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 Mirror's Edge Catalyst is an action-adventure platformer developed by EA DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in June 2016 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. This game is a little bit of an oddity as it is neither prequel, sequel, or remake. If anything, it's a reboot of a franchise that only had one game. No matter how you label it, Catalyst is a fitting successor to the original Mirror's Edge. The game focuses on first person freerunning (or parkour) to get from point A to B, with some climbing, platforming, and combat sequences thrown in. The game got mixed reviews with many people commenting that the basic freerunning mechanics are quite good, but the combat, story, characters, and pretty much everything else about the game are solidly mediocre. For the most part if you liked the first Mirror's Edge, you'll probably like this one. If you didn't like the first Mirror's Edge, it's extremely unlikely that this one does anything that would bring you around. Speaking of the original Mirror's Edge, there will probably be many comments referencing or comparing the two games so if you've never seen or played it, check out the LP I did. Videos: 01 - The City of Glass (polsy) 02 - Reunion (polsy) 03 - Old Friends (polsy) XX - TV Broadcasts 01 (polsy) 04 - Back In The Game (polsy) 05 - Mischief Maker (polsy) 06 - Savant Extraordinaire (polsy) 07 - The Metagrid (polsy) XX - TV Broadcasts 02 (polsy) 08 - Benefactor (polsy) 09 - Fly Trap (polsy) 10 - Sanctuary (polsy) XX - TV Broadcasts 03 (polsy) 11 - Vive La Resistance (polsy) 12 - Top of the World (polsy) 13 - Payback (polsy) 14 - Prisoner X (polsy) XX - TV Broadcasts 04 (polsy) 15 - Thy Kingdom Come (polsy) XX - TV Broadcasts 05 (polsy) 16 - Family Matters (polsy) XX - TV Broadcasts 06 (polsy) 17 - Exit Strategy (polsy) 18 - The Shard (polsy) XX - TV Broadcasts 07 (polsy) FrenzyTheKillbot fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Oct 9, 2017 |
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May 14, 2017 20:36
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FrenzyTheKillbot posted:This game is a little bit of an oddity as it is neither prequel, sequel, or remake. "It's not a sequel... it's not a prequel... it's an equal" So this is the "Shock Treatment" of video games?
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May 14, 2017 23:03
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Glad to see this up and running - still haven't picked up the game myself (it's not on Steam and I'm not on Origin often enough to catch it on sale) so I haven't had a chance to check things out. I see they've made a much more detailed world but I don't know if I like it as much as the original city. I loved the highly stylized, clean look and the use of only primary colours or white. This is a lot more '~~~in the grim darkness of the future~~~' and it's almost comical. It honestly reminds me of a cross between Half-Life2 and an old rear end game called Devastation that I played way back in the day. Not sure I like the enemy health bars showing up either, it kinda ruins the immersion. Still, can't wait to see where this goes and maybe I'll find this one sale in the not too distant future and grab it myself.
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May 15, 2017 00:00
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I dunno, the rooftops in general are still pretty clean and bright, especially in the nicer parts of town. I thought it looked really pretty. You also spend a lot of time in under construction areas that look more normal though.
Sindai fucked around with this message at 00:49 on May 15, 2017 |
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May 15, 2017 00:42
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Huh, I'd heard this was a prequel. That Catalyst was exploring why Faith joined the runners in the first place, eventually leading to everything in the original game. Did they really ditch that for a reboot instead?
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May 15, 2017 00:46
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You're right, it was originally revealed as a prequel. They changed their minds later. I didn't mind since the story and characters of the original were completely forgettable other than Faith herself.
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May 15, 2017 00:53
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I've heard alright things about Catalyst, namely with the sentence "I wouldn't recommend paying more than twenty bucks for it" added on as an afterthought. It does look very pretty, though.
