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Post by harrypalmer on Apr 18, 2023 7:11:34 GMT
8 for the first one is probably harsh, in many ways it’s my favourite, but it’s dated the most.
Yeah I picked up Andromeda in a sale and am very excited to give it a go. Need to finish Horizon Forbidden West and probably Zelda first though, so might be a while!
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Apr 18, 2023 8:26:03 GMT
West of Loathing
A little, bite-size comedy RPG, which has an advantage over other comedy RPGs in that it is
a) surprisingly complex with its quests and puzzles and such, and
b) often quite funny!
Obviously it helps to have a certain sense of humour, but the jokes range from throwaway puns on signs, all the way up to elaborate joke scenarios.
It reminds me a bit of one of those "joke every 30 seconds" spoof movies like Top Secret, where the gags aren't *always* funny, but there's enough great ones to keep you entertained.
Anyway, more than entertained enough to finish it at a svelte 4 hours or so. I imagine you could get at least 6 or 7 if you want to rinse it though, there's a surprising amount of (usually funny) side content.
8/10
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Post by Red_Bool on Apr 18, 2023 8:46:18 GMT
Triangle Strategy 7.5/10
I got this at launch but got side-tracked by XC3 and Nier:Automata. Played again for a bit but then got side-tracked again by Metroid Prime Remastered /o\. But finally I finished it. First play-through (normal difficulty), did not get the true ending. Still contemplating whether I want to continue with NG+ to get the true ending. Loved the characters and story. A couple of difficulty spikes but nothing too bad. What I really liked is that you keep your EXP even when you fail a level. It allows you to experiment and get EXP gains.
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Post by Triarii on Apr 18, 2023 9:47:12 GMT
10. Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (PC) Despite the issues I have it's been a great trip back into the universe. 8.5/10 I remember buying Tiberian Sun on release when I was 11 or 12 and being pretty disappointed by it. I didn't appreciate the doom & gloom or the alternative approaches to missions. Going back years later was a much better experience. I would like to see a proper remaster/remake with the many, many cut features restored.
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Post by Rubicon on Apr 19, 2023 9:08:32 GMT
11. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (PS2 - 2001)
I confess I played the first game on the PS1 but never actually completed it despite liking it. The sequel picks up from where it finishes but I don't think you need to have played it to have a rough idea about what's going on. The plot which continues the feud between Kain and Raziel is the games strongest point, with Simon Templeman and Michael Bell reprising their roles as the main characters and adding a touch of class with their dulcet tones.
The game struggles in almost every other area: visually I was prepared for the downgrade but even then it's such a dark and muddy game, which is further compounded by immediately asking you to swim through an underwater cavern and traverse a dark swamp, that you would struggle to tell any of it apart. There is no fast travel so you have to make that same journey multiple times. It does brighten up in the final act and everything is low quality as expected but at least you can then take in the environment.
Combat is equally frustrating with the lock-on button not always working nor is there a way to switch targets. Enemies come in the form of axe, spear, sword wielding soldiers (plus a couple of others) who you will be fighting over and over the entire game. Again this is compounded with Raziel being slow and sluggish in his combat stance and it just boils down to a button mash and hoping for the best.
The puzzles are decent and I would have liked to have had a Zelda style mini map with everything looking the same it can be easy to lose your bearings and get lost.
I enjoyed my time with the game but it was through gritted teeth at times. The game badly suffers from repetition and you will be fighting the same looking enemies in the same dark environments with the same frustrating controls from beginning to end. The plot is the only thing that set it apart.
This is one of those games I'd love a remaster but not sure if I'd trust it with Crystal Dynamics given their recent output.
6/10
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wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
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Post by wunty on Apr 21, 2023 8:35:03 GMT
Madison Was rather good actually. Lovely and creepy at points even if for most of the game there was no real threat as such (which makes sense, given that the demon wants to use you as a vessel and therefore instead is focused on mentally breaking you down ). Blue Knees was a particular highlight, the creepy no-eyed bastard. Some fiendish puzzles meant I resorted to a guide at times and the game loves to mess with you with a statue in particular that moves every damn time you take your eyes off it. It's not too long and it's very linear. That coupled with the fact that it does some cool things and looks bloody lovely means I won't be against another playthrough every so often. A point off for the protagonist being overy chatty but apart from that it's pretty great.
