Twitch Personality Dedicates 37 Straight Attempting to Beat <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a One Branch

You might assume that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, enthusiasts would have run out of creative challenge runs that impose unique restrictions on a playthrough. However, while many players have attempted to finish the game using only a wooden stick, content creator the streamer stands out as the player who endeavored to beat the adventure with a single stick—specifically, the exact same one throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he went through the title solely with explosives or the effort where he aimed to beat the story with zero stamina. A single stick run, though, sounds impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which forces the hero to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole weapon wear system, which is particularly relevant when dealing with the most fragile tool in the whole world. But if the branch shatters, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple explanation is exploits. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate Tears of the Kingdom's saving mechanism to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator does a “preparation” file where he progresses standardly, and the real file, where he's limited. The preparatory file has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this Link acquires maximum endurance and health. From this point, he starts a cinematic and pauses partway through to tell the game to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets confused and creates a new game file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

That causes new issues, however. The fused save file has a Link that did not acquired the ability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is an issue that the file exploit addresses easily, but executing it means relying on an buggy version of the game that fails to open certain locations. As with everything else, he has a technical workaround for it: He begins Tears of the Kingdom on its early version 1.0, and then updates the game partway through to ensure it begins working properly.

Overcoming Weapon Wear and Additional Hurdles

Curiously, the prologue form of Link is programmed so that he cannot break any tools he wields, likely to prevent a situation where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the game. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the durability problem, as the character he pulls between universes is the version from the start of the story. It's a smart technique, but not a method that eliminates all potential difficulty. The branch is nonetheless a weak item that makes encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of determination and dedication. It also aids that there's a copying exploit that gives him an plentiful supply of items to improve his attack, or accumulate on healing spirits. He additionally employs a glitch that allows him to clip through the world. A few would consider these means reason to question the legitimacy of the attempt, but to my view, he's a inventive gamer who is willing to do anything necessary to engage his audience. He also implements a safeguard of kinds stating that, for each fairy he uses, he'll remove one fan from his Twitch chat, creating an motivation to avoid overly rely on them.

Boss Fights and the Last Encounter

PointCrow manages to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the fights look painful. The YouTube edit of his quest spares the audience sit through the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when a few of them take several hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an incredible twenty-three straight. The Ganondorf battle, which erases the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a memorable nail-biter. The indestructible stick is after all just a piece of wood. He is unable to always duplicate objects midway the battle.

So, is it possible? Technically, he does defeat the dragon version of the antagonist. But the game forces the player to wield the legendary weapon as the final strike, so strictly speaking, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed more than 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.