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May 15, 2017 01:20
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Psychotic Weasel posted:I see they've made a much more detailed world but I don't know if I like it as much as the original city. I loved the highly stylized, clean look and the use of only primary colours or white. This is a lot more '~~~in the grim darkness of the future~~~' and it's almost comical. It honestly reminds me of a cross between Half-Life2 and an old rear end game called Devastation that I played way back in the day. Not sure I like the enemy health bars showing up either, it kinda ruins the immersion. I really liked the original game's art style. I'm reasonably certain they were going for a graphic novel kind of feel and it had a real charm to it. However, it also always felt kind of plastic and fake. Like it was a toy city rather than a real city, whereas in Catalyst it feels a lot more real and alive. I'm not trying to say that either one is "better", just that the difference is noticeable. Also, the first video taking place at night does sort seem a little grimdark and edgy, but it's going to be daylight for the next while and it really does look a lot better. You'll see. Felinoid posted:Huh, I'd heard this was a prequel. That Catalyst was exploring why Faith joined the runners in the first place, eventually leading to everything in the original game. Did they really ditch that for a reboot instead? Yeah, as Sindai said the game was originally revealed as a prequel, but at some point during development it changed. As you might be able to tell from the thread title and tag, the politics plays a big role in the story, and I get the feeling that the story they wanted to tell just couldn't mesh with what we saw in the first game.
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May 15, 2017 01:24
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corporations already run the country op also i like what i've seen of this but i heard the open-worldness of it was a little mis-handled, interested to see whether that was blown-up or not
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May 15, 2017 05:14
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Mirror's Edge is def one of those games that's more fun to watch than to actually play
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May 15, 2017 09:07
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The whole illegal to be unemployed was a real thing a while back. Also that Icarus guy seems to be a colossal douche and I hope we get to kick him off a ledge, down a long fall and in front of a truck at some point.
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May 15, 2017 14:02
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Poil posted:The whole illegal to be unemployed was a real thing a while back. Well, if it's a reboot, maybe they'll tell the same story again of a traitor within the ranks. He'd be a prime target for that the way they're setting him up. ...But that probably means he'd just be the jerk who comes around to fight the common enemy and meh.
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May 15, 2017 14:15
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As someone who was working on speedruns for the first one, colour me intrigued by this. It dropped completely off my radar. Not sure what to think about the combat system from what we've seen so far, though. Should I snag this for 15 bucks?
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May 15, 2017 15:40
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The combat system is great fun and pretty unique. It's almost an action movie simulator in that the goal is to use directional heavy attacks to knock guys into obstacles/other guys, which makes them do hilariously exaggerated stumbling animations and take a ton of extra damage.
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May 15, 2017 16:01
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Mediocre at best is how ive heard this game is, so ive stuck away despite loving the original. And i wasnt too against a prequel, and while a remake reboot isnt bad, i was really hyped at the idea of a sequel. Id love to know the aftermath of the original game. So far this at least is nice to look at. Though Im wary of Icarus for obvious reasons.
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May 15, 2017 16:13
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mandatory lesbian posted:corporations already run the country op That was sorta supposed to be the joke, but any way I worded it that sounded obviously sarcastic ended up being too long for the character limit. I'm not super happy with the title so I'm open to suggestions for a new one. My best one was 'I'm an OffGrid woman, I ain't no HiCaste broad' but I figured people would hate me for getting Redneck Woman stuck in their heads. quote:Icarus I said it in the video but I wanted to mention again how loving weird it is to name a guy Icarus in another Mirror's Edge game. And not just any guy, it's literally the first character you meet. I get the symbolism they're going for, but is it worth having every single person who plays the game start throwing up red flags 5 minutes in? Condoleezza Nice! posted:Should I snag this for 15 bucks? It sounds like you enjoyed the first game, so I would think you'd get at least $15 worth of enjoyment out of it. Is it currently on sale somewhere?
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May 15, 2017 17:00
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Just like Mirror's Edge, I really like this game. For me, this game just clicked and hit all the right points. It has flaws, but they didn't bother me enough to think less of the product as a whole. Is the game mediocre? Maybe? But it's a mediocre that surpasses other mediocrity. Oddly enough, I often complained that ME's story was so bare that it becomes generic. Meanwhile ME:C's story is so inflated to the point of becoming generic (be ready for every "proper noun" to be [lower-case word][capitalized word]). Both games have either extreme covered.
