Lost Odyssey - Howl of The Departed | Reacting To Video Game Music!

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  • Опубликовано: 27 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 87

  • @teamramrod27
    @teamramrod27 3 года назад +75

    A compliment I have for you Jesse: I really appreciate how you approach every track with such a welcoming attitude. You can always tell when someone is genuine and I really appreciate how you approach art. Not only one of the best video game music reaction channels, but one of the best reaction channels period. Every time you get excited about a track I love adds a year to my life. Keep on being you!

  • @wonkydonk9073
    @wonkydonk9073 4 месяца назад +9

    The lyrics in this song, if I recall, are super long, poetic, existential ramblings about immortality which ties into the main character's situation. I'm pretty sure the language is Japanese.

  • @irl_lizard7880
    @irl_lizard7880 Год назад +48

    I just imagine Uematsu graduating from archaic computers with limited sound chips to real instruments and shouting, "finally I can include guitars, drums, bass, a synth solo, and a spoken word/rap section like I heard it in my head!!!!"

  • @temporalwolf7054
    @temporalwolf7054 3 года назад +36

    Lost Odyssey is such a criminally underrated game. Some of the best work from Uematsu and one of Sakaguchi's best stories dealing with the tragedy of immortality.

  • @tosportsfan2342
    @tosportsfan2342 2 года назад +17

    One of the most underrated games of all time. So happy to see that people remember it till today

  • @ActionAbe1
    @ActionAbe1 3 года назад +40

    Lost Odyssey has an overall impressive OST hope some requested Battle Conditions from it. that song is a banger
    Best Uematsu song is probably dancing mad from FF6. im 100% sure someone requested that one because its one of the most iconic final boss themes ever

    • @beo3828
      @beo3828 3 года назад +3

      ~15 minutes of what the absolute fuck

    • @kuroganekaze
      @kuroganekaze 3 года назад +1

      @@beo3828 In the best way possible.

    • @beo3828
      @beo3828 3 года назад

      @@kuroganekaze of course

    • @guillermosarabia1205
      @guillermosarabia1205 2 года назад

      Great melody, my favorite from Uematsu is Terra's theme

    • @ff.mychael
      @ff.mychael 2 года назад

      Even Extreme from FF VIII is a banger tho. So many Uematsu's songs

  • @catherine1756
    @catherine1756 2 года назад +9

    OK this shit has me subscribed, we love Lost Odyssey appreciation in this house. Super underrated game yet again.

  • @dearikj90
    @dearikj90 3 года назад +8

    Oh wow. Lost Odyssey is one of those hidden gem rpgs from the 360 era that no one talks about but I have an incredible amount of nostalgia toward. Very cool.

  • @sildrex
    @sildrex 3 года назад +18

    Fun fact: The TV commercial for lost odyssey uses Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" as its theme, which is why when the trailer for the new Matrix movie came out I spent like an hour going "I have heard this song being used as a trailer somewhere, BUT WHERE?!"
    I really hope this game gets a remaster of some kind that lets it live somewhere outside the Xbox 360. It was an amazing, heartfelt ride and one of the first games we got from Hironobu Sakaguchi (the father of Final Fantasy) after he departed Square to found Mistwalker.

    • @Lucifronz
      @Lucifronz 16 дней назад

      I've wanted to revisit the game for some time, but my 360 has a tendency to freeze a lot and I can't emulate my copy on PC. It's a fantastic game and one of my all-time favorite JRPGs.

  • @MemoryTAS
    @MemoryTAS Год назад +4

    I haven't even played this game, happened to be exposed to the song through some old alex rochon top 50 boss battle list. Recognized it within the first 5 seconds or so and knew you were in for a ride. Song throws everything at you including the kitchen sink. Hits about as hard as a kitchen sink would too.

  • @temporalwolf7054
    @temporalwolf7054 3 года назад +12

    God Lost Odyssey music *AND* Yakuza showing up in my sub box on the same day? Is it my birthday or something?

  • @Zestieee
    @Zestieee Год назад +4

    For the whole duration of this track you literally cannot expect what's coming next. I really love it.
    Lost Odyssey's been my favourite game since it came out btw.

