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Sonic Anniversary Retrospective - NIGHTS into Dreams

RK128

Member
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For the retrospective, we take a turn to a Sonic Team gem that you might have not played before; NIGHTS into Dreams :D! Going to be covering some SEGA and Sonic Team games in-between my coverage on the Sonic, but while Ristar should be first, I want to cover this first.

Mainly from it popping up in so many Sonic games. The game got a pinball table in Sonic Adventure for example :).
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This game was made by Sonic Team after work on Sonic & Knuckles and Ristar wrapped up, with them wanting to move on from Sonic after making four successful games in the series. SEGA Japan was cool with this, so they let them make new IP on Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast while other developers worked with the Sonic IP. We saw this with 3D Blast, Spinball and the Game Gear games for example :).

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Anyway, the core idea behind NIGHTS was 'Can we bring Sonic into the air?', with the game still being 2D at its core, but 3D elements were still present (flying into the screen at points, playing with level gimmicks, ect). Like Sonic CD and Knuckles Chaotix, they also wanted to have some trippy looking visuals, to reflect the idea that you are flying through dreams children are dreaming up.

Detailed in the video released alongside the 2012 HD remaster of the game, Sonic Team heads talked with psychologists and experts with dreams to get a better understanding of the concept and it took off in 1996 on the Sega Saturn as one of the biggest games for the console.

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Lets get to the gameplay next! Like I said, its Sonic in the air, with you being able to move quite fast all over the place but unlike Sonic, you have full analog control. You can go in any direction on the stick and it pushes NIGHTS in that angle. It is impressive, as few games during 1996 use the analog stick in such a major way (outside of Mario 64 to control Mario's movement speed).

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You have a button to move faster and if you move around in a circle around objects it can attract multiple items at once. You can also fly into foes and after pressing the dash button, it sends them flying in a direction NIGHTS aims. Lastly, you can interact with the levels in fun ways, with you swinging on polls and interacting with areas that can send NIGHTS flying.

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So, does this sound fun? Why yes, it is :).

The game is a blast as you are tunneled forward in an effort to get enough orbs in each lap around the track, as after you complete all the laps with the max amount of orbs, you get some time to rack up more points.

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Then it cuts to a boss fights using the games core mechanics (flying into foes, sending them into spikes, ect).

- - - - -

You have a ranking system as well and......this is where the game annoys me a bit. While you aren't locked out of stages, it feels disapointing when you complete a stage, feeling like you got a great run, but you only get a D or C rank.

It pushes you to get better with repeated replays but still, it is a bit annoying.

- - - - -

The music like all Sonic Team games sounds amazing, with it really having that dream-like feel echoing with the soundtrack.
The Amazing Water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn5_i5kePmY&index=7&list=PL31A0ED4D8F0D5129
Sowing Seeds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfIdLPD1pPg&index=10&list=PL31A0ED4D8F0D5129
Spring Valley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyhaZ3TgVlk&list=PL31A0ED4D8F0D5129&index=12
NIGHTS vs. Reala: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddfqDW096bQ&index=13&list=PL31A0ED4D8F0D5129

Richard (who composed the 3D Blast Saturn and Sonic Boom 3DS scores) also made a really damn good remix of a few NIGHT's themes for the NIGHTS track in Racing Transformed :).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqE3B5KQA-I

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Some last things to point out before I cover my overall thoughts:
-Christmas NIGHTS released Fall 1996 with a unique themed Spring Valley level and a nice bonus of Sonic being playable in the Saturn version!
-The games HD re-release has some issues with the controls (not having analog control) but was latter fixed in a post-launch updated. You can switch between Saturn and HD looks and both look very nice.
-The HD version is based on the PS2 Re-Release that came out only in Japan.

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Overall, this game is a nice experiment from Sonic Team to try and branch out from Sonic. They wanted to do some cool things with the core Sonic style but wanted to do something really new with it. It is a case where Sonic Team had a fun idea and was allowed to let it grow into a full-on experience, rather then try to make it fit within the Sonic IP.