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May 15, 2017 17:23
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I really liked this too, well enough to do pretty much everything in it. Some of the plot points are kinda hoary and cliché and they still really, really don't know how to make the combat work, but I found the plot better than the first*, and... I don't know- like Mr. Highway says, it just clicked with me, the setting, and just running around on the rooftops of a dystopic city, and I don't regret buying it at full price in the slightest. I mean, look at it... so pretty! And colorful!  *which granted isn't hard, as the plot of the last game was pretty much entirely an afterthought. resurgam40 fucked around with this message at 17:54 on May 15, 2017 |
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May 15, 2017 17:49
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Yeahhhhh, I loved the first game to bits but I was very let down by Catalyst. I completed the story and never picked it back up again. I'm not even incentivized by the achievements like I usually am. Open world games seem to be a growing trend these days and it doesn't always work out. I felt that Mirror's Edge worked a lot better as a linear game and a lot of the time I had trouble navigating the open world. I missed the charming animated cutscenes from the original game, I felt like that was a really unique way to handle things. I also feel like the stat progression was shoehorned in as something to do for people who like to work towards unlocking things. There were also certain elements of Faith's background that were changed, winding up with such a trope-ariffic end product that really kind of bothered me. I didn't really have a problem with the combat. What I did have a problem was the arbitrary doing-away with the disarms and allowing the use of guns. I find that the "you're a runner, you're supposed to evade your enemies" excuse is a bit of a poor one. You always had a choice in the original game. Hell, there was the Paci-Fist achievement for never using a weapon. Iunno. I didn't hate it but I really felt like they changed way too much. I kind of felt how I did when I played Halo 4 and Gears of War 4. The gameplay is the way I remember it but it just doesn't feel like the franchise I love.
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May 15, 2017 19:21
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FrenzyTheKillbot posted:It sounds like you enjoyed the first game, so I would think you'd get at least $15 worth of enjoyment out of it. Is it currently on sale somewhere? Local brick-and-mortar had it. I snagged it.
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May 15, 2017 21:32
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I'm waiting for someone to say "Faithy" and finger point them as the bad guy.
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May 15, 2017 23:03
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White Coke posted:"It's not a sequel... it's not a prequel... it's an equal" So this is the "Shock Treatment" of video games? Psychotic Weasel posted:I see they've made a much more detailed world but I don't know if I like it as much as the original city. I loved the highly stylized, clean look and the use of only primary colours or white. Tofu Survivor posted:Open world games seem to be a growing trend these days and it doesn't always work out. I felt that Mirror's Edge worked a lot better as a linear game and a lot of the time I had trouble navigating the open world.
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May 17, 2017 05:31
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You guys are starting to talk about things which would be better suited for the second video. That actually works for me though, because I'm not a fan of a thread when it only has one video anyways. 02 - Reunion (polsy)
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May 18, 2017 00:40
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I'm glad you touched on the Skill Roll being locked, because such a basic ability that was immediately available in the first game being locked at the outset was one of the biggest problems I had with Catalyst. I'd actually been trying to Skill Roll through the entire tutorial and was convinced my timing was off until I saw the upgrade menu. There was really no reason to introduce RPG elements into the game. Or a zillion collectibles of varying types. Which, together with the world itself being separated into sections necessitating the use of certain upgrades, is the biggest reason for my dislike of the open world. A lot of those collectibles are difficult to track down in certain areas, also. Apart from that it's enjoyable to traverse.
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May 18, 2017 02:12
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Before the skill tree was shown off I was wondering why Frenzy was botching all those landings. Kinda weird how they'd add that in rather than just let Faith do every move and let the play master them over time (you know, how every skill is developed). It seems easy enough to get all the basics back at least. I see the setting designers have a sense of humour as well. With the "Bauble Mall" which I'm sure is full of worthless trinkets as well as the "Bloch Art Centre". I'm sure a dude stabbing at some canvas with a brush is what passes for art in this world. The business leaders of this city may be just a little too self aware.
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May 18, 2017 02:38
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Tofu Survivor posted:There was really no reason to introduce RPG elements into the game. Which, together with the world itself being separated into sections necessitating the use of certain upgrades, is the biggest reason for my dislike of the open world. Sounds like they've turned the game into a Metroidvania. When do you unlock the morphball Frenzy? Psychotic Weasel posted:I see the setting designers have a sense of humour as well. With the "Bauble Mall" which I'm sure is full of worthless trinkets as well as the "Bloch Art Centre". I'm sure a dude stabbing at some canvas with a brush is what passes for art in this world. The business leaders of this city may be just a little too self aware. What's the point in ruling a corporate dystopia if you can't rub peoples' faces in it? That or they keep hiring snarky interns to do the advertising.
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May 18, 2017 05:03
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Man, the change in art style is a loss. Probably the only real loss, but a pretty big one, since it felt like that was the biggest pro of the original Mirror's Edge, a really defining and unique art style. It also feels a bit... lame that all the glowing red is your RUNNER VISION outlining it. In the original it felt a bit more natural, like you could believe these things were just coincidentally painted red or rusted red or whatever. Also goddamn Icarus is punchable. Will Catalyst have an NPC as cool as Miller? Or at least one with quite as snazzy dress sense? I do like the concept of making it an open world, though, and letting you pick your own routes for running to places. Obviously this LP will show how well they actually deliver on that concept... but I like the idea. The original occasionally suffered a bit from guessing just how the developers wanted you to get around something, and also it looks like the climbable pipes are less buggy, hard-to-grasp death sentences this time around!
