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Looks like Gamestop got their poo poo together, Atelier Totori is in stores today. Quantities of non-preorder copies look pretty limited though so use the website to check availability before you head out. The mall location I went to got one copy of each edition, snagged myself the premium one. Danged clerk had already gutted it but oh well, less plastic wrap for me to throw out I guess.
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Sep 29, 2011 21:39
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The White Dragon posted:Y'know why I like Romancing SaGa? Kenji Ito. He is the badassest battle theme composer I have ever heard. Speaking of Romancing Saga...how is Ministrel Saga? I loved SaGa Frontier and I've had a bit of a jrpg resurgence recently after playing stuff like Persona 3/4, then Nocturne so I don't mind returning to grinding again.
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Sep 29, 2011 21:49
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Extremely good if you like SaGa games. There's one mechanic running underneath the hood that pisses off OCD completionists: event rank. Event rank basically exists to make your playthroughs on each character a little more varied. ER is measured on a scale of 1-22 and it controls when quests open and when they close. It can also make the first playthrough a little more challenging than usual because of how ER is ultimately decided. But I'll leave that nebulous unless you want to figure it out. Half the fun of a SaGa game is figuring out its little quirks and riding them for a playthrough or two.
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Sep 29, 2011 22:10
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Dolphin Fetus posted:Speaking of Romancing Saga...how is Ministrel Saga? I loved SaGa Frontier and I've had a bit of a jrpg resurgence recently after playing stuff like Persona 3/4, then Nocturne so I don't mind returning to grinding again. It's one of the best of the series easily. On the downsides, the graphics are a little weird and the English dub is HORRIBLE. It's also pretty roughly put together in a few places, as to be expected from a SaGa game. But the mechanics mostly all come together well, the soundtrack is great, and the game world has a really nice feel to it overall and is very non-linear. There's also tons of secret events and characters throughout the game. Also it's not all that grindy really, the game punishes you for grinding too much until you get to the late game. It's best that you avoid random encounters as much as possible early on.
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Sep 29, 2011 22:16
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Another thing to keep in mind about Minstrel Song is the game is designed to be played through multiple times. Some costs are prohibitive on your first playthrough but some things accumulate as you go through with different characters. While the first playthrough may seem merciless in some ways, it's mostly the frustration of learning the system; in subsequent runs, the final boss gains power if you skip certain event lines. Of course, the ultimate sperglord goal for a final playthrough is to get so powerful you purposely challenge a fully-powered final boss.
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Sep 29, 2011 22:31
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HondaCivet posted:Looks like Gamestop got their poo poo together, Atelier Totori is in stores today. Quantities of non-preorder copies look pretty limited though so use the website to check availability before you head out. The mall location I went to got one copy of each edition, snagged myself the premium one. Danged clerk had already gutted it but oh well, less plastic wrap for me to throw out I guess. On the flipside, it seems to have been delayed until October 3rd in Canada.
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Sep 29, 2011 22:33
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I wish they gave Romancing SaGa 3 the Minstrel Song treatment.
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Sep 29, 2011 22:35
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Dolphin Fetus posted:Speaking of Romancing Saga...how is Ministrel Saga? The quest mechanics are highly opaque, though. You fight too much, you'll miss out on events. You fight too little, you won't be strong enough to complete the events you would've missed out on (the biggest problem that comes to mind for me is getting the Amythest). The game is more balanced compared to its SNES counterpart, too. The game is less balls-hard in the beginning, and less easy-peasy in the end. Dragon is the most broken character. I guess folks don't like him because he's kind of limited and he has really low LP, but his secret talent is that he can't actually die unless his LP reaches 0. Gyoru posted:I wish they gave Romancing SaGa 3 the Minstrel Song treatment.
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Sep 29, 2011 23:04
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I don't think I ever figured out how to get Dragon. There are a ton of secret characters who are kind of weird to get as I recall.
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Sep 29, 2011 23:10
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Gwyrgyn Blood posted:I don't think I ever figured out how to get Dragon. There are a ton of secret characters who are kind of weird to get as I recall. You have to get Albert's armor without ever having met Neidhart in the Crystal City. Otherwise he shows up and you have to kill Dragon. Albert's prologue doesn't count, but Aisha's does. There are tons of weird characters in that game, from lizardmen to I think some Undine-type chick, to someone you can eventually fight. It's so full of weird poo poo, I love it. Fur20 fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Sep 29, 2011 |
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Sep 29, 2011 23:32
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On recruiting Dragon, I'm pretty sure if Neidhart is in your party though, you'll be fine and can recruit him. I think it's just having seen him and not having him with you that triggers him coming and killing Dragon.