  • @DontGiveUp_Skeleton
    @DontGiveUp_Skeleton 3 года назад +13

    The music in this game has a way of sticking. It's some of Uematsu's most striking, in a good way. When I used to hike I'd have Lost odyssey in my headphones (because you do a lot of hiking in the game) and it would make it feel otherworldly.

  • @RaveSault
    @RaveSault 3 года назад +14

    Sorry, Jesse, I think I'm going to use your channel as a way to find music now.
    Your patrons have a lot of unique tastes.

  • @Navylian
    @Navylian 3 года назад +36

    I hope to see more of Lost Odyssey OST, still one of the best adults JRPG's of the history

    • @JustinBieberFailz
      @JustinBieberFailz 2 года назад +4

      TRUE! Remaster when? :(

    • @bd_bandkanon
      @bd_bandkanon Год назад

      @@JustinBieberFailz right??? man, I wish there would at least be a PC port. It's not very accessible in its current state... 😔

    • @JustinBieberFailz
      @JustinBieberFailz Год назад

      @@bd_bandkanon yeah 100% - I'd love to play through this game again, honestly I might have to buy an old xbox just to play it. otherwise it legitimately will be a lost odyssey :(

    • @Zestieee
      @Zestieee Год назад

      Since it's been my favourite game since it came out, I needed a way to play it again. I haven't had an Xbox 360 for years now (tho I still hold onto my original copy of the game).
      I managed to run it on Xenia **Canary** and it works nearly perfectly - minor issues with shadows glitching and some instances of audio cutting bits, but 100% playable from start to finish.
      I advise everyone to try it if you're interested.

  • @IBAGGaming
    @IBAGGaming 3 года назад +10

    Such a delightfully unique song to be ending the game on, when I first heard it I hadn't fought the boss it was associated with and I originally didn't like it. Once I finished the game though I loved it.

  • @Kiosraigeki
    @Kiosraigeki 3 года назад +5

    So as someone who is actually in the middle of playing Lost Odyssey, I didn't know any of the track names. So I was prepared for any number of tracks from this game. But I hadn't encountered this before. So I'm coming into this completely blind too... And I gotta say, most of my reactons mirrored yours XD What a track.

  • @tamashii6670
    @tamashii6670 2 года назад +3

    Nobuo Uematsu have soooo many amazing songs, it's too hard to choose one favourite. :P

  • @Vashy434
    @Vashy434 3 года назад +24

    Man really should have started him off with the Main Theme, nothing beats Lost Odysseys main theme.

    • @crowolf3862
      @crowolf3862 3 года назад +1

      This is the theme they covered for the band though. Called bo kon ho ko on the eathbound papas cd

  • @Noobert_Doobert
    @Noobert_Doobert 3 года назад +7

    Hey Jesse you should definitely react to lost odyssey’s “never ending journey” it’s an amazing piece I’m sure you’ll love

  • @windsgrace688
    @windsgrace688 3 года назад +3

    One of my favorite Nobuo Uematsu songs is "Seymour Battle" from FFX. I'm not entirely sure if it's exclusively composed by him since FFX has three composers credited but, it definitely fits his style.

  • @TheSinaqui
    @TheSinaqui Год назад +2

    Lost Odyssey has a series of short stories inside of it called, i think "A Thousand Years of Dreams"
    The idea is that the main character and a few others are immortals, and these short stories are little insights into their experiences over the centuries, different towns, different countries, almost all of them horribly melancholy and heart wrenching in some way because they don't really remember any of these things. The connections they formed, the people they witnessed be born, grow, and pass away. With some really nice sound design running in the background. They really suck you in and make you feel.

  • @Issen_Mode
    @Issen_Mode 2 года назад +2

    Loved your reaction to this one lol, I checked out the lyrics to this a long time ago and it sounds like insane ramblings of an evil immortal person who I'm assuming is the antagonist, haven't beat it yet though so I'm not sure

  • @masdrionalt
    @masdrionalt 3 года назад +2

    Well damn, and here I was thinking I'd just about heard the extent of how insane VGM can be. I've still got a lot to learn.

  • @roccoalabasta3129
    @roccoalabasta3129 3 года назад +2

    I was getting major Yngwie vibes from the guitar. I'm gonna look at playing this one!

