One of my growing favorite pasttimes in Guild Wars 2 is to make a note of where special chests are and how to get to them. You can usually plunder these chests once a day for a green/blue item, but I like that there’s a bit of a challenge to get to them and that they’re often off the beaten path. Rewards exploring without making it overt. I can respect that.
I only recently realized that one of these chests comes from a little pipe organ mini-game at the bottom of a river in Caldedon Forest. Must have rushed over it many times previously, but there it is, sitting there, waiting to be played. The challenge is to reproduce the Guild Wars 2 theme (the most iconic part of it, at least). I might have cheated for the answer, but hey, I’m not a musician. I usually have to look up solutions for music puzzles.
There’s a nice payoff here when you do it: A nearby oyster opens up to reveal the chest and the soundtrack booms out this eerie organ version of the theme. Plus, there’s a nearby Quaggan who’s humming the tune for both amusement value and a helpful hint as to the solution.
I always wish that games had more cool little things like this, don’t you?
Now go find the organ in Ebonhawke and figure out which theme you must play there for its solution. 😉
There’s two whole sections in the achievement panel dedicated to exploring, so it is well highlighted. I like that you can click on the achievement and get a hint to the location, the nearest waypoint. Some of the secrets are incredibly well hidden, and I’m left wondering how did anyone find them for the first time, Griffonrook Run comes to mind, which is both a jumping puzzle and has a hidden explorer achievement that I missed even after doing the JP a few times.