Streaming Star Dedicates Thirty-Seven Straight Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

You might assume 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 apply unique restrictions on a gameplay session. Yet, while many players have tried to finish the game using just a wooden stick, streamer the streamer stands out as the individual who aimed to clear the game with a one branch—meaning, the exact same stick from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the instance he played the title solely with explosives or the attempt where he tried to beat the game with no energy. A single stick run, however, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the entire weapon wear mechanic, which is especially relevant when working with the most fragile tool in the whole game. But if the branch breaks, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” file where he progresses normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this Link gains maximum stamina and hearts. From this point, he triggers a cinematic and pauses midway through to tell the software to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and creates a third game file that combines the conditions of the original two.

That creates fresh issues, though. The merged file has a Link that never obtain the ability to access sacred places. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but executing it means relying on an unstable version of the game that refuses to load some locations. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then patches the game midway through to make sure it starts working properly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue version of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, likely to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the beginning of the adventure. But that's also how PointCrow gets around the wear problem, as the Link he transfers across dimensions is the version from the beginning of the story. It's a clever technique, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective weapon that renders battles tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of grit and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an abundant supply of consumables to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to phase through the environment. 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 willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also implements a safeguard of kinds stipulating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban one viewer from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to not overly rely on them.

Major Battles and the Last Showdown

The streamer succeeds to get through several of the game's main enemies, but the battles look grueling. The YouTube edit of his journey doesn't make the viewer sit through the entire fights, which is a blessing when a few of them last multiple long hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an astonishing twenty-three hours. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes Link's hearts as it progresses, is a notable tense moment. The indestructible stick is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to always duplicate items midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the user to use the Master Sword as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a branch-exclusive run. But where's the challenge in that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed more than a thousand users in his live stream. Rest in peace.