#i like took a screenshot of the gameplay and just colour picked the shit out of it

[sheebadukiiiii]

okay LAST ONE bc ive been eternally changed by this.

[eirenare]

Pitioss’ Ruins: my experience + talking a bit about the theory

[SPOILER ALERT!]

So, yesterday was THE day.

The day I was about to finally confront Pitioss and get to know by myself (with no guide by my side and just having seen a couple of screenshots) how much a torture it was... And since it was such a freaking memorable dungeon (worth every single minute of the approximately 6h I spent there), I think this is gonna be a long post. However, I’m going to organize it in parts because, well, if anyone is interested in reading this and just wants to get to some parts, it’s easier like this.

Parts: 

1) THE LANDING

2) THE WALK TO PITIOSS

3) INSIDE PITIOSS

4) INSIDE PITIOSS: APPEARENCE AND IMAGERY

5) INSIDE PITIOSS: PUZZLES

6) CONCLUSIONS OF THE DUNGEON

7) ABOUT PITIOSS THEORY 

(The link was only in that section, but I’m putting it here too just in case someone’s just interested about it but doesn’t feel like scrolling a lot: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXV/comments/5t367b/pitioss_ruins_revelations/?st=j0epe7zf&sh=1111e262 )

1) THE LANDING

I already had the Regalia on the area, got to land it a day or two earlier and went as surprisingly good as to land it on at 1st attempt that day (it was my 2nd attempt in general), something miraculous given the fact that the way I was landing was everything but gracious and that the Regalia ended up being super closer to the wall of rocks, like, 1 metre of separation. PHEW: So close, haha. It was a bit stressful.

2) THE WALK TO PITIOSS

In all honesty, I thought the area before reaching Pitioss entrance would be very tiny, and I was surprised for good when I saw it had a decent amount of terrain to walk.

It would have been scary finding lvl 8x monsters close to the entrance of the dungeon if I wasn’t already almost lvl 90.

It’s nice to just be able to walk around, you can get some photos of the Rock of Ravatogh on other angles. 

Also, there’s a good deal of objects around the area, which is always good, but the best thing is IT HAS A CAMP.

4) INSIDE PITIOSS

This is how I would describe Pitioss shortly: OH MY FREAKING GOD. Buuut I’m not here to talk about it briefly, so here I go.

Pitioss is a dungeon with no explanation for the shit ton of puzzles it has. It’s just the player alone with its wits, challenging the dungeon, trying to figure out everything. The difficulty increases as you advance... but hell if it wasn’t an amazing challenge. Funny fact is, the dungeon title that appears once you enter one, doesn’t appear immediately in Pitioss: you have to do some tasks first.

And well, in this dungeon, everytime you get something right it just feels as if adrenaline and pride is running wild on you. But the thing is you won’t understand some puzzles until you think about them for a while, and you’re going to “die” a lot (did anyone say tons of jumping?). 

Also, the amount of items you can get by doing it is high, and some of the items are really amazing (like the final one, the Black Hood, which makes Noctis automatically evade attacks).

Oh, an awesome thing is that the dungeon it’s divided in areas, and there are respawn points, so if you “die” in area “Y”, you just respawn in a certain point in “Y”, with everything you’ve done intact. It’s just plain relieving.

And now, in the next part, I’m going to talk long about what I think it’s probably the best thing of the dungeon, if not the best.

5) INSIDE PITIOSS: APPEARENCE AND IMAGERY

That aspect just blew my mind, like... Square-Enix did a stunning work with Pitioss. I’m going to explain this in detail because it’s something I’ve overenjoyed.

There’s a black ooze falling from the ceiling and staining most of the dungeon, which looks like the black ooze in Ardyn’s face when he shows his darker side. That alone is already creepy...

But THEN you see the tombstones with faces carved in it on one side and a giant face on the other, surrounded by a glowing red field of energy, and it gets more creepy. And THEN you see the statues of a demon here and there, which adds even more levels of creepiness...

Suddenly, between all that creepiness, you’re seeing in some parts of Pitioss some inoffensive flying little creatures that shine in a soothing blue tone, flying carefree all together. And there’s that giant statue of a man that looks like one of those statues of the old Greece, something majestic presiding the first hall you enter.