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Sep 29, 2011 23:39
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Jesto posted:For some reason it seems the best RPGs on the PC are developed in flash. See: The Epic Battle Fantasy series, the Mardek series. I want to play an rpg in HD graphics like Vesperia or Lost Odyssey on the PC though. Seriously, some of this poo poo like LO uses the Unreal Engine, what's stopping them? I'd buy that poo poo in a heartbeat.
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Sep 30, 2011 00:09
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Cake Attack posted:On the flipside, it seems to have been delayed until October 3rd in Canada. I dislike living here when it comes to electronics. We always get poo poo late even though we're America's hat.
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Sep 30, 2011 00:15
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GreenBuckanneer posted:I want to play an rpg in HD graphics like Vesperia or Lost Odyssey on the PC though. Seriously, some of this poo poo like LO uses the Unreal Engine, what's stopping them? I'd buy that poo poo in a heartbeat. Well, there's always The Last Remnant but it's about as far away from a traditional JRPG as it's possible to get
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Sep 30, 2011 01:21
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HondaCivet posted:Don't ask or Meruru will be a detective or exorcist or something on top of all of that. Would this be a bad time to tell you that Meruru adds area development on top of that?  Anyway, I'm somewhat tempted to pick up Totori if only because it's supposed to be significantly better than Rorona. The Arland Atelier games have always left me a little cold just due to how high the "obvious blatant fanservice" quotient was jacked up compared to earlier games, though. (Creepy Otaku poo poo-creep has been a bit of a problem in Gust stuff ever since the Iris games, but it's in the Arland games where it's really gotten out of hand.) Which is too bad, 'cause they really show off all the experience Gust has gained in nearly 15 years' worth of making these sort of games.
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Sep 30, 2011 02:24
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Sakurazuka posted:Well, there's always The Last Remnant but it's about as far away from a traditional JRPG as it's possible to get I don't know about GreenBuckaneer but I'm interested. How is it like?
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Sep 30, 2011 02:52
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Sakurazuka posted:Well, there's always The Last Remnant but it's about as far away from a traditional JRPG as it's possible to get Not even so much a jrpg, but maybe even just like...any rpg. What have we had in the last few years? DA:O? The Witcher? Arguably ME?....what else? That's loving bioware and CD Project. And I already have that game btw.
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Sep 30, 2011 02:52
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SpaceDrake posted:Would this be a bad time to tell you that Meruru adds area development on top of that? Yeah, don't get the Premium Edition then, lots of creepy little girl panty shots and bikini poo poo in the back of the art book.  I'm hoping the game itself will be too busy being fun and pretty to be overly creepy but we'll see. My hopes aren't high. Edit: I don't want to speak too soon but after playing it a bit and remembering what I saw of Rorona, fan service/creepy poo poo only pops up really occasionally in the actual game. Like maybe a character will hit on the 13 year-old lead once in awhile, but it'll be mostly humorous and just one line or two and everyone will move on. I may or may not have seen jiggle physics, it'll take more playtime to verify it since the 3D models of the characters (besides Totori) aren't used for that much. HondaCivet fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Sep 30, 2011 |
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Sep 30, 2011 02:55
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GreenBuckanneer posted:Not even so much a jrpg, but maybe even just like...any rpg. What have we had in the last few years? DA:O? The Witcher? Arguably ME?....what else? That's loving bioware and CD Project. Alpha Protocol, Fallouts 3 and New Vegas, and those are just a few big names. That said, while I definitely won't speak out against those games, sometimes you just want to spike your hair and defeat monsters with the power of FRIENDSHIP™! and swords bigger than yourself.