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malek86
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Pomegranate Deseeder
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Post by malek86 on Apr 22, 2023 21:16:48 GMT
Escape Goat 2 (PC)
More puzzle platforming goodness like the first game. There are more levels, more traps, more enemies, and a quite interesting final boss. I have a few reservations though. First, there are some secret levels to be found - yet you get basically no hints whatsoever on how to find them. The detailed graphics can actually make things look a bit more confusing than the first game. Finding all the sheep orbs allows you to face the true final boss, but the ending doesn't change anyhow. Finally, it feels like the goat is a bit more difficult to control, it slides on the ground a bit more.
Still good fun, and a very "one more level" kind of game.
8/10
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Tomo
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Post by Tomo on Apr 22, 2023 23:17:44 GMT
Tunic - 8/10
I enjoyed this, but I definitely admire it more than I enjoyed it. I got ending A and then couldn't really be arsed to trawl through various bits to do ending B, so I've spent the last 30 mins reading up on the game. Wowzers, there is a lot going on that many players will be completely oblivious to.
As an adventure game, it's pretty good. There's a lot of fondling in hidden corners of the maps to find secrets, which is both great and tiresome after hours of doing it. The game does have regular cool moments and the manual is inspired. One of the cleverest mechanics I've seen. The combat is probably the weakest part. It's not bad, but there were plenty of times where I found myself fighting in a certain way because I was battling quirks of the camera or lock-on system, rather than quirks of the actual enemies. It's definitely tricky at times and the controls aren't precise enough like say Elden Ring or even BotW meaning you die unfairly at times. It can be quite annoying. But, thankfully the bosses and enemies are generally not that tanky, so you can re-attempt pretty easily.
Definitely worth a play if you like Souls/Zelda/puzzle games. It's an ambitious mix of genres and pulls it off pretty well.
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Rich
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Post by Rich on Apr 23, 2023 13:46:07 GMT
11. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (PS2 - 2001) 6/10 I replayed the trilogy a few years ago, and it's actually quite amazing how bad 2 is after the amazing first game. Defiance is a little better though, and worth playing to see the story through.
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Post by Rubicon on Apr 24, 2023 8:41:00 GMT
I meant to ask if Defiance/the Blood Omen games were worth looking out for so I'll need to see if I can get a copy cheap somewhere 12. Shadow Warrior 3 (PC Game Pass)
Ditches the co-op from the second game and returns to an arena shooter like the first though not quite as good. It's vibrant and colourful and looks great in motion when your swinging and sliding about the place. The humour is subjective but it's a fairly mindless shooter that you can waste a few hours on. 7/10
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Post by bichii2 on Apr 24, 2023 8:48:46 GMT
Titanfall 2
Now some 6,7 years later and it's still pure brilliance. One of the best FPS campaigns ever and especially of recent times where they have often been disappointing. Never a dull moment and every level feels unique. Add that with pretty much the best FPS multiplayer ever and you have one of the best games ever. Still a few thousand playing daily and it generally takes less than a minute to get in a game. I'm amazed how this wasn't one of the biggest mp games ever, I mean it did well and reviews were all extremely positive but it never became the juggernaut that it should have been.
10/10
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Post by muddyfunster on Apr 25, 2023 13:03:46 GMT
Portal RTX
Shinier portal, what's not to love?
I was delighted to find that I didn't really remember any of the specific puzzles 15 years later, even though some of the script and jokes hadn't faded. Hope they do Portal 2 next.
10/10
Im fully on board with these path tracing reissues. Really does make a big difference. Can someone do Thief 2 RTX please.
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Post by killerbee on Apr 26, 2023 10:12:48 GMT
The Gunk
(Series S / Gamepass)
A short and largely straightforward and untaxing game, but playing it in between sessions on Elden Ring, it’s been a perfect antidote. It was really relaxing to play, which sometimes is just what you need.
It didn’t outstay its welcome, the story was decent, and I liked the characters, who were well acted. Perhaps the occasional swears in the script were a bit unnecessary- not that I was remotely offended, but it’d stop me recommending this for younger kids, which is a shame.