  • @MythagoWoods
    @MythagoWoods 3 года назад +32

    Just for fun I decided to look up the translated Japanese lyrics of the guy speaking at the end there.
    Feeling, believing through eternity
    A heart that will not die nor fade
    Twisted and distorted it overflows
    Clouding redder, ever darker
    Far beyond, it continues to live
    A body trembling in sense of loss
    Until only the sound of defeat
    Remains to be crushed between its teeth
    Enduring the marks of fleeting time
    Ever unbearable as they accrue
    That there was never an answer
    Has long become so clear to you
    Faith in what drops remained in my hands bore foolish atonement, pointless condolence
    Surely only to pass me by, all of it gone, nothing to remain
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    Not even knowing that is their fate, unable to grasp that is the end
    Sensing death and seeing it near, running lost to scramble ahead
    Sensing life and seeing it near, living so hard to arrive at death
    Scared, cold, tired, and torrid; this heart, this body, all of it
    Digging, screaming, bludgeoning, leaping, crushing away into dust
    Something is left inside of me even though it should not be
    In a place they could not enter yet that is where they remain
    Where I should be seeing nothing my eyes catch impossible sight
    I believed something could last and so resulted this illusion
    It draws away and fades so fast, the lingering silence terrifies
    What's left is a flowing wound that grows, stabbing deeper into me
    It hurts in ways I don't understand to degrees I cannot take
    I've clawed until my nails are bare; my fingers split and pooling blood
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    Not even knowing that is their fate, unable to grasp that is the end
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    I'm sure I've dodged the thought as well, refusing to see how it ends
    Grasp in bloody embrace
    Someone who remembers the story, as I do not as it's been to long, can probably explain if this makes any sense or not.

    • @VelvetAura
      @VelvetAura 2 года назад +4

      Metal as fuck

    • @KarasawaL30
      @KarasawaL30 Год назад +4

      Spoilers, but the main character and the main villain both cannot die; they are immortals.

    • @Elementroar
      @Elementroar 9 месяцев назад +1

      Ok so, the Immortals are actually sorta like aliens. They come from an alternate dimension and in their home world they do not have emotions, and they thought themselves ‘pure’. Were they like angels, AI robots, we don’t know. There was magic from the main world the game is set in, distorting their home world ‘like a virus’, so the 5 Immortals were sent to investigate what was causing it by sending their consciousness with a ‘quantum transporter’ into the main world, and possibly into new human bodies, because they see humans as separate from them. It’s only when spending all this time in the main world did the Immortals gain emotions and learn what ‘to feel’ even means.
      The main villain used to be one of them, and he remembered their original mission. But at some point, he decided that he wanted to stay past their 1000 year deadline, and rule the world because they all can’t die and they can use magic easily in the main world.
      So in that context, to me the lyrics feels like the villain Gongora, realizes if they go back home they will lose everything that they have become because they will feel nothing again. Like it’ll be like being dragged back into the void and you won’t even understand what you lost as your emotions are stripped away. This reads to Gongora’s fear and anger to me.
      He’s really not that compelling IN THE GAME tho 😂

  • @prisoner817
    @prisoner817 3 года назад +3

    People don't call him the Beethoven of game music for nothing picking a favorite is so damned hard.. gonna go with Dancing Mad i think but that's a tough one!

  • @unbeatable2121
    @unbeatable2121 3 года назад +5

    God, this was such a good game.

  • @TarundiMC
    @TarundiMC 3 года назад +1

    Hadn't heard of this game, but absolutely hear Uematsu's style here.

  • @gbtygfvyg
    @gbtygfvyg 3 года назад +1

    It's funny that I didn't even know the name of the song but the moment I heard the opening I just went "oh shit, it's THIS song" I loved this game, I really wish it would come out anywhere other than the X360
    I haven't played this game in 12 fucking years and I still remember this song (I had to actually look up the date I got the "beat the game" achievement)

  • @protagonist-kun3587
    @protagonist-kun3587 3 года назад +7

    The final line in the rap is "I reach to the future for my own sake, and with bloodied hands; I grasp it." He's speaking too fast for me otherwise.

