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  FMV Games are an interesting, niche genre of game, where you are essentially "playing a movie." Primarily utilizing pre-rendered footage, the gameplay mainly consists of you interacting with and/or triggering various full-motion video files, instead of the more traditional approach of having direct control over assets being rendered in a game engine. FMV Games can be broken up into a few different categories; you have games that rely on fast responses to hit the right buttons at the right time, narrative-based games where your choices can take the story in different directions, games that use more conventional gameplay methods to string together video scenes, and games that might do all or none of those things and don't neatly fit into a category at all. Given their nature, a lot of these games can be pretty short and lack replay value, so it didn't make sense for me to make a thread for each individual game. Instead, this is a thread for doing as many games as I can before I lose interest (Hopefully, at least a couple dozen). Some will be one-off videos where the game is either beaten, or at least considered "thoroughly experienced." Some will have a few parts, either because the games are longer or have more stuff worth showing in extra videos. And there may even be some games that are quite long and will take multiple videos to finish. This is going to be a little bit or everything, but they're all going to heavily feature glorious full-motion video. The majority of these games will be done blind, and I will have a group of  P0LARMic aka Michael - Twitch Michael has joined me in past adventures. You might know him best from our co-op playthrough of the We Were Here series, where we did a perfect job because we are very smart and we never got stuck ever. He also plays a lot of D&D with Calli and Matt.  Callifornia_Dream aka Calli - Twitch Calli is a turtle that became a real girl. She enjoys playing video games and making things out of yarn, and sassing me with her sass mouth. To be fair, though, she sasses all of us, and I do usually deserve it.  Mateo360 aka Matt - Twitch Matt shares my affinity for FMV games, and has already played a bunch of the ones we'll be covering. He can offer some info, insight, and guidance along the way, but is usually just delighted in not only my unleashing of these games upon an unsuspecting Calli and Michael, but on myself as well. Note: I am open to suggestions for games to play! I've been looking at a lot of them, but going in blind like I am, it can be hard to pick one over the other, so go ahead and recommend something. Trying my best to do a variety of old and new, familiar and obscure, good and bad. Another Note: Always be considerate when it comes to spoilers. Avoid saying something if it hasn't been in a video.
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Oct 23, 2023 21:32
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Video List - A look at the history of interactive film and FMV games.                     
Jamesman fucked around with this message at 20:19 on May 2, 2024 |
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Oct 23, 2023 21:33
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 What Is It? - The notorious Sega CD "classic," remastered after 25 years! You are a member of SCAT (seriously), and have hacked into the surveillance cameras and trap system of a strange house where people have been known to disappear. Now a new group arrives at the house, and you must observe and protect them while also using the house's traps to prevent it from being overrun by Augers - vampiric ghouls that skulk about and drain blood from their victims with barbaric devices. A couple questions to start things off. -We got about halfway through Night Trap, and concluded that I would complete the game myself and then we would revisit the "movie" of the scenes stitched together. My question for you, is do you want to see that process of me beating the game, or should we just jump right into watching the movie? -Myst, 7th Guest, and similar titles. Are they FMV games or not? You know my stance already. Jamesman fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Oct 25, 2023 |
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Oct 23, 2023 21:37
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Rama is absolutely my favourite FMV game, the only "classic" FMV game I've ever completed, which I would consider to be a genre of primarily overly ambitious adventure games. But for a while FMV was in everything, though I suppose to call it an "FMV game" and not a "game with FMV elements" the FMV would have to be part of the gameplay and not just the cutscenes. I guess you could maybe argue that Wing Commander 3 and 4 were FMV because there were FMV interactible sections in between missions, for instance. What's the definition used here?
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Oct 23, 2023 21:52
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I'm really excited to check this out and see the project grow. Any chance you'll take a look at Dracula Unleashed for Sega CD? It's one of the more narrative-heavy FMV games from that era, even if the story is....well, it is what it is.
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Oct 23, 2023 21:56
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I still feel Myst and 7th Guest count as FMV. Especially since now we have movies and shows being film on completely digital sets now like the Mandalorian
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Oct 23, 2023 23:23
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My reasoning on what is and isn't and FMV game is more about "What category of FMV game is this?" and "Is this the category I want to focus on?" As I say in the Part 0, there are people who absolutely consider those games to be FMV games; they're games that use a lot of FMV, after all. But when I think of an FMV game, I think of the video portions being more intertwined with the gameplay aspects, leaning more into the "interactive film" or "playing a movie" category. How I remember games like Myst and 7th Guest, the FMVs weren't really a significant aspect in the gameplay, and more of a "feature" that utilized the CD-ROM's capabilities of storage and playback. You were playing a game and sometimes there were movies along the way, like cutscenes. As it stands, it's more something that I thought I'd try to steer away from for this thread in favor of a certain kind of presentation, but depending on where things go with this thread, I wouldn't say I'm against it. If you're thinking "I would really like to see these four share a brain cell to solve Myst together" then I'd absolutely consider it.