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Sep 30, 2011 02:58
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CommissarMega posted:Alpha Protocol, Fallouts 3 and New Vegas, and those are just a few big names. That said, while I definitely won't speak out against those games, sometimes you just want to spike your hair and defeat monsters with the power of FRIENDSHIP™! and swords bigger than yourself. Right I've played all of those, and even beat NV, but I'm gonna have to agree. I want my animu uguu~ babes in 1080p with AF and anti aliasing 
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Sep 30, 2011 03:04
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The White Dragon posted:I love Minstrel Song. It's fantastic. It's a little random, but you can kinda game the system and if you're lucky, you'll get a good tech early on (like I did with Golden Note fighting a major non-boss). Would you say the game at least feels like the earlier SaGa games? I don't mind if its "different" or non-linear (or linear), just as long as its not like Unlimited Saga. Sorry guys, I really wanted to love that game, it had great music and really cool art..but ughhh.. I'm really glad I never listened to reviewers with SaGa Frontier or I would have missed out on the game and a whole wasted summer of exploring and grinding while uncovering the strange vague storylines in each quest. I just saw screencaps and fell in love with how the game looked. Fortunately it felt really fun to me too. edit- nm I guess you guys answered that. I think I'll pick it up next time I have money. Dolphin Fetus fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Sep 30, 2011 |
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Sep 30, 2011 03:20
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Gwyrgyn Blood posted:It's one of the best of the series easily. On the downsides, the graphics are a little weird and the English dub is HORRIBLE. It's also pretty roughly put together in a few places, as to be expected from a SaGa game. It's less that the dub is awful (it is) but how the game itself used voices to begin with. Like: I AM ALBERT, SON OF RUDOLPH, LORD OF THE ISTHMUS. I loving know you prick, you tell every rear end in a top hat that. And what the hell's up with the fake wings?
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Sep 30, 2011 03:54
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UselessLurker posted:It's less that the dub is awful (it is) but how the game itself used voices to begin with. I actually loved the voice acting. It's like, everyone knew that they and everyone else in the entire world was so full of poo poo that they just hammed it the gently caress up. It was very fourth-wall, and made the end of the game a billion times better. If only more games could be serious without taking themselves seriously!
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Sep 30, 2011 04:26
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SpaceDrake posted:Would this be a bad time to tell you that Meruru adds area development on top of that? Ahaha, I cannot wait for Moe Alchemist Sim City. quote:Anyway, I'm somewhat tempted to pick up Totori if only because it's supposed to be significantly better than Rorona. After an evening of play I can pretty much vouch for this. There are nitpicks, certainly, but everything seems to flow a lot better. The whole deal where gathering costs time will leave you a nervous goddamn wreck, however.
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Sep 30, 2011 09:52
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Stelas posted:Ahaha, I cannot wait for Moe Alchemist Sim City. I picked up Rorona on a whim and I really couldn't get a hang of it because the drat on screen writing was so small I couldn't read it. I had no idea what the tutorials were even saying so of course I kind of just fumbled around with the game for a few hours and got nowhere. Once this goes down in price I might pick it up to give the series another shot. Do the PS2 games compare?
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Sep 30, 2011 11:22
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The PS2 games are significantly different - they're traditional RPGs that just happen to have a large and involved crafting system tacked on. There's no worrying about time management because there's no time limit, and it becomes more of a 'try to craft 'em all' kind of affair as you hunt recipes and ingredients throughout the game. The RPGs they're attached to are at least reasonably good games. AI2 is probably what I'd call the best of the Atelier series, but the same kind of crafting system shows up in the Ar Tonelico series and in the Mana Khemia series as well. If you're not too worried about having Atelier in the title then I'd probably say the original Mana Khemia is the best PS2 Gust title hands down.
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Sep 30, 2011 11:51
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Dolphin Fetus posted:Would you say the game at least feels like the earlier SaGa games? I don't mind if its "different" or non-linear (or linear), just as long as its not like Unlimited Saga. Sorry guys, I really wanted to love that game, it had great music and really cool art..but ughhh.. Everything bad about Unlimited Saga is not present in Romancing SaGa, and everything good about Unlimited Saga is implemented better in Romancing.
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Sep 30, 2011 17:59
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casual poster posted:I picked up Rorona on a whim and I really couldn't get a hang of it because the drat on screen writing was so small I couldn't read it. I had no idea what the tutorials were even saying so of course I kind of just fumbled around with the game for a few hours and got nowhere. Once this goes down in price I might pick it up to give the series another shot. I'm going to agree with Stelas and say if you're going to pick up one of the ps2 gust games, make it Mana Khemia. It has an excellent battle system and the crafting system is ridiculously addictive.
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Sep 30, 2011 18:07
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The White Dragon posted:I actually loved the voice acting. It's like, everyone knew that they and everyone else in the entire world was so full of poo poo that they just hammed it the gently caress up. It was very fourth-wall, and made the end of the game a billion times better. Did you really just spoiler that a game has an ending?
