Seeing the Sights

Sightseeing, even.

Now, I have done the Kugane Hostelry jump puzzle, and the other jump puzzle over by the Bokairo Inn as well. I don't think I'd ever re-do the tower, it took me a long time and I made the lamppost jump first time so I've no reason to do so. That said, I did at the time also clear the Rhalgr's Reach jump puzzle so I could get all the sightseeing logs for Stormblood to get one of the Kugane painting to go in my Shirogane apartment.

My verdict at the time was: an engaging challenge, but never again! Not with all those jump puzzles. Other sightseeing logs were fine but not those ones.

But I've been farming Recollection Ex, and even hopping over the Light data centre to take advantage of the busier party finder (I wouldn't need to bother if every <Traveller> I met over there had just stayed at home on Chaos but I digress) I still end up waiting for parties to fill or waiting for the current crop of '<Loot> WMG Raidplan' listings to vanish so that people start new ones and maybe a 'Hector, DPS in, EF2 Braindead' pops up instead.

All this waiting means time spent in-game but not in-duty and I am not a big fan of popping crafting foods and then getting interrupted halfway through a difficult 70d high-ilvl craft when the party suddenly fills.

So in my ennui between parties and Extreme runs, I thought I'd try my hand at the Dawntrail sightseeing log jump puzzle.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to get up the first stretch with the two routes to get up to the top of the base of the tower, and the little section after with the two long reed/wood platforms between stretches of the normal beams. I kept missing a jump near the top of the base and messing up the corner jump at the top of the next section (I always fumbled the other route there so it had to be the corner much as I disliked that jump on the diagonal out into space) so it took a long while to get really started.

Once I had cleared those starting sections though, can you believe I made the rest of the tower in one try? I couldn't. I'm not going to lie, the last sections had my heart rate up as high as clutch saves in high-end duties. My blood was racing, I was sure I was about to pitch myself off into the great blue yonder at any given moment. Especially the high-up corner bit that's right out over the edge of the building. Shaky hands.

Especially when you're at the top but there's two jumps left and you're terrified you're about to undo all that work in one. Fell. Swoop.

I made it all the way though, I did my little /lookout and then promptly went into GPose while I waited for my current party to fill. For me, these puzzles have always been such a challenge that every victory gets a commemorative screenshot or two! 

I do feel they've made it slightly easier this time around, in that mistakes will drop you down maybe a section or two but won't necessarily drop you all the way back to the start. Certainly it's harder to fuck up so badly you get hurled into the void below to do the wait of shame while your HP climbs back up from 1 before you can go back to failing the first jump all over again.

If that third snap doesn't look like it was taken in Tulioyal...

I went back to Radz-at-Han and found the start of that jump puzzle too. I was riding the high of my success, inspired by the thought of completing more sightseeing logs that I had previously thought out of reach!

No need for spoiler tags, you can already see I made it. The start leap over to the carriage threw me a little but once I got passed there I realised I like how well it integrated the clutter and environmental decor objects so well like the cargo lift and street lamp etc. I had a few goes to get back off said cargo lift and over to the next section of the building but I do feel that this and the DT puzzles are easier - it really is possible on most jumps to avoid failing in such a way that you're back at the start. It feels like there is a sort of checkpoint where you fall back to a certain level but not lower for every part now and honestly, for these puzzles that lead to sightseeing vistas? I appreciate it.

I was helped immensely by the trick of targeting myself to get the floor ring showing my exact location and direction, but also knowing that I would probably not have to start again if I flubbed the mid-level jumps was a big help. The high up ones where failure is very much still a thing? Still nerve wracking but at that point you've probably got the jump rhythm down for the minute, you'll hopefully be fine. So having less tension earlier was a big help.

Of course, two jump puzzles does not fill two and a half days (thank you UK bank holiday weekend) of party finding and filling.

Hence, I completed the rest of the Dawntrail and Endwalker sightseeing logs, then went back to finish the Shadowbringers logs too (I had those jump/fall puzzle logs already, thankfully).

Now I only have the HW and ARR logs to finish. Since HW logs aren't time-locked I shall finish those first and then I shall consider embarking on the challenge of the ARR logs with all their varying times and emotes. Honestly, it depends on how much more time I spend in party finder limbo. I'm 42 totems in out of 99, so I might well end up finishing both sets before getting my wing-price but also, I had about 16 clears in one day yesterday so maybe it'll go quicker than I think. Who knows. If you see ARR paintings in the FC house, you know I'm still grinding Zelenia for totems.

Please. Please let me get my wings or the remaining 56 clears. I can hear her voice even now. Taste my steel! No. More. Games. It isn't a game, not anymore, I know this now, I know, I just need some more clears, just a few... Just a few more...