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Oct 24, 2023 02:45
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Jamesman posted:Note: I am open to suggestions for games to play! I've been looking at a lot of them, but going in blind like I am, it can be hard to pick one over the other, so go ahead and recommend something. Trying my best to do a variety of old and new, familiar and obscure, good and bad. Having had a Sega CD growing up, I can suggest a few... Tomcat Alley is probably my favorite FMV game overall, for reasons I honestly can't really explain. Ground Zero Texas is solid for point-and-click shooter types. Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is, well, Sherlock Holmes. You know what you're in for with that statement alone. Sewer Shark because obligatory Sega CD pack in. Dragon's Lair is a classic, but with Dirk the Daring on the OP banner I think that one's in already. And hell, I'll second Dracula Unleashed. I sucked at it as a kid and never went back before I lost my Genesis/CD, might be fun to look at again.
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Oct 24, 2023 02:49
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SMaster777 posted:And hell, I'll second Dracula Unleashed. I sucked at it as a kid and never went back before I lost my Genesis/CD, might be fun to look at again. I'm pretty sure that Sherlock Holmes game you mentioned and Dracula Unleashed were made by the same devs, right?
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Oct 24, 2023 02:53
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I think there's an X-Files FMV game.
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Oct 24, 2023 04:11
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Mraagvpeine posted:I think there's an X-Files FMV game. Yes, there is. It's essentially an extra episode of the show in some ways. You don't play as Mulder/Scully, but you get to see a fair number of the other characters. One kind-of obscure one that I think would be great for this is American Hero. It was entirely conceived of as an interactive movie, where quick-time events alter the plot. It went unfinished for two decades until they finally pieced it into a releasable state, including with some newly-recorded dialogue. It has about 2 hours of footage, though a given playthrough of the plot likely only takes about 30 minutes. Another, more modern one is The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker. The gameplay is similar to Her Story in that you're looking for keywords, except that you're speaking with the characters 'live', and there are more people. If you do LP it, be aware that it randomizes the 'roles' that the characters might have in the central mystery. And while I don't think it really fits for this thread, the list of FMV games includes one of the best games ever made, which takes 'interactive movie' to a whole new level. It's an interactive environment where at any given moment every character is participating in a scene, and you may need to get involved. It is sometimes not thought of as 'video', but it was rotoscoped from a painstakingly-detailed set : The Last Express. Kangra fucked around with this message at 05:51 on Oct 24, 2023 |
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Oct 24, 2023 05:46
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theenglishman posted:I'm pretty sure that Sherlock Holmes game you mentioned and Dracula Unleashed were made by the same devs, right? Correct, they also did Shadowgate and its kin... which kinda explains a lot honestly.
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Oct 24, 2023 06:55
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Mraagvpeine posted:I think there's an X-Files FMV game. It is also notoriously difficult to get work nowadays
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Oct 24, 2023 15:47
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I don't think Myst is an FMV game but Myst slaps so you should play it regardless.
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Oct 24, 2023 20:01
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mateo360 posted:It is also notoriously difficult to get work nowadays It's been almost four years, but I think I used PCem to play it and it ran without any issues.
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Oct 24, 2023 20:16
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Jamesman posted:-We got about halfway through Night Trap, and concluded that I would complete the game myself and then we would revisit the "movie" of the scenes stitched together. My question for you, is do you want to see that process of me beating the game, or should we just jump right into watching the movie? Still would like some feedback on how you want to see Night Trap progress.