I love when Sonic Team does this and it shows how talented the studio can really be. NIGHTS is a great action game that does a lot of things right. If you own a PC, PS3 and 360, its easy to play the game thanks to its 2012 Re-Release.

Give the game a shot and lets have a nice dream :D.

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Just wanted to clarify why I am covering more then just Sonic.

1) Sonic Team made more then just Sonic: They have ALOT of games without Sonic on the cover, so I want to give that justice. There are some surprising connections to the Sonic series in some of these games (Nights being Sonic in the sky, Ristar being an inspiration for the Werehog decades later, Burning Rangers being in many ways a prototype to Sonic Adventure, ect).

2) Going to cover the All Stars Series: Considering how many SEGA IP are in this spin-off series and how the two awesome racing games have Sonic's name front and center, going to give some of those franchises some time :).

3) Want to make this retrospective a bit longer until the Anniversary game is announced: I want my series of threads to close with Generations, with that thread going up not long after the anniversary game is announced. So padding things out a bit with some great SEGA games isn't a bad idea XD!

I am going to be starting another retrospective in the future (Ratchet & Clank) and I plan on doing a lot more of these in the future too :).

But I want to give SEGA as much love as I'm giving Sonic, so hopefully you all don't mind me covering the odd Sega game once every week or so :D.
 
NiGHTS is the game that got me back into gaming after I had fallen off at the end of the 16-bit era. I know some people hate the game and that's fine, but there's a satisfying feel to the flight and when you've put some time into it and you get a really solid run going on a level, it's just so fun.

It might've been done somewhere else prior, but this was the first time I'd played a game where the level music would alter slightly over time. I'm not sure if it's by an internal timer or what, but the main example I can give is the Soft Museum, which sounds like the soundtrack on initial run, but sounds slightly different after putting some time into the game. I thought this was pretty cool as well.

I don't remember where I read it, but there was a review that said, "when I play this, I feel happy" and I think that kinda sums up my take on it. Probably my favorite Saturn game, or a toss-up between this and PDS.
 
NiGHTS is the game that got me back into gaming after I had fallen off at the end of the 16-bit era. I know some people hate the game and that's fine, but there's a satisfying feel to the flight and when you've put some time into it and you get a really solid run going on a level, it's just so fun.

It might've been done somewhere else prior, but this was the first time I'd played a game where the level music would alter slightly over time. I'm not sure if it's by an internal timer or what, but the main example I can give is the Soft Museum, which sounds like the soundtrack on initial run, but sounds slightly different after putting some time into the game. I thought this was pretty cool as well.

I don't remember where I read it, but there was a review that said, "when I play this, I feel happy" and I think that kinda sums up my take on it. Probably my favorite Saturn game, or a toss-up between this and PDS.

I think I know what you mean when talking about music changing over time; it might be from the game's track playing after you get across different 'rounds' or something.

The game oozes happiness and can make anyone simile, so I can agree with that review quote XD!

Thank you for posting here and I hope you enjoyed the OP :D.
 
My favorite Sonic game, right next to Ristar and Billy Hatcher.

I know its a joke, but I agree with you that Billy Hatcher, NIGHTs, & Ristar are great games XD!

Sonic-like designs and characters appear in Sonic Team IP a lot :).

Edit: I think you mean Sonic-like, so I'm sorry if my comment came off as rude or anything. Will get to it when I cover those games, but both Ristar and Billy Hatcher use Sonic-like elements really well.
 
I think I know what you mean when talking about music changing over time; it might be from the game's track playing after you get across different 'rounds' or something.

The AI sound system has four levels of emotion. Angry, average, happy, and cheerful. Each of the songs is split up into multiple parts which can each have different levels of emotion. The level is determined by what you do to the nightopians during the game. Christmas Nights actually includes a feature that allows you to play the music playing around with the AI sound emotion levels.
 
Nights is such a cool and original game. I love it so much.

I think the game shines when you're play it like an arcade game, trying to bet your best scores. It's a blast when you got the hang of it and you're blazing through the stage.

