# Best SMT series?



## Edith (Sep 8, 2014)

might be opening a can of worms, but whatever.

played devil survivor 1 and 2, enjoyed them thoroughly, and am now musing over what else this mega series has to offer. so what's the best?

the Persona series, maybe?

the mainline titles, perhaps?

or have i already experienced the best of what this franchise has to offer?


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## Death-kun (Sep 8, 2014)

The correct answer is all of them.

Even the "worst" SMT game is still worth playing.

Just play whatever you can get your hands on.

Try out Nocturne, Persona, Strange Journey, SMT4, Digital Devil Saga, Soul Hackers, etc.


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## Edith (Sep 8, 2014)

even if their all great, there is always one that's stands out from the rest.

purpose of this thread is to determine which the one it is, what I should play next is really only a secondary motive.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 8, 2014)

Mainline smt is best SMT

But there's so much smt. The old spin offs arent much worth playing today though, besides demi kids

Devil Survivor, Persona, Raido kuzonoha, digital devil saga, the spinoffs from the IF timeline (which include Soul Hackers, and persona along with Strange Journey ( which is secretly SMT 4 lol)

Nocturne is the high quality black sheep of mainline SMT with 3D character models and top tier dungeon design so its almost everybody's favorite .


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## Violent by Design (Sep 8, 2014)

A lot of those games are insanely long so I haven't gotten the chance to try most of them, but I think Westerners probably would say Persona is the best series due to Persona 3 and Persona 4.



St NightRazr said:


> Mainline smt is best SMT
> 
> But there's so much smt. The old spin offs arent much worth playing today though, besides demi kids
> 
> ...



Is Nocturne really the black sheep? I feel like it is probably the most SMT game from the original series.


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## The World (Sep 8, 2014)

If anything SJ would be


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 8, 2014)

Violent By Design said:


> A lot of those games are insanely long so I haven't gotten the chance to try most of them, *but I think Westerners probably would say Persona is the best series due to Persona 3 and Persona 4.*
> 
> 
> 
> Is Nocturne really the black sheep? I feel like it is probably the most SMT game from the original series.



Unfortunately.......


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 8, 2014)

Violent By Design said:


> A lot of those games are insanely long so I haven't gotten the chance to try most of them, but I think Westerners probably would say Persona is the best series due to Persona 3 and Persona 4.
> 
> 
> 
> Is Nocturne really the black sheep? I feel like it is probably the most SMT game from the original series.



Cause Nocturne is the one most people remember. And yes, very much so.

Also. y'all should play Catherine.

Strange Journey is more like Etrian Odyssey, but its very SMT1 esque.

SMT IV vibes like its successor in the vain of SMT2 with dungeons turned into actual locations (like a Zelda dungeon) the story mostly revolving around the city, the people within it and the surrounding ideologies pushing their agenda.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 8, 2014)

Raidou Kuzunoha said:


> Unfortunately.......



Persona 3 > Persona 4

P3 has stronger symoblism and motivations behind the narrative. 

Persona 4 is literally scooby doo. To a T.




P1 had the most interesting character design though. Imo.

P2 has best sense of exploration and quality dungeons.

Which are crap in both 3 and 4.

Im also the only person who actually likes Trinity Soul. Lmao.


Also this makes me chuckle
[spoilter][/spoiler]


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 8, 2014)

SMT4 is very good and definitely in line with 2 in vibe.

Nocturne is fun regardless.

SJ is definitely worth it if you have the patience.

Yes play Catherine, I don't normally play puzzle games but that game made that shit work.

Persona 3 is shit though and its plot sucks. It relies on edge and feels like a shonen anime trying to be dark.

P4 may be Scooby Doo but that shit at least had an on progress story which doesn't have filler for like 7/10 of the game which 3 doesn't kick off in reality till fall.

Both games are shit though in comparison to 1 and 2 IS and EP due to being more in line with SMT atmospherically and everything else.


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## VoodooKnight (Sep 8, 2014)

If you started with Devil Survivor, I would say you might prefer the transition into the Persona series, since those are also focused on High School youth.

As for where to start with the Persona series, that's a bit tougher.

The hardcore purists are going to tell you 1 and 2, but that's not quite enough information.

The original part 1, on Playstation 1 has the dark atmosphere more akin to the mainline Shin Megami games, and the PSP remake has alterations to the main soundtrack to be a bit more peppy, if not outright completely changing some songs.

However the original part 1 was Americanized to the point that one character got a race change, and several others had tweaks to their appearance, to say nothing of their names.  The PSP one has more content on it that was locked away on the US version, and the original appearances and names have been restored.

Despite what the others are saying here, I would say play 1 and 2 for history's sake, but 3 and 4 for what Persona has evolved into.  Persona is supposed to be a reflection of youth culture, and that's how I think it differentiates itself from the more grimdark mainline titles.  So yeah, I'm going to disagree with you all and say 3 and 4, social sim stuff and all.