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Oct 25, 2023 00:51
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Jamesman posted:Still would like some feedback on how you want to see Night Trap progress. do both. Show how chaotic a perfect run is and then we watch the movie with all the story bits
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Oct 25, 2023 01:05
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Jamesman posted:Note: I am open to suggestions for games to play! I've been looking at a lot of them, but going in blind like I am, it can be hard to pick one over the other, so go ahead and recommend something. Trying my best to do a variety of old and new, familiar and obscure, good and bad. Harvester 
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Oct 26, 2023 08:40
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Jamesman posted:
Jamesman posted:How I remember games like Myst and 7th Guest, the FMVs weren't really a significant aspect in the gameplay, and more of a "feature" that utilized the CD-ROM's capabilities of storage and playback. You were playing a game and sometimes there were movies along the way, like cutscenes. Archenteron posted:Harvester
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Oct 26, 2023 15:58
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 What Is It? - Nick Box, aka Nik Box, is a filmmaker specializing in short exploitation movies. Looking to branch out into game development, he has experimented by using footage from his films, and building loose game mechanics around them. In Wrath of the Violent Vicar, Father Luke is tormented by Reverend Drago and his goons, so Jesus encourages him to kill them (and others). Along the way, we make a few choices, like if we want footage to be pointlessly looped, or if we want Jesus to be really loud or not. Also features a brief look at another one of his games, The Boy in the Dark. We WILL be doing at least one more Nick Box game in the future.
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Oct 26, 2023 16:02
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Just thought of another game: Phantasmagoria
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Oct 26, 2023 18:37
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I feel like modern FMV just... doesn't have the... weirdness of old FMV? The crunchiness and jankiness were part of what made them memorable. Like, a modern FMV game is almost purely going to be made because you have someone like the Super Seducer chudlord who wants to show off their own face, or because people KNOW it's janky and crunchy, which isn't as funny. Part of the entertainment of old FMV was the conviction that it was going to be an exciting new paradigm, really putting their all into it and sometimes getting actual skilled actors in there to deliver their best next to just some random office people who were in that day. PurpleXVI fucked around with this message at 13:02 on Oct 31, 2023 |
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Oct 31, 2023 12:59
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PurpleXVI posted:I feel like modern FMV just... doesn't have the... weirdness of old FMV? The crunchiness and jankiness were part of what made them memorable. The early FMV examples have a certain charm in either being pioneers, or being really unusual. There was a sort of "anything goes" mentality with gaming, in general, during those 80's and 90's that really doesn't exist anymore, outside of indie games. But yeah, even in that scope, FMV games have become a bit more settled into certain type of game. You can still find some pretty weird things here and there if you look hard enough, and I have been trying and I've been very lucky to have Matt also on the lookout for stuff. I can't say if it'll be self-aware, funny, good, bad, etc, but I can say they will be FMV games. Here, have a new video;  What Is It? - Come on, you KNEW this was coming. A concept created by Rick Dyer, and a film animated by Don Bluth come together to create an interactive film that took the world by storm. Press the right buttons at the right time to get Dirk the Daring through the dreaded castle, so he can rescue Princess Daphne from the dragon. Its legacy includes numerous ports and sequels and plenty of games that copied its formula (We'll see one such example next time). Dragon's Lair is an acquired taste today, but you cannot ignore its impact on gaming.
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Nov 1, 2023 21:21
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This loving game. I would consider it to be the nadir of FMV games, pretty much, just a trial-and-error sequence until you get through or run out of coins.
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Nov 3, 2023 02:44
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 What Is It? - A joint venture being Taito and Toei, Time Gal is one of a few "Dragon's Lair Clones" that came out in the wake of that game's success. The story isn't very clearly laid out in the game itself, but it involves a criminal named Luda who steals a time machine to do evil things. Reika, a member of some sort of Time Police or something, then basically searches through various time periods to find and defeat Luda. Hijinks ensue. It generally uses the same formula as Dragon's Lair, but has actual on-screen prompts for the player, so the game is more about reaction speed than trial-and-error guessing games. However, there are occasional "Time Stop" segments where you have a few seconds to choose from 3 options, with only one being correct. This game only ever left Japan in the form of a Sega CD port, with completely redrawn animations that better suited the console's technology, but it's seen a few releases in Japan over the years, with an upcoming Switch release as part of a Taito LD Game Collection, which will apparently also include a brand-new sequel.
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Nov 7, 2023 16:38
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QTE's: The Game.
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Nov 9, 2023 18:54
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 What Is It? - I Fall In Love Too Easily, aka Love Too Easily, is a small Kickstarter project that sought to combine FMV games with K-drama rom-coms, and a dash of Flash minigames thrown in for good measure. It was released in August of 2023, meaning it is one of the newest FMV games to be shown off for this thread. Yeonwoo and her classmates have a night of a bit too much drinking. She wakes up the next day at home with a hangover and a vague memory that someone kissed her, but can't recall who. Throughout the day, she tries to put the pieces of last night together and figure out who it was, and where they go from there. Will she find and confront the right person? Will they explore their feelings and become a couple? Will James survive the ridicule of his friends as he attempts very basic puzzles? I also want to note that I'm planning to stream tonight to take part in Goati_'s Gamer of the Year Challenge. The challenge is you try to earn points for completing specific tasks in up to 100 different games, and whoever has the most points by the end of the month can win a prize of $600. Since we all know I'm Good At Games, and since I could absolutely use $600, I figured I'd test the waters tonight and see what I can accomplish. Backseating is encouraged, so if you wanna drop in around 8pm EST tonight and give me some tips to help me with some of the challenges, or just cheer me on, it'd be super appreciated. https://www.twitch.tv/jamesplaysgamesttv Jamesman fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Nov 10, 2023 |
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Nov 9, 2023 20:20
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Since the thread has been talking about older FMV games, I completely forgot about the very recent (but very, very good) Not for Broadcast! That absolutely has to be on your list, James, trust me.