Also, the Mepians minigame is kind of fun, and very original. The A-Life System (that later got revamped for Chaos in Sonic Adventure) puts these tiny midgets (Mepians) all over the stage. They interact with the player since they're inside an egg (hatching them with care will make them happy towards you, but if you hatch them violently or rush against them a lot they can fear you). They also interact between them (singing, dancing, playing...) and with monsters (they can be feed monsters to evolve, much like Chaos).

Worth to note that also Mepians state influence the music on the stage (each stage have 4 remixes, and the game can mix parts of them into 1 track, giving it a lot of possible results.).
That means that every time you play a stage it will result in a slightly different track, because the Mepian AI is always working (even if you don't interact with them directly).

Some of these remixes are better than the original tracks IMO!. (Can't link them right now cause I'm at work.)

Overall, Nights is a sign of how creative could Sonic Team be (before they went to shit)

EDIT: Beaten like a Mepian by Abacus :(
 
The AI sound system has four levels of emotion. Angry, average, happy, and cheerful. Each of the songs is split up into multiple parts which can each have different levels of emotion. The level is determined by what you do to the nightopians during the game. Christmas Nights actually includes a feature that allows you to play the music playing around with the AI sound emotion levels.

Really......never knew this before XD!

Will pay attention to this for future playthroughs of the game :).
 
If you're gonna cover non-Sonic Sonic Team games, can you give this one a shot? It's one of the most strangest yet imaginative games I've seen.

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I played NiGHTS so much on my cousins Saturn i loved the character designs and it was really influential on my taste now as an adult. Its rough to go back to but nothing will ever disappoint me more than the sequel i was crushed when i got it. Even still ill replay the Saturn game when i can even with it not holding up the best it still means a lot to me
 
Yuji Naka also created a game called Rodea the Sky Solider and the Wii version (programmed by Prope) is probably as close as you get to a spiritual successor to NiGHTs compared to the uttery disappointing JoD sequel.
 
If you're gonna cover non-Sonic Sonic Team games, can you give this one a shot? It's one of the most strangest yet imaginative games I've seen.

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......Never played this before, but......what the hell, might as well find a spot of it :).

Heard its like Wario Ware but stranger.
 
Interesting read, OP! I'm looking forward to your Ristar retrospective, it was one of my favorite games on the Genesis!
 
Interesting read, OP! I'm looking forward to your Ristar retrospective, it was one of my favorite games on the Genesis!

Thank you :D! Loved what I played of Ristar in the past, so should be fun going back to it :).

Yuji Naka also created a game called Rodea the Sky Solider and the Wii version (programmed by Prope) is probably as close as you get to a spiritual successor to NiGHTs compared to the uttery disappointing JoD sequel.

That looks......really uncontrollable :(. Granted, it likely plays better then it looks from that footage but still, looks really nuts control wise.

Its like a hyrbid between Sonic Adventure and NIGHTS, but with pointer controls for the homing attack. Might try this out in the future if I can find it.
 
NiGHTS might be my favorite Sega game. Still a game I play through a few times a year.

The Wii game isn't THAT bad. The voice acting is terrible and the on-foot portions suck (I'm not really making a great case so far...) but the traditional flying levels are pretty fun overall.
 
NiGHTS might be my favorite Sega game. Still a game I play through a few times a year.

The Wii game isn't THAT bad. The voice acting is terrible and the on-foot portions suck (I'm not really making a great case so far...) but the traditional flying levels are pretty fun overall.

If I am remembering things right, it was supposed to be on the 360 but SEGA forced Sonic Team to put it on the Wii, rushing the game out to market.

So, that could explain why the game has a lot of problems. Never played the Wii game and I really don't plan too :(.
 
I remember seeing ads for NiGHTS when it was still on market and thinking it was the coolest looking thing ever. It just had this... presence that was magical. It wouldn't be until over a decade later that I would finally pick up a Saturn and a copy of NiGHTS.

And good god almighty, what a blast I had. It ended up becoming one of my favorite games of all time. It really is just timeless. I didn't even care about the rough graphics or presentation. It was just such a well-crafted game that I couldn't help but fall in love with it. Makes me want to go pick it up and play again.