I enjoyed the light puzzling and platforming, and the scanning of plants and stuff, and the simple unlocking of gear upgrades gave a good sense of progression. There was always a nice sense of accomplishment when clearing the Gunk from an area and having the world around you come back to life.
Overall, it doesn’t do anything especially unique, but it’s well worth the 4-5 hours this takes to beat.
7/10
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Apr 26, 2023 15:44:08 GMT
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone.
I'm not going to write another essay here, don't worry!
For me, this was very much more of The Witcher 3, for better and worse - the same mediocre gameplay, abysmal combat, and superb writing/music/acting/etc.
Olgierd, Vlodomir, Gaunter, and Shani were great characters whose arcs I enjoyed immensely.
The Wraith from the Painting was the worst mini-boss in the entire game, thanks to the wonky-ass combat mechanics.
8/10.
The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine.
This may be an unpopular view, but in my opinion Blood and Wine asked (and answered) the question, "What if The Witcher 3 didn't have such stellar writing?" (Not a question I'd actually posed, mind you, but that's irrelevant.)
Hearts of Stone had the four characters I mentioned above; the base game had Triss, Ciri, Dandelion, Zoltan, Dijkstra, Roche, Ves, Lambert, Vesimir, Eskel, Cerys, Crach, Hjalmar, and a bunch more besides.
By contrast, Blood and Wine didn't have a single character I liked to the same sort of extent.
Instead, the DLC took Geralt to an amazing, colourful fantasy world, and... rehashed the exact same gameplay and combat mechanics as the previous 100 hours or so.
Oh, and the Dettlaff boss fight was fucking atrocious.
7/10.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Apr 26, 2023 18:19:13 GMT
I think I'll consider Sacred 2 Gold (60 hours) completed. Well, the Sacred 2 bit of it, as I didn't play much of Ice & Blood. Perhaps I'll get back to it, but for now I'm just not very motivated for the grindy gameplay and the many, many fetch-quests anymore.
I played on "Bronze"-difficulty for a while, but as that simply turned out to be too easy, I restarted on "Silver" and simply made a bee-line back to where I had been in the main story questline. Even so, I still didn't die a single time. The Swamp area was where I came close a few times as there sometimes were large swarms of poison-spitting spiders. And most of my armor was physical.
While I eventually started losing interest in the last few areas, I did quite enjoy exploring the various large areas earlier on and even doing the literally hundreds of side-quests available everywhere. It's essentially an open world-ARPG after all. While quest design isn't good most of the time and many of the quests are really simple and uninteresting, the world was large enough for some good exploration and some quests were more complex. The second area had a ghost village hidden away through an investigation questline for instance and there was a way too extensive underground area that I stumbled on through a side quest in the next to last area.
All of that doesn't mean that the writing quality is ever any good though. The main story wasn't much good either, but it's nice that the good and evil versions of it differ somewhat and it's one reason why I'll probably replay this one at some point. Partially the story is just kind of buried under the tidal wave of side quests. Sure, the main quest has voice-acting, but in terms of writing and tone it still doesn't feel any better or more impactful. I guess that's partially just since almost every single side quest is silly to a point where it's difficult to take anything seriously. That's very much intentional, but even Dawn of Magic and Divine Divinity did a better job with the story and those were both quite silly as well.
The loot is fine and together with the grind for experience it kept things motivating. Combat Arts are the (mostly) active part of it and they can be put into combos. They are raised by "eating" runes, but every time this is done, the cooldown also increases. There is also a penalty for not raising the appropriate "Focus" skill enough, but there are quite a few skills to help decrease the cooldowns of both CAs and Combos. Skills include options like various weapon lores, Riding, Blacksmithing, skills for shields and armor and so on. These just give passive bonuses. Attributes are character-specific and rise on their own, but the player can also spend a few more points themselves. So quite a lot of complexity, choice and also some ways to mess the build up.
The game is quite pretty at times. There are quite a few muddy textures, but also a lot of detail on the equipment and clothes of the various characters. Houses have detailed interiors and the amount of variety is staggering. People in towns will actually use their beds and get up in the morning, though it doesn't have much relevance. I did use the old PhysX in combination with the Purist fixpack, so I also had lots of stones lying around and leaves often flying on the wind. Some spells will interact with all of those as they are actually physics objects. Didn't make the game perform any better, but it was worth it. Some spells also have particles that can "roll" down a slope and such, but I didn't see much of that, as I played a melee character with mostly martial skills.