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Nov 9, 2023 22:39
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theenglishman posted:Since the thread has been talking about older FMV games, I completely forgot about the very recent (but very, very good) Not for Broadcast! That absolutely has to be on your list, James, trust me. I'd like to second this, and on the older side I'd like to throw Gabriel Knight 2: Beast Within into the pot.
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Nov 11, 2023 17:30
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Nov 15, 2023 21:07
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To be fair, she did ask her friend who's phone it was when she called, and her friend refused to answer. But also she's had plenty of opportunities to find out and not taken them so that's one point in her favour and many against.
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Nov 16, 2023 16:49
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Tiggum posted:To be fair, she did ask her friend who's phone it was when she called, and her friend refused to answer. But also she's had plenty of opportunities to find out and not taken them so that's one point in her favour and many against. If I had one complaint about the game, it's that the writing is way too comfortable with everyone not communicating. I get it, k-drama tropes or whatever, but it didn't need to be this way. Can forgive it and everything else for the ramen song, though. Game's cute.
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Nov 17, 2023 00:36
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 We've reached one of the game's 12 endings. I do plan to do a bonus video that shows off another path and the remaining minigames, but I don't want to show off every ending or anything like that, per the developer's wishes. It's a cute enough game with a lot of replayability, so I'd recommend it, if it seems like your kinda thing.
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Nov 26, 2023 21:37
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Jamesman posted:Note: I am open to suggestions for games to play!
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Nov 30, 2023 18:21
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Just going to second Sewer Shark and add Daedalus Encounter to the pile of games.
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Dec 1, 2023 03:41
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 What Is It? - Take all the fun of playing poker by yourself, and add in 3 celebrities that were available for an afternoon. There's no rhyme or reason for these three people to share a room, and any chemistry that could have been found was fully removed by isolating each performance into short, repetitive videos. Jonathan Frakes seems to be the most invested and offers a presence of someone who actually plays poker. Morgan Fairchild seems mostly clueless and is playing the role of someone who plays poker. And Joe Piscopo hams it up with terrible impressions and jokes in a desperate bid for attention. It's quite the experience. Fun Fact: They actually were all in a room together, as evidenced by the bonus "out-takes" video that comes with the game. It's leaps and bounds better than the game itself, but that's not saying much.
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Dec 1, 2023 20:44
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By the way, I'm not ignoring any of the suggestions in the thread. I've written them all down to look at. Some of them I was already familiar with and was thinking of doing anyway, and some are ones I had not considered. It does help to know what there is an interest in, but I do also like throwing in stuff that people maybe had not even considered. One thing I have to consider is how long some of these games are. While many FMV games are relatively short due to the nature of production, some of the suggestions and some of the games I've been eyeing are longer endeavors. Considering I've been roughly able to get together with everyone once a week for a few hours, and one of them is about to have a baby, I'd been wanting to focus more on shorter experiences so we could have more variety for the thread before an inevitable break as we enter the new year. But eventually, things should settle into a routine again and we'd be able to tackle some of the bigger games.
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Dec 1, 2023 21:14
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Thought of another one: If you're in the mood for it and it's something that doesn't break your dome, or you're just a Dungeonmaster Eeyore, you should give a demo of MODE. And/or the other game to use the same interface, Midnight Stranger. I don't know that it'd be worth trying to go through the whole game, since you can just show off a few encounters and that's enough to see what it has to offer. I believer both may also have some R-rated sexual encounters in them (though they are easily avoidable).
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Dec 2, 2023 01:25
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There's also the predecessor to MODE, Gothos. It's a Vampire the Masquerade LARP as an FMV game. It works with the same "select a mood" conversation system as MODE, but it's implemented awkwardly. Several of the actors in Gothos also appeared in MODE.
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Dec 2, 2023 02:03
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How about Thunder in Paradise?
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Dec 2, 2023 12:07
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