sacred places. Fortunately, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to open some locations. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts the game on its early 1.0 build, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Interestingly, the prologue version of the hero is coded so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, presumably to avoid a scenario where the player gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear issue, as the character he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart trick, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The branch is still a ineffective weapon that makes battles tedious. But at that point, it's entirely a question of grit and perseverance. It also helps that there's a copying exploit that grants him an plentiful supply of items to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows him to clip through the world. A few would consider these methods grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful gamer who is ready to do anything necessary to entertain his viewer. He also implements a penalty of kinds stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Showdown

PointCrow succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights look painful. The video version of his journey doesn't make the audience endure the whole fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an incredible 23 straight. The final villain battle, which depletes Link's health as it unfolds, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable branch is after all just a stick. He is unable to always clone items midway the battle.

Did he succeed? Technically, he does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the user to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than a thousand users in his live stream. RIP.