I wonder what a sequel would look like. I'm sure it would have been amazing and not a pile of garbage that fails to capture the greatness of the original. Oh well, I guess we'll never know. We'll just have to deal with there only being one perfect entry. With no sequel whatsoever.
 
If I am remembering things right, it was supposed to be on the 360 but SEGA forced Sonic Team to put it on the Wii, rushing the game out to market.

So, that could explain why the game has a lot of problems. Never played the Wii game and I really don't plan too :(.

Yeah, it definitely could have and should have been better. It's not an essential game but it's still really cheap I think, so it's worth playing for a little while for anyone who's curious.
 
Yeah, it definitely could have and should have been better. It's not an essential game but it's still really cheap I think, so it's worth playing for a little while for anyone who's curious.

If I find it at a good price, might give it a shot :). Might consider adding it to the Retrospective if I can find enough to talk about.
 
You have a ranking system as well and......this is where the game annoys me a bit. While you aren't locked out of stages, it feels disapointing when you complete a stage, feeling like you got a great run, but you only get a D or C rank.

It pushes you to get button with repeated replays but still, it is a bit annoying.

The ranking system is where NiGHTS comes to life as one of the greatest score attack games ever made, though.


Around the time that JoD came out, Sega also released the NiGHTS into Dreams Perfect Album, which includes all the mood variants and Christmas NiGHTS music.
 
The ranking system is where NiGHTS comes to life as one of the greatest score attack games ever made, though.

Around the time that JoD came out, Sega also released the NiGHTS into Dreams Perfect Album, which includes all the mood variants and Christmas NiGHTS music.

Guess I'm not a fan of score attack in games XD! Didn't like that in the latter Sonic's either, so I guess that is my personal preference or something :).

Still think NIGHTS is an amazing game, just didn't like the ranking system.
 
NiGHTS might be my favorite Sega game. Still a game I play through a few times a year.

The Wii game isn't THAT bad. The voice acting is terrible and the on-foot portions suck (I'm not really making a great case so far...) but the traditional flying levels are pretty fun overall.

Yes I agree. I enjoyed Journey of Dreams on the Wii. About the voice acting: the character Nights really should always be mute, but I admit I kinda liked that British accent on the Wii game...

And the original Nights + Christmas have one of the best videogame soundtracks ever!
 
Around the time that JoD came out, Sega also released the NiGHTS into Dreams Perfect Album, which includes all the mood variants and Christmas NiGHTS music.

And the Sweet Snow version of Dreams Dreams by Jasmine Ann Allen, the original female child lead for Dream Dreams in the original NiGHTS.
 
The ranking system is where NiGHTS comes to life as one of the greatest score attack games ever made, though.

This is what the JoD guys completely missed about NiGHTS. At its heart it was one of the last vestiges of arcade style score attack. You just had the fortune of having infinite quarters. Those times when you figure out an infinite link system and then practice it until you can nail it every time. It's an addictive bit of mastery building and gives you a real sense of accomplishment.
 
I didn't play this game until a few years ago when the HD remaster released.

Great and addicting game. This is one of those games that has a certain charm to it that I love.
 
Love this game. When I first tried the HD demo, I just didn't care for it. Wasn't until approaching it as the arcade score game it was that it became really fun. Zipping around the same track, gaining more and more finesse each time, it's a satisfying game loop.

Don't like the Boss Battles one bit though. They're a total momentum stopper. The score multiplier they hand out is also too big, you can have a poor stage run higher on your leaderboards than a near perfect just because you messed up the boss on the latter. Takes away some of the grandeur when you see this AWESOME run not even get on your leaderboards, you know?
 
Truly a magical moment for me, especially once I figured out the trick and scoring system. Totally zen-like. Soundtrack from the gods too.

Burning Rangers was such a letdown by comparison. :( I'd love a modern remake of this game.
 
One of the things that really impressed me with NiGHTS into Dreams having only played it for the first time recently was how well the story elements were done, especially considering how notorious Sonic Team would later become for their overly talky and excessive in-engine cutscenes.
 