But you MUST hear the original Persona 1 music or else...




However, if you do want a true Shin Megami experience, you get yourself an emulator, the original Shin Megami Super Famicom roms, an English patch, and you take those random encounters every 2 steps, demons giving you the finger after stealing your choice items, and you love every minute of it, or so help me YHVH, I will rip the flesh from your body as you sleep!


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 8, 2014)

^ Eh devil survivor feels more like mainline SMT than Persona imo.

Setting is not the end all be all. ( Doesnt even take place in school setting, the world just goes to shit entirely )

Well the original Devil survivor. DS2 is way more Persona 2-ish in terms of plot. But the plot in these games is pretty crazy lol.


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 8, 2014)

Devil Survivor is definitely more SMT in feel.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 8, 2014)

OH NOOOO ITS VLR

EVERYBUNNY"S GONNA DIE


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 8, 2014)

And for fuck sakes, play Soul Hackers


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## VoodooKnight (Sep 8, 2014)

Insofar as actually going around Japan/alignment you're right, but you see more anime-esque tropes in Devil Survivor and the Persona games than you do in mainline SMT.

If we wanted to be that specific, Majin Tensei would be similar in gameplay, but if it got an English patch, I haven't kept up with that.


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 8, 2014)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODIIb4pLR48[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW2qIpDGPXo[/YOUTUBE]


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## VoodooKnight (Sep 8, 2014)

Here's some of my fave tracks from the original and re-release.

2D Field

 (Hyper Rearrange Version)

Battle (3DS Remix)

Naomi Battle (Arranged Version)

Transvestite (Boutique Hyper Rearrange)

Possession

Opening Theme (Arranged Version)

Le Monde a Glace (Algon HQ) (Hyper Rearrange Version)


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 8, 2014)

Like I said, most of the old SMT spin offs games arent worth playing anymore ( Majin Tensei  ect ( they came up with alot o shit back then lmao ) besides the gameboy color games  (There are like 5 of them).  Jack Bros is awesome though lmao.

Mainline Shin Megami Tensai is mostly driven by events in the narrative, and the ideologies behind them. They also always take place in Tokyo. 

The spin offs however, are more character driven in terms of narrative. Persona obviously takes this the farthest. Soul Hackers and Raidou Kuzunoha also tread this line. (Despite the overall cyber punk and "hardcore" theme to the games.), Digital Devil Saga and Devil Survivor falls on the other side of the scale nearer mainline SMT in terms of narrative, but they put more time into character development than Mainline SMT, which goes for more world building in regards to its narrative. (SMT's IV's meat in narrative is all in the NPC's and the lives they live in Tokyo) The deuteragonists ( side characters) also get developed but they turn more into ideological symbols by the end, as their characterization and sense of self seemingly deconstructs ( this applies more to Walt though since he's a LawFag and lawfags are basically corporate shills to their maligned beliefs)

Most mainstream RPG's these days are all very character driven. Final Fantasy (pretty much all of Sakaguchi's Games actually), Tales of, Fire Emblem(recently). Most of them went  crazy with the cinematics in the 90's lol.

Games that are more about the world itself such as Golden Sun, Dragon Quest(popular in Japan, not so much worldwide) mainline SMT are overall less popular and less cinematic. Focusing more on the game mechanics and seem more "hardcore". These types of games thrived on the DS last gen.(Radiant Historia is Love, Radiant Historia is Life)

SMT in general imo is the Punk Rock of JRPGs.

Interestingly enough, Takahashi has tried to merge these style of narratives in all his games. 
Xenogears/Xenoblade felt like a genesis of these two narrative type, hell I think the rest of that rubbed off on Monolith Soft too since Baten Kaitos does the same thing with its narrative.

In xenoblade its pretty evenly divided, the first half of the game is about shulk and his life, the second half of the game is about the fucking multi-verse and genesis of the Bionis/Mechonis.


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## VoodooKnight (Sep 8, 2014)

I have Jack Bros, but no Virtual Boy to play it on.  I'm a bit afraid to even bother from the accounts I've read about Virtual Boy usage.


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## Kakashifan727 (Sep 8, 2014)

Emulate it? Yeah, even watching AVGN' review of the thing gave me a headache.


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## Violent by Design (Sep 8, 2014)

Kakashifan727 said:


> Emulate it? Yeah, even watching AVGN' review of the thing gave me a headache.



he made a video on SMT?


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## Lord Yu (Sep 8, 2014)

I've played a bunch of SMT from Soul Hackers to  Raidou Kuzunoha and Nocturne.  I got my start with Persona 2 EP.  I need to finish more of them.


