Streaming Personality Spends Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

One could think that two years post-launch since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that impose special rules on a gameplay session. However, although many gamers have tried to finish the game using just a stick, content creator PointCrow stands out as the player who aimed to clear the adventure with a single branch—meaning, the exact same stick throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the game solely with bombs or the attempt where he aimed to beat the story with zero energy. A single stick run, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is especially important when working with the most fragile tool in the entire game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. 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 the game's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow creates a “preparation” file where he advances standardly, and the real file, where he's restricted. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains maximum endurance and health. From here, he triggers a cutscene and pauses partway through to instruct the game to load an auto-save from the stick file. The game gets confused and creates a new save file that combines the conditions of the original two.

This creates new problems, however. The fused file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter sacred places. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch addresses easily, but pulling it off means depending on an buggy build of the title that refuses to load certain locations. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the software midway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Hurdles

Interestingly, the prologue form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer gets around the durability problem, as the character he transfers between dimensions is the one from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is still a weak weapon that renders encounters onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of grit and dedication. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an abundant supply of items to improve his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally employs a bug that allows him to clip through the environment. Some would find these means reason to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. He further implements a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for every spirit he employs, he'll remove one viewer from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Final Encounter

The streamer succeeds to get through several of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the battles appear painful. The YouTube version of his quest doesn't make the viewer sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when a few of them take several long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible 23 hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is after all just a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he manages to overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the game compels the user to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not fully a stick-only run. But where's the challenge in that?

In the end, PointCrow banned more than a thousand people in his live stream. RIP.