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Sep 30, 2011 18:54
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Cake Attack posted:I'm going to agree with Stelas and say if you're going to pick up one of the ps2 gust games, make it Mana Khemia. It has an excellent battle system and the crafting system is ridiculously addictive. More awesome than Star Ocean? 1st and 2nd ones?
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Sep 30, 2011 19:00
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I really, really wish they'd remade Romancing Saga 3 on the PS2 with those graphics and poo poo instead of RS1 (Minstrel Song). It's just a better game. 
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Sep 30, 2011 19:02
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casual poster posted:More awesome than Star Ocean? 1st and 2nd ones? Not only are Star Ocean 1 and 2 not made by Gust, but they aren't even PS2 games. You're weird.
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Sep 30, 2011 19:07
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Wendell posted:Did you really just spoiler that a game has an ending? The ending involves the characters, with their hammy voice actors, thanking you personally
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Sep 30, 2011 19:16
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Wendell posted:Not only are Star Ocean 1 and 2 not made by Gust, but they aren't even PS2 games. You're weird. I meant in the item creation sense, not in the other ways.
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Sep 30, 2011 19:18
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casual poster posted:I meant in the item creation sense, not in the other ways. Star Ocean 1's item creation system was absolutely poo poo, and Star Ocean 2's item creation system was... well, it was fun to look at. But it wasn't deep, it was very random, and what specific recipes existed were extremely obscure.
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Sep 30, 2011 19:23
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Star Ocean 2 had 'a lot of items to craft'. Mana Khemia - along with most Gust games - have 'if I use this ingredient and this ingredient, I'll make a bomb that explodes. But if I sub in this mushroom instead, I'll make a bomb that poisons. Neato. If I sub in this item, I'll make a whole new item, and if I can make it at a high quality then I can go back and use it in the same recipe to refine it and make everything else at a higher quality, and tack on the special effect attached to this item...' It's two different worlds.
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Sep 30, 2011 19:51
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Stelas posted:Star Ocean 2 had 'a lot of items to craft'. Pretty much this. If you like Making Stuff in your videogames at all, the Atelier games will blow you away. There is a staggering variety of stuff to make. Really, the Creepy Otaku poo poo-factor is the only thing standing in the way of a lot of people (moi included) recommending the games constantly to everyone, forever, because they are legitimately, truly unlike anything else on the market. And even the COS is a drat shame, because the earlier games (that we never got) basically don't have that problem. You can play them without having to worry if someone will walk in on you during a scene that would be embarrassing... which is something you can't really say with most of the newer games. But yeah, the first Mana Khemia is definitely the best of the PS2 games that we got, as the plot and cast are a lot of fun, the game design is fairly unique even compared to the rest of the series, the translation is at least pretty good and rises to the level of magnificent in a few places, and the COS factor is kept quite minimal, especially compared to stuff like Ar Tonelico and the Arland games. There's another contender for "best PS2 Atelier game overall", but it's sadly one of those that we never got outside of Japan. If you can't find the PS2 version/want to make sure you fling some money at NISA/Gust, the PSP version isn't too bad so long as you get it on the PSN and play from a memory stick. The UMD version has terrible, terrible load times.
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Oct 1, 2011 01:51
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Does the crafting system get deeper as you get further into the game? At least in the beginning of the game everything seems pretty simple. SpaceDrake, your intolerance of Creepy Otaku poo poo, while commendable, must make it really hard to work in the industry you've chosen. 
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Oct 1, 2011 02:05
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Further Totori-talk: I've gained an implicit time limit ('You have three years to be as much of a cool-rear end Adventurer as you can so your license can be renewed') but it doesn't seem to be split into lots of fixed assignments. Instead, what I've got is a series of achievements to try to hit that give adventurer cred and stats - synthesize several types of bomb, or find landmarks at a given location, or fight a certain boss monster, or etc. etc. - and then I've been let loose on the world to pretty much play around as I like. This kind of freedom is staggeringly more fun than Rorona's fixed assignments. Also I unlocked fast-travel around town. Thank god for that. HondaCivet posted:Does the crafting system get deeper as you get further into the game? Chances are very good you're going to have to refine better qualities and play around with item traits. Given you have to go harvest ingredients on a time limit, the Arland games don't have many recipes that require long chains of synthesis, though. Stelas fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Oct 1, 2011 |
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Oct 1, 2011 02:08
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As far as SRPGs go, how is Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars? I saw a cheap copy at Goodwill the other day and I haven't played a GBA game in awhile.
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Oct 1, 2011 13:29
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