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## Lishenron (Sep 8, 2014)

Any word on Devil Survivor 2 Break Record for the 3DS? Last I heard, they were giving it a similar treatment like Overclocked, but it would have more content.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 8, 2014)

Persona 5 took over and delayed everything else ;_;

Just put that shit out so I dont have to hear about it anymore please atlus!! 

Just get me my PS3 copy and I'll play it whenever >_>


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 8, 2014)

Persona 5 is basically Persona 4 reskinned

Unless someone with a straight face tells me harry potter-koon doesn't look like Yu or the vibe is almost identical to Persona 4's intro.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 8, 2014)

But Teh smurtphonz


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## Death-kun (Sep 8, 2014)

Lishenron said:


> Any word on Devil Survivor 2 Break Record for the 3DS? Last I heard, they were giving it a similar treatment like Overclocked, but it would have more content.



I could've sworn it's supposed to be out this year in Japan.


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 8, 2014)

You know, I haven't heard a fucking peep about DS2 Break Record since it was announced that it was a thing. And that was AGGGGGGEEES AGGGOOOOOOO.


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## Death-kun (Sep 8, 2014)

It got delayed and then pretty much fell off the radar. Atlus hasn't said a peep about it.


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## Əyin (Sep 8, 2014)

I want the next Raidou Kuzunoha Devil Summoner game


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## Millefeuille (Sep 9, 2014)

I love everything but demikids and p4 and p3 is is okay-ish and devil survivor 2 is also okayish but no where near as good as the first.

Everything else is love ( tho i haven't played the 3ds games)
 For favorites hmm mainline i would say nocturne but it's very close with 1 and 2
Favorite spin off strange journey/devil survivor
tho other spin off  come close

I want a translation for smt if


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 9, 2014)

Play Kyuukyaku Megami Tensei (remake of MT1 and 2 for SNES).

Its translated now.

Play dat shit or you're scum.


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## scerpers (Sep 9, 2014)

wish fatlus would give more on smt x fire emblem


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## Millefeuille (Sep 9, 2014)

Raidou Kuzunoha said:


> Play Kyuukyaku Megami Tensei (remake of MT1 and 2 for SNES).
> 
> Its translated now.
> 
> Play dat shit or you're scum.



link to translation


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## Death-kun (Sep 9, 2014)

Scerpers said:


> wish fatlus would give more on smt x fire emblem



This, too.

pls atlus


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 9, 2014)

Raidou Kuzunoha said:


> Play Kyuukyaku Megami Tensei (remake of MT1 and 2 for SNES).
> 
> Its translated now.
> 
> Play dat shit or you're scum.



Oh? Who translated it?


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## Buskuv (Sep 9, 2014)

>nobody says SMT: Devil Children

Peasants.

All of you.


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## Millefeuille (Sep 9, 2014)

Dr. Boskov Krevorkian said:


> >nobody says SMT: Devil Children
> 
> Peasants.
> 
> All of you.



If you like demikids u should be checked in the head


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 9, 2014)

St NightRazr said:


> Oh? Who translated it?



Romhacking Aerie


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## Kakashifan727 (Sep 9, 2014)

Sweet~ Wanted to try this out months ago; since the SNES patches effec up on me, or my run was screwed? Couldn't find a trans.


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## VoodooKnight (Sep 9, 2014)

Millefeuille said:
			
		

> If you like demikids u should be checked in the head



And you should be checked for a heart, fool!



This fucking 'us Spider' actually crawled all the way to you, learned to speak freakin' Engrish, and just wanted you to take care of it!

But no, you'd sooner kick it to the curb due to your bias against SMT spin-offs.

Why?!  Why won't you take care of the 'us Spider'?!


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## Millefeuille (Sep 9, 2014)

VoodooKnight said:


> And you should be checked for a heart, fool!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



cuz demikids is bad  tho it had some hilarious parts


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## Kakashifan727 (Sep 11, 2014)

Bleh, I meant AVGN did a review of the VB. Derp. I wonder if with emulation you could get rid of the BS red adn black screen shit and find a way to play it without killing your eyesight.

Liking DDS1&2 so far; I was confused, thought it was the PSX port of SMT1&2. Also, I am dumb; I thought the ARM:SWD in the equipment section meant I had a sword equipped already lol. No wonder I kept dying so easily.


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## Lishenron (Sep 20, 2014)

Break Record aint dead!
[youtube]bHCSLsF0px0[/youtube]

Coming to Japan in late January


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## Gaawa-chan (Sep 20, 2014)

I haven't played any SMT games.  Where should I start?


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## Millefeuille (Sep 20, 2014)

Gaawa-chan said:


> I haven't played any SMT games.  Where should I start?



digital devil saga/nocturne/strange journey

pick your poison


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## chibbselect (Sep 29, 2014)

Gaawa-chan said:


> I haven't played any SMT games.  Where should I start?