All of that combines pretty well with a good soundscape and detailed sound (armor rattling, wind, rain quieting in buildings, people talking etc.) and the day-night-cycle. Some areas feel very different because of that. The desert for instance doesn't have leaves and in the Swamp area it almost never stops raining. The music is usually somewhat fitting, but it's one of the weaker parts of the package in my opinion. Not least since the battle music keeps interrupting it.
Overall it was well worth it and there are more than enough reasons to eventually replay it. It's just a shame that in some ways it's very much quantity over quality. But especially the amount of detail and dynamic aspects they achieved in the open world in spite of how massive it is, is really, really impressive.
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Post by damagedinc on Apr 26, 2023 18:26:32 GMT
Disco Elysium (switch)
Had a blast with this. Not played anything quite like it. Will defo do another playthrough at some point as I imagine it can be very different depending on how you go about it.
Switch performance was a bit rough with alot of crashes. So I would play it elsewhere unless desperate for having it on the go.
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Post by Rubicon on Apr 27, 2023 8:54:10 GMT
13. Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault (2004 - PC)
If memory serves this was a freebie EA gave away during lockdown.
So the gimmick for this one is that you have a basic squad mechanic (predating the Brothers in Arms series) to give and take commands, however unlike the BiA games the enemy doesn't react making the system useless but your squad AI is just as bad, making the entire game a chore to play. Not only are they useless: their solid so can block your way, knock you out of cover and if I'm not mistaken shoot you in the back going by the amount of mysterious damage I was taking. The medic is the only useful member as he can heal you up to four times per level (when he can actually be bothered that is) as you will be dying a lot.
Being on EA Play the game installs without issue and been updated for modern systems. Visually it doesn't look too bad with the bright jungle environments doing a lot of the heavy lifting but it's character models and animations that are showing their age. The plot also takes it's cue from Band of Brothers but I really couldn't have cared less. I did experience a crash when the game couldn't decide if I should be revived or killed so decided to break instead.
This is one I probably should have chucked on the second level because I simply wasn't enjoying myself.
2/10
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2023 10:25:02 GMT
Dead Space
Lovely visual upgrades and the sound still steals the show. The way it builds tension and sense of place is amazing. Has the issue the first game had of the pacing and enemy waves in the last 2 chapters being shit, but what comes before it is sublime. I started to remember bits the more I played and was nice when I expected certain enemies to pop out but they rejigged a bit.
The weapons and combat are still great fun, doesn't feel like they've had to tweak much from the OG to make it feel modern.
Would be a good game to get the film treatment.
8/10
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Apr 28, 2023 19:16:54 GMT
BioShock 2: Minerva's Den.
To quote the last person who was kind enough to have sex with me, I didn't know it would be so short.
Still, it's more BioShock 2, and that was never going to be a bad thing - fight the Big Daddies and Big Sisters, rescue or harvest the Little Sisters, kill a bunch of Splicers, loot everything you can fit into your pockets, upgrade your weapons, and so on.
If you've played the base game, you already know the drill (pun regretfully intended).
There's one new weapon and one new Plasmid, which help to keep things fresh, while the story's pretty much on par with the main campaign.
All in all, it's definitely worth your time.
8/10.
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Post by Nanocrystal on Apr 29, 2023 11:59:37 GMT
Breath of the Wild Just rolled credits on this after around 50 hours. About 60 shrines and 40 korok seeds. Overall I really liked it but I don't think I quite loved it. The bite sized puzzles in the shrines were mostly fun but the few that needed motion controls to rotate things were awful. Exploring the world was very engaging but I found my interest waning quite quickly after unlocking the full map and finishing the fourth divine beast. I might stick a few more hours into it and hunt for some more shrines. I'm glad to have finally played it and its reputation is mostly justified. I'll definitely play the sequel at some point.
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Post by harrypalmer on Apr 29, 2023 16:54:38 GMT
Pretty much how I felt about it. Enjoyed it, but didn’t love it. And yet can see why it has such a strong reputation and following.