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May 18, 2017 06:34
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Oh god, Icarus wears goggles with a strap on the back! I hate this Kai Leng looking motherfucker. Is WFYO Finance a joke on We gently caress You?
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May 18, 2017 08:37
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PurpleXVI posted:It also feels a bit... lame that all the glowing red is your RUNNER VISION outlining it. In the original it felt a bit more natural, like you could believe these things were just coincidentally painted red or rusted red or whatever. Also goddamn Icarus is punchable. Will Catalyst have an NPC as cool as Miller? Or at least one with quite as snazzy dress sense? Hm? I think the Runners Vision worked the same way in the last game, just not as ostentatious- you got up a good speed, and climbable things just turned red, no glowing arrows or anything, but still a deliberate color change. It was fairly easy to get the hang of it, but it still wasn't that natural. As to the second question, I can say that there is at least one interesting NPC in this game, in both having dress sense and being a somewhat compelling character, and as I recall, we won't take too long to meet them.
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May 18, 2017 13:18
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resurgam40 posted:Hm? I think the Runners Vision worked the same way in the last game, just not as ostentatious- you got up a good speed, and climbable things just turned red, no glowing arrows or anything, but still a deliberate color change. It was fairly easy to get the hang of it, but it still wasn't that natural. The runner vision in the first game faded in a lot more gradually and was generally only applied to surfaces you could hang on to or push. In this game everything seems to immediately be covered in supersaturated, high contrast red with arrows and animations all over the place. It makes for a very busy and difficult view in some instances. I feel as though the game would look better if is was a bit more muted.
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May 18, 2017 16:02
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IIRC there are three settings - full runner vision, just red objects, or nothing.
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May 19, 2017 03:21
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Psychotic Weasel posted:The runner vision in the first game faded in a lot more gradually and was generally only applied to surfaces you could hang on to or push. It also looked a lot less out of place because of the art style. You already had bright green, yellow, blue and orange things all over the place. So a few bright red things didn't seem like that much of an issue. With the more muted colours of Catalyst, the Runner Vision items clash more, they look more artificial.
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May 19, 2017 03:59
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The teeth modeling looks a bit odd, and it makes it seem as if Faith has braces. Kind of reinforces the teenage aspect of her. The characters do seem generic, but the execution in acting so far is keeping things strong. I actually like this Faith a lot more than the first game's one.
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May 19, 2017 07:35
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White Coke posted:Sounds like they've turned the game into a Metroidvania. When do you unlock the morphball Frenzy? You joke but Skill Roll isn't the only basic ability they locked. There's also the quick turn like Frenzy pointed out and the Coil, which is the move that lets Faith pull her legs up to clear tall objects easier.
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May 19, 2017 11:34
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Tofu Survivor posted:You joke but Skill Roll isn't the only basic ability they locked. There's also the quick turn like Frenzy pointed out and the Coil, which is the move that lets Faith pull her legs up to clear tall objects easier. Maybe Faith needs her knees replaced or something before she can do basic movements with her joints.
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May 19, 2017 11:41
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PurpleXVI posted:Maybe Faith needs her knees replaced or something before she can do basic movements with her joints. She did just get out of prison, so some of her skills are going to have atrophied. The skill system has some sort of narrative justification.
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May 19, 2017 18:27
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You also get enough points to buy all those things back really quickly.
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May 19, 2017 19:38
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PurpleXVI posted:Maybe Faith needs her knees replaced or something before she can do basic movements with her joints.
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May 19, 2017 22:59
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White Coke posted:She did just get out of prison, so some of her skills are going to have atrophied. The skill system has some sort of narrative justification. BJ Blazkowicz was in a vegetative coma for a decade plus and was killing Nazis like a pro within, like, five minutes of getting back on his feet. No excuses.
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May 19, 2017 23:09
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chiasaur11 posted:BJ Blazkowicz was in a vegetative coma for a decade plus and was killing Nazis like a pro within, like, five minutes of getting back on his feet. IIRC he killed his wake-up nazi before getting up. Killing nazis is excellent therapy for just about any condition.
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May 19, 2017 23:17
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