Depends on what you want. There isn't any continuity between titles (except for the digital devil saga ones, I think), so, story-wise, it doesn't particularly matter which game you start with. But many SMT games have different narrative styles and gameplay elements, so you'd probably want to start with whatever game best suits your preferences.

Some posts in this thread talk about this, but here's some characteristics of the SMT games I've played...

Persona 3 and 4
-story emphasizes characters within a narrative (better for telling a story, IMO, but your choices don't drive the narrative)
-Persona 3 is a long 'save the world' quest, while 4 is a (slightly) more self-contained mystery
-don't ask which one is better; the debate will last for 40 days and 40 nights or until the thread gets locked.
-on-screen enemies (not random encounters)
-third-person dungeon-crawler with central hub/town
-turn-based combat
-get personas as a reward after fights. Fuse them to make better ones.
-has dating/social-sim elements

SMT Nocturne and Strange Journey
-story is a backdrop--it changes later in the game depending on your choices. (Not a character-driven, linear narrative. Multiple endings. Kind of like a WRPG, I guess, only the narrative is much more focused and present throughout the game, so you won't be endlessly dicking around on quests while hoping that the term 'world-building' starts to mean something.)
-random encounters
-Nocturne is a third person dungeon-crawler with a world map and multiple towns (emphasizes exploration); Strange Journey is a first person dungeon crawler with one "town" (your mobile command center.)
-recruit demons through in-combat conversation. Fuse them to make better ones.
-turn-based combat
-these are closest, in terms of gameplay, to mainline SMT entries

Devil Survivor 1 and 2
-story is a backdrop that changes later in the game depending on your choices. Multiple endings. The story is pretty character-driven, though, so I'd almost call the narrative style a combination between the Persona and mainline SMT entries. 
-hybrid strategy/traditional RPG; command multiple teams and move around grid-based maps, but turn-based battles occur when teams encounter enemies on the map.
-story is episodic and progresses when you complete maps
-grid-based maps means no exploration
-buy demons at a store. Fuse them to make better ones.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 29, 2014)

@gaawa chan

SMT is non linear and exploration driven, but its more or less like Chrono Trigger rather than a SaGa game  which is entirely open and non linear since its character and exploration driven ( you have 8 characters to chose, you pick one and you move forward with their storyline. Depending on what you do,where you go, you activate story events that will cause the characters storyline to branch off even further. SMT games just have routes instead like a visual novel, and in chrono trigger you can just do a lot of short cutting and get different endings)


So in your case Devil Survivor: Overclocked on the 3DS is a good entry to begin with.

Its like a mainline SMT game in terms of feel and progression, but the gameplay is a mix of the press turn combat system and Fire emblem style SRPGs.

Then you should try the mainline games. SMT 1/2, strange journey and SMT IV. Nocturne is SMT3 but its really different from the other games ( and the only game with 3D demon models) so it'll feel different. The dungeon design as well.

in SMT IV the area environments are dungeons themselves, but in the other games its more etrian odyssey style. 

If you want to give an older feeling cyberpunk style SMT a try I suggest Soul Hackers which is a sequel to the First Devil summoner game on the Saturn. there is a remake of it on the 3DS.

The Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha games on PS2 are action rpgs. The first one sucks. The second one is good.

If you want to play a PS2 SMT  I suggest Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2.Great games.

But Megami Tensei goes all the way back to the famicom.  They were remade on the SFC as Kyuyaku Megami Tensei and SMT 1 came out on the Famicom. This is the list of games in the franchise


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## Lord Yu (Sep 30, 2014)

The first Raidou is fine. You just have to get used to the quirks.


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## Kakashifan727 (Sep 30, 2014)

I bought it for like $4 and I'm enjoying it. Feels slightly more detectivy than the 2nd one. And no stupid Fiends chasing you everywhere; had to stop in Ch5 cause of that. Then again I don't think 1st has sidequests/Case Files...


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 30, 2014)

To my knowledge I don't think so.

The first game has like the better story and awesome call back to SMT 1 and 2.

2 had awesome side stuff. And COMPLETELY worth it.


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## Yagura (Sep 30, 2014)

Since this topic has more or less swerved off topic, I'll ask here.


How does SMT 4 compare to Nocturne and Strange Journey?


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## Raidou Kuzunoha (Sep 30, 2014)

Very fun. It has a hard swerve of difficulty at the beginning, but once you start getting to Tokyo, you'll get new abilities and stuff and demon's that'll make the game much easier.


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## Lord Yu (Oct 1, 2014)

The fiends in Raidou 2 were hella annoying. I could deal with them if it weren't for the randomness of the luck system they got going. I never got around to finishing it. I guess I'll finish it after I finish Raidou 1.


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## Kakashifan727 (Oct 1, 2014)

Sam here lol. Stuck on like ch5 which I think was the last or 2nd ot last ch.


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