And the statue of the woman it’s just beautiful. There’s a theory about it that says it’s the goddess of the dawn, Eos (to me it resembles Cosmos from Dissidia Final Fantasy to be honest), but regardless of who the woman is, and aside from it being gorgeous, there’s a bit of sadness when you get a closer look at her: she is handcuffed, even has a collar around her neck that looks like the ones you would see on a slave or the imprissoned in old times.

Motifs of circles are all around the dungeon too, along with cages, giant metal balls, doors with that classic golden rays stamp, round platforms that look just like the teletransportion nodes of Steyliff and Costlemark... The puzzle that involved that golden, giant rotating sphere made me get a feel of the “Cube” film. And the giant moving “wall” of heated spikes with the giant skull is just freaking IMPRESSIVE in a way that, the first time you see it, you feel powerless and scared.

And if you love lore, you might end Pitioss making yourself question some things... 

6) INSIDE PITIOSS: PUZZLES

The dungeon’s puzzles sure are tricky, even nasty.

You’re greeted at the start with platforms that go down in a corridor that have INCANDESCENT SPIKES, and that’s just the entrance. Later on you’ll have even more spikes and with even more variety: in rotating cilinders, in flat ground/wall, in moving up-and-down platforms, in that freaking giant moving wall with a giant skull on the center... 

Not forgetting the not-so-lovely platforms that moved in certain patterns in a certain area, or the metal ledges and “girders” that look so thin that if you move 1 mm wrong you might just fall.

It took me a bit to understand, by the way, that the round bronze platforms with circle motives in colour (white, red, orange) weren’t teletransportation nodes, but the things that will make you advance by unlocking more parts of the dungeon.

Some of these bronze platforms were hard to hit sometimes, be it because you had to solve other puzzles before, be it because it was jump time. It was easier with puzzles than with jumps. 

With puzzles, well, eventually you get what’s happening, even if it takes you some time. 

With jumps, however, it’s not a matter of understanding, but of doing a good performance... And let’s just say, I’m not the best at it. Some jumps were making me feel dispair, like “I know I can get there by jumping because it’s the only way forward but HOW the hell can someone reach that”.

And probably the thing that was more difficult to me was the one in which you’re basically jumping from stone structure to stone structure, in the dark except for Noctis’ lantern.

The twist is: gravity and perspective work in a VERY random way. You’re just doing jumps you would have sweared were impossible and walking on walls horizontally, only to then find out you don’t have to jump to that structure a bit faraway, but just let Noctis drop, because what seemed going horizontally was just going down.

That puzzle was trippy as heck, and how they changed on purpose the camera perspectives in that level makes it more confusing that if just was gravity messing up with you.

And the thing is, that puzzle lasted for long, and that, along with the fact that we were getting close to 2 PM (our hour of eating), made me pick up a video guide and try to end up by that time. 

7) CONCLUSIONS OF THE DUNGEON

It took me, like, approximately 6h to beat Pitioss, as I told at the start, but it was SO much worth.

I wasn’t sure it would be worth suffering just how much as I’ve read people say, just because of the Black Hood, but what was worth was the challenge itself. 

Even though sometimes raged on the inside and insulted to the air to relieve my frustration (I entered never letting the fact of dying because I jumped wrong an I finished so stressed haha), this dungeon made me feel like a genius when I could understand and resolve most of the puzzles by myself, it made me feel stunned with its amazing visuals, it made me question myself about the lore, and overall, it was downright A-MA-ZING.

Giant flying kudos sent to Square-Enix for making Pitioss’ Ruins. Truly a masterpiece.

... However, that doesn’t mean I’ll come back soon to Pitioss hahaha. 

~ABOUT PITIOSS THEORY~

To finish this wall of incandescent spikes text, I’m going to put the link to the Pitioss’ Ruins theory:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXV/comments/5t367b/pitioss_ruins_revelations/?st=j0epe7zf&sh=1111e262

Seriously, give it a look, it’s awesome. There’s so much details in the theory that is just mind-blowing. The story is so freaking tragic I wish the theory was true (or that something close to that would have happened in canon) with all my might... And, to be honest, I could totally see it happening... I just embrace that theory a lot.

As a warning, there’s a mention to the 15 minutes’ gameplay of Gladiolus Episode DLC though! 

Read carefully if you want to avoid what they might say about it... Although I couldn’t resist it and just took a peak — I don’t think it spoils much, in my opinion.

Aaand well, this is!

If anyone is reading this, a big thanks, and have a nice night!