Twitch Star Dedicates 37 Straight Attempting 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, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative challenge runs that impose unique rules on a playthrough. However, although many gamers have attempted to complete the game with just a wooden stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the individual who endeavored to clear the adventure with a single stick—meaning, the very same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of difficult playthroughs, like the time he played the title using only bombs or the effort where he aimed to defeat the story with zero stamina. A single stick run, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the opening sequence, which forces Link to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially relevant when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire world. Yet if the branch breaks, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The simple explanation is glitches. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate playthroughs that impact one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” save where he progresses standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The setup file has him completing the prologue and initial starting area, and this Link gains full endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to tell the game to open an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a third save file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That creates fresh issues, however. The fused save file has a Link that never obtain the ability to access shrines. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable version of the title that fails to open some areas. Like everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then patches the software partway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Challenges

Interestingly, the introductory version of the hero is programmed so that he is unable to break any tools he uses, likely to avoid a situation where the player gets trapped at the start of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the wear issue, as the character he transfers across dimensions is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that makes encounters onerous. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It further helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant number of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a bug that allows Link to clip through the environment. Some would consider these means reason to discredit the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He also uses a penalty of sorts stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove one viewer from his live stream, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Showdown

The streamer manages to get through many of the game's bosses, but the fights look grueling. The video version of his journey spares the audience sit through the entire conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take several hours. One enemy encounter, a powerful foe, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable tense moment. The unbreakable stick is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to always duplicate objects during the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does overcome the dragon version of Ganon. But the software forces the user to use the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, PointCrow removed over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. RIP.