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

One could think that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, enthusiasts would have run out of novel self-imposed challenges that impose special restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, while many players have tried to finish Tears of the Kingdom with just a stick, content creator the streamer holds the record as the individual who aimed to clear the game with a one branch—meaning, the exact same one from start to finish.

The streamer is famous for such challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the game using only explosives or the attempt where he tried to defeat the story with no energy. A single stick playthrough, however, seems unfeasible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which forces Link to use the legendary blade. Additionally, there's the entire durability system, which is particularly important when dealing with the weakest weapon in the entire game. Yet if the branch shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The full answer, believe it or not, is alternate dimensions. Apparently, you can manipulate the game's save file system to have distinct playthroughs that impact one another. So PointCrow does a “setup” file where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The preparatory save has him going through the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character gains maximum endurance and hearts. From this point, he starts a cutscene and pauses midway through to instruct the game to load an automatic save from the branch-only file. The system gets confused and generates a new save file that combines the conditions of the first two files.

This causes fresh problems, though. The merged file has a protagonist that never acquired the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is something that the save glitch fixes readily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy version of the game that refuses to open certain areas. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He begins the game on its early version 1.0, and then patches the game partway through to ensure it begins functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Other Hurdles

Interestingly, the introductory version of Link is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, likely to avoid a scenario where the user gets trapped at the beginning of the adventure. But that's additionally how the streamer bypasses the durability issue, as the character he transfers across dimensions is the one from the beginning of the story. It's a smart trick, but not one that eliminates all possible friction. The branch is nonetheless a ineffective item that makes battles onerous. But at that point, it's all a matter of determination and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an plentiful supply of items to boost his strength, or accumulate on revival fairies. He additionally employs a bug that enables Link to clip through the world. Some would find these means grounds to discredit the validity of the run, but in my mind, he's a inventive gamer who is ready to do whatever it takes to engage his viewer. He further uses a penalty of kinds stating that, for every fairy he employs, he'll ban one fan from his Twitch chat, establishing an motivation to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer manages to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's main enemies, but the fights appear painful. The video edit of his quest doesn't make the audience sit through the whole fights, which is a good thing when a few of them last multiple long hours. A particular enemy encounter, a powerful foe, requires an astonishing twenty-three hours. The final villain battle, which depletes the hero's health as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The indestructible branch is still only a piece of wood. He can't necessarily duplicate items 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 legendary weapon as the final 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 banned over 1,000 users in his Twitch chat. RIP.