I think I’m just not a Zelda person.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Apr 29, 2023 17:39:25 GMT
I have finished the campaign of ADACA, an FPS strongly inspired by Half Life 2, Stalker and apparently Halo. It hands the player a physics glove right from the get-go and it basically has no limitations, so that remains useful throughout. There is also a large selection of weapons though. Guns sounds and feel of impact aren't great, but overall it still feels pretty decent considering how small the developer is. There are also some cool details like being able to stagger enemies so that they drop their grenade, or being able to pull their guns from their hands.
The campaign felt quite derivative unfortunately. It's fine being inspired by all these games, it's just a bit too heavy-handed. It was also quite tough on Normal difficulty. The game throws hordes of enemies at the player quite frequently and especially open areas can be a real problem. Still a pretty good effort, but I frankly prefer the other game mode so far. Zone Patrol takes place in an interconnected web of small open maps with various objectives and it seems to have its own version of A-Life going on. At the very least there is frequent spawning going on out of sight and it's common for various groups of enemies to get into conflict with each other. The mode also lets the atmosphere breath way more, especially in the night. The campaign had some problems with that.
Well worth a try! Just keep in mind that though it's in UE4, the graphics are very basic.
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Post by Rubicon on Apr 30, 2023 8:48:04 GMT
14. Sniper: Ghost Warrior (Steam)
You know your in for a good time when the intro splash screen and credits are upside down.
Given the premise of the game it ditches the stealth stuff fairly early on turning the game into a shitty CoD style shooter that feels horrible to play. The sniping itself isn't bad and probably the most fun part with the slow-mo deathcam/ragdoll physics never getting old but the actual stealth is linear instant fail stuff. The AI veers between stupid and punishingly hard with the tutorial never actually telling you how to heal for some reason. Overall visuals are a bit like MoH above with the bright jungle environment not looking too bad but low textures once things are up close.
It has all the quality of a budget shooter that is thankfully only about 3 or 4 hours long as I was getting irritated close to the end.
3/10
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Apr 30, 2023 12:40:19 GMT
I have the third one lying around and while the story looks to be cringeworthy, the atmosphere, weather and so on did seem decent and I'm at the very least interested in how that's going to turn out for me.
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Post by Rubicon on Apr 30, 2023 21:50:55 GMT
I think I read they get better as the games go on so hopefully your experience is better than mine!
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Apr 30, 2023 22:13:37 GMT
Another one off the list with Strangeland, a short point-and-click by Wormwood Studios, who have also made Primordia.
No real complaints here. I had the usual problems I always have with this type of game, but it went better in the second half and I enjoyed the writing and voice-acting. A nice, dark story with lots of twisted imagery and a fitting soundtrack. In fact dark enough, that I don't begrudge them the happy ending (more or less), even if it was a bit heavy-handed.
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on May 1, 2023 15:41:34 GMT
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea.
I really enjoyed this one.
In terms of narrative, it's an amalgamation of BioShock and Infinite, tying the two games together while ignoring 2 (which was, I believe, made by a different development team). Jack, Ryan, Atlas, Suchong, Tenenbaum, Booker, Elizabeth, Comstock, Songbird - they're all here.
In terms of gameplay, Episode 1 sticks quite closely to the formula of Infinite; however, Episode 2 shakes things up quite considerably.
After Dishonored took inspiration from BioShock, translating it into a steampunk world and putting stealth front and centre, Burial at Sea returned to Rapture and Columbia while adding in sneaky and non-lethal elements of its own. For the most part, it works very well indeed - one can almost always complain about enemy AI in stealth games, and the enemies here aren't the sharpest tools in the box by any means, but they're still perfectly serviceable.
I can't wait for Judas.
9/10.
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Post by RadicalRex on May 1, 2023 15:43:00 GMT
Don't let him hug you tho
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on May 1, 2023 16:09:37 GMT
Aye - I hear that slippery git can't be trusted.
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Lizard
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I love ploughmans
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Post by Lizard on May 1, 2023 23:49:32 GMT
Only really an issue if you're Jesus, though. Is user Ulythium actually Jesus?
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