Final Fantasy 14 player beats five-year-old speedrun record, original holder retakes the crown a day later

A Final Fantasy 14 player beat a five-year-old speedrun world record after months of training, only to have the original record holder retake the title less than 24 hours later.

That speedrun would be the infamous Kugane tower jumping puzzle. Originally introduced to Final Fantasy 14 with the Stormblood expansion, the jumping puzzle is exactly what it sounds like - propelling yourself up a series of tiny platforms in mid-air, all to reach the top of the ridiculously high tower in Kugane.

Many attempt the feat, but few actually succeed in pulling it off. Enter YouTuber Pint, a bit of a legend in the Final Fantasy 14 community, who thought they'd try their hand at besting the current world record for the Kugane tower jumping puzzle, held by player Em0_oticon.

Em0_oticon's record of 43.58 seconds had existed for over five years at this point, and it took them under a month to get that final time down from just under 60 seconds. The honest-to-god hilarious video from Pint just below chronicles their entire hard-fought victory to record a breath-taking 43.30 second run and claim the world record speedrun of Kugane tower after five long years.

But this story doesn't have a happy ending for Pint, as you already know. The YouTuber's incredibly extra speedrun would be bested less than 24 hours later by none other than Em0_oticon, the very user that originally held the Kugane tower speedrun world record for well over five years.

With no commentary, no flashy antics, or anything else, Em0_oticon proceeded to absolutely butcher Pint's newly established world record in the video below, breezing through the challenge in a crisp 38.74 seconds. At this point, you've got to ask: is Em0_oticon even human?

Yes, Em0_oticon actually came out of speedrunning retirement purely to reclaim the Kugane tower speedrun world record less than 24 hours after it was first beaten. The speedrunning god even donned a golden elephant outfit to celebrate the momentous occasion, which has now been cemented in Final Fantasy 14 history with the post just below.

The World of FFXIV Speedrunning is Viscous from r/ffxiv

But where do we go from here? It's a bit hard to tell, to be honest. Pint has yet to publicly comment on future ambitions for the Kugane tower puzzle, outside of calling Em0_oticon's new world record "fucking incredible." They've been busy with Twitchcon in Paris, France though, so I think we can cut them a little slack after all their hard work.

We'd love to get Em0_oticon's thoughts on the whole debacle, but unfortunately they're a bit of a mystery, with a whole lot less of an online presence than Pint. Until this story of revenge and heartbreak has another twist, we'll be keeping an eye on Pint for their next move.

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