One of the things that really impressed me with NiGHTS into Dreams having only played it for the first time recently was how well the story elements were done, especially considering how notorious Sonic Team would later become for their overly talky and excessive in-engine cutscenes.

They have the story take place within the gameplay, which is something Sonic Team did well on the Genesis too (Sonic 3&K). I guess wanted to tell more 'grand' stories with latter games but the most powerful moment in Sonic Adventure was Gammas ending.....and that had no dialog at all.
 
Burning Rangers had that awesome Takenobu theme.

Burning Rangers is something I really look forward to covering, as I never played it before :).

It has such a great soundtrack that screams SEGA and the game as a whole from what I saw of it online really looks like Sonic Team's prototype to Sonic Adventure, more so then the Sonic World portion of Sonic Jam.

Will touch on it when I get to it but still, very excited to touch on that game in the future :).
 
Saturn is my favorite console ever, and I spent a LOT of time playing Nights and Burning Rangers. I love those two games.
Burning Rangers has a crazy high replayability because the layout of the stages begin to change drastically after enough play-throughs.

They represent well the spirit and creativity of Sega games back then (would like to mention Jet Set Radio and Panzer Dragoon too). True gems.
 
Saturn is my favorite console ever, and I spent a LOT of time playing Nights and Burning Rangers. I love those two games.
Burning Rangers has a crazy high replayability because the layout of the stages begin to change drastically after enough play-throughs.

They represent well the spirit and creativity of Sega games back then (would like to mention Jet Set Radio and Panzer Dragoon too). True gems.

The Saturn and Dreamcast eras were when SEGA were, well, SEGA :D!

They throw tons ideas on the wall and they all seemed to stick. This even extended to the early 2000's when they went third party with a lot of Xbox and GameCube titles.

Shame they lost 'that spark' but when SEGA is SEGA, they are awesome.
 
I was confused with the thread title for a second there. I thought some sort of crossover was announced.

NiGHTS is great. What an absolute joy to play in small bursts!
 
I was confused with the thread title for a second there. I thought some sort of crossover was announced.

NiGHTS is great. What an absolute joy to play in small bursts!

I'm sorry for the confusion XD!

It is clear that when I cover a Sonic game, its part of the Retrospective I'm doing here on Gaf.

But when I start lumping other Sega games into the mix, its a bit confusing (as I'm just covering the game for no real reason). If you can think of a better way to label the SEGA/Sonic Team games that aren't Sonic, I'm open to suggestions :D.
 
Nights is my favorite game.

Probably a combination of age (13 in 1996) and what else I was consuming at the time, but it captured my attention for months with it came out, and then intermittently for years.

Messing around with the Nightopians and the luck that came with creating Mepians kept the game going well after I had perfected my runs on all the levels. I even managed to form the elusive king pian towers at some point (not my video).

Soft Museum's ground morphing, along with Panzer Dragoon Saga's real-time dragon morphing, were probably my favorite vfx on Saturn.
 
Nights is my favorite game.

Probably a combination of age (13 in 1996) and what else I was consuming at the time, but it captured my attention for months with it came out, and then intermittently for years.

Messing around with the Nightopians and the luck that came with creating Mepians kept the game going well after I had perfected my runs on all the levels. I even managed to form the elusive king pian towers at some point (not my video).

Soft Museum's ground morphing, along with Panzer Dragoon Saga's real-time dragon morphing, were probably my favorite vfx on Saturn.

The visuals of NIGHTS are really impressive and really shows what the Saturn could do. Burning Rangers apparently pushes the Saturn to its limits, with it having transparency (something few Saturn games used) and having a ton of detail.

Sonic Team new how to make the Saturn sing for sure :). ......Shame they never made a Sonic game that did this but at least they showed how it could of been with Sonic Jam.
 
Overall, this game is a nice experiment from Sonic Team to try and branch out from Sonic. They wanted to do some cool things with the core Sonic style but wanted to do something really new with it. It is a case where Sonic Team had a fun idea and was allowed to let it grow into a full-on experience, rather then try to make it fit within the Sonic IP.

