Twitch Star Spends 37 Hours Attempting to Conquer <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Branch

You might assume that two years post-launch since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have exhausted creative self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although many players have attempted to finish the game using just a stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single branch—specifically, the very same one from start to finish.

PointCrow is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the game using only explosives or the effort where he aimed to defeat the game with zero stamina. A one-branch run, though, sounds unfeasible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to use the Master Sword. Then, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the whole game. But if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

The Method Behind the Madness

How did he do it? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete story, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have separate game sessions that affect one another. So PointCrow does a “preparation” file where he advances standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him going through the intro and first tutorial island, and this character gains maximum stamina and health. From here, he starts a cutscene and halts midway through to tell the software to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and creates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

That causes fresh problems, though. The fused file has a protagonist that did not obtain the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is an issue that the save glitch fixes easily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the game that fails to load some areas. As with everything else, he has a clever solution for it: He begins the game on its pre-release 1.0 build, and then patches the game partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Durability and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the prologue version of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he wields, likely to prevent a situation where the user gets stuck at the beginning of the game. But that's also how PointCrow bypasses the durability problem, as the Link he transfers between dimensions is the version from the start of the game. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all possible difficulty. The branch is still a ineffective item that renders battles tedious. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and dedication. It also aids that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful supply of items to improve his attack, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally makes use of a glitch that enables Link to clip through the world. Some would find these means grounds to discredit the legitimacy of the run, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his audience. He further implements a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for every fairy he uses, he'll ban one viewer from his live stream, establishing an incentive to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Final Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to get through many of the game's bosses, but the battles look grueling. The video version of his quest spares the audience endure the entire fights, which is a blessing when some of them last multiple hours. A particular boss fight, Queen Gibdo, takes an incredible twenty-three straight. The final villain showdown, which depletes the hero's health as it unfolds, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is after all only a piece of wood. He can't always clone objects midway the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does overcome the beast form of Ganon. But the software compels the player to wield the legendary weapon as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not fully a branch-exclusive run. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. RIP.