I love when Sonic Team does this and it shows how talented the studio can really be. NIGHTS is a great action game that does a lot of things right. If you own a PC, PS3 and 360, its easy to play the game thanks to its 2012 Re-Release.

Honestly - and I know i might catch shit for this - I think NiGHTS was a better game than any Sonic title. Heresy I'm sure, but here me out.

The intent of Sonic's gameplay never seems to jive with what a 2D (or 3D) sidescroller is capable of. The wonderful sense of speed and fluidity the game is capable of capturing is frequently interrupted by obstacles or mandatory slower 2D platforming elements. It's almost like it's caught between worlds. I love the 2D and 3D sonic games, but I've always felt that tension in the gameplay.

Whereas NiGHTs really feels like one of the most fluid play experiences available. It's literally just taking Sonic and removing him from the ground, thus removing the interruptions in fluidity like chunky platforming and obstacles blocking your path.

Ultimately it's wonderful to have both options, but at a time when Mario 64 was taking Mario into the 3rd dimension in a fairly straightforward (yet still magnificent fasion), I think NiGHTs represented real innovation in a platformer the likes of which we've never really seen before or since.
 
Honestly - and I know i might catch shit for this - I think NiGHTS was a better game than any Sonic title. Heresy I'm sure, but here me out.

The intent of Sonic's gameplay never seems to jive with what a 2D (or 3D) sidescroller is capable of. The wonderful sense of speed and fluidity the game is capable of capturing is frequently interrupted by obstacles or mandatory slower 2D platforming elements. It's almost like it's caught between worlds. I love the 2D and 3D sonic games, but I've always felt that tension in the gameplay.

Whereas NiGHTs really feels like one of the most fluid play experiences available. It's literally just taking Sonic and removing him from the ground, thus removing the interruptions in fluidity like chunky platforming and obstacles blocking your path.

Ultimately it's wonderful to have both options, but at a time when Mario 64 was taking Mario into the 3rd dimension in a fairly straightforward (yet still magnificent fasion), I think NiGHTs represented real innovation in a platformer the likes of which we've never really seen before or since.

There was a reason that we never got a Saturn Sonic Team developed Sonic title (outside of the obvious reason of them being too busy); they felt content with NIGHTS being the Sonic for the system.

I would agree that NIGHTS core gameplay is a bit more natural then the 2D Sonic games but both are fundamentally different games. Sonic is rooted firmly as the platformer, while NIGHTS is unbound flying in the sky; leads to both being unique for very different reasons.

I don't love NIGHTS as much compared to my attachment to the Sonic series but I respect it for trying something new and different while using Sonic's 'Core' gameplay as a strong base. Lead to a strong game that holds up 20 years latter :).

They did this with Billy Hatcher too but it leans a bit more on the Mario-side of things (more traditional platforming vs. running super fast).
 
Best game on the saturn imo, just controlled fantastically. I never really mastered how to do the gilwing paraloop properly although i fluked it once
 
Not a fan of NiGHTs personally but cool for those who like them.

Since we're talking Sonic Team are you going to cover Ristar, Billy Hatcher, Samba de Amigo and Phantasy Star Online series (including Universe) etc too?
 
Not a fan of NiGHTs personally but cool for those who like them.

Since we're talking Sonic Team are you going to cover Ristar, Billy Hatcher, Samba de Amigo and Phantasy Star Online series (including Universe) etc too?

Going to cover the following:
-Ristar
-Billy Hatcher
-Samba De Amigo
-Pyo Pop
-Phantasy Star Online Series
-Feel the Magic (DS Games Sonic Team Made)

Also going to cover some SEGA published games too:
-Shinobi
-VC Series
-Vectorman
-Comix Zone
-Platinum Games Sega Titles

I listed a lot more in the Sonic Retrospective Thread under the SEGA/Sonic Team section and will try to cover one/two SEGA games every week. Might not always play the games or beat them but its nice covering SEGA history before touching on Sega All Stars latter in the Modern Era :).
 
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