  • @valence686
    @valence686 3 года назад +1

    I kinda forgot the name of the genre but that rap segment is very inspired from japanese rap from back then. Lost Odyssey is what cemented Uematsu as a guy that may have his very own style to me, but more than that as a guy that can literally do anything in any genre you ask, and that type of composers is really rare. Every game OST he did had a unique vibe to it, all in a different way. You can also feel how he evolved from a self taught music composer when looking at the chronology of his works.
    That OST is half about experimental and mixing all types of things in the wackiest way possible. The map theme which is usually a big thing in FF games and Uematsu titles, here literally mixes incan traditional music with electric guitar (title is Neverending Journey), it's weirdly maybe not the most impressively epic of his works, but it really hits a chord for me.

  • @temporalwolf7054
    @temporalwolf7054 3 года назад +1

    As for favorite tracks from Uematsu I'd have to go with Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy 6. Not only is it a great piece in itself but the way it is written was specifically a product of the SNES hardware, with Uematsu using a few tricks to get around memory limitations and give us a SNES song with movements.

    • @francescoesposito6226
      @francescoesposito6226 2 года назад

      This piece has a lot of similarities with the battle of kefka from ff vi.

  • @RaZieLDaNtE1984
    @RaZieLDaNtE1984 3 года назад +1

    Hi there Uncle Jesse and congrats on 12 K subs! I´ve been viewing and listening to your reactions and I kinda wanted to make a few sugestions and this was, is one of them. This is the "Final Boss" theme of lost Odissey, one of the best JRPGs and for me, personaly, one of Uematsu´s finnest. This is a batlle between the Imortal charactes in your party against the Imortal Boss and it is pretty badass. I´m glad someone sugested this theme wich is my favourite Nobuo Uematsu track.
    And you have another sub from myself.
    So a few sugestions if I may:
    - Holly Orders (Be Just or be Dead) from Guilty Gear X2;
    - KDD-0063 (Theme of K' Team) from KOFXIII;
    - Dancig mad from Final Fantasy VI;
    - Hornet from Hollow Knight;
    - Yakuza 0 English Intro, because there is also a japanese one as well.
    There are way to many amazing video game osts out there, so you are probably gonna be doing this videos until the end of times. Wich is a cool thing.
    Cheers, stay safe and happy video game music listening to us all

  • @anthonyspearman3656
    @anthonyspearman3656 3 года назад +2

    I think my favorite Nobuo song is Darkness of Eternity from FFIX. It's the final battle theme between you and the character Kuja who you've fought and seen a few times before over the course of the game.

    • @peggieschafer485
      @peggieschafer485 Год назад +1

      The moment the organ plays that unexpected chord you KNOW it's going down - HARD 🤩

  • @johnnycritical
    @johnnycritical 2 года назад +1

    I beg you to do "A Mighty Enemy Appears" to me it is far better than the others from this game. It always brings me back, year after year after decade. Different style for sure. Just brilliant classical music

  • @gamester512
    @gamester512 2 года назад

    So happy to see Lost Odyssey getting some recognition. That game seems to get overlooked way too often simply because it was an RPG exclusive to the Xbox 360. Lost Odyssey is an absolute gem of a game, and I can't recommend it enough to anyone with the ability and means to play it. To this day, it's one of the only games to ever get me to actually come close to crying. It got me that emotionally invested.

  • @chocobofangirl
    @chocobofangirl 3 года назад

    OH HELL YES I never got far enough to hear this in its original context because this was the days when you had RPGs on three CDs again (Xbox 360 dvds had less storage than PS3 or something) and the console ate one I think xp either that or it red ringed. but everything from the little vignettes where the heroes reminisce on people they've met over their long, long lives (two of the three mains are immortals which is extra fascinating since you end up meeting the family and grandkids one of them had) sticks with you so hard, this game really knows how to twist the knife and I'm sure this scene must be so satisfying. Why can't we download this on pc through that whole windows/Xbox sync thing aaaaa😭 at least you could buy it digitally if you had a 360 or later.

  • @Maikeru101
    @Maikeru101 2 года назад +1

    I loved this game so much!!!!

  • @Lin-ue8wr
    @Lin-ue8wr 3 года назад +1

    My favorite Uematsu song is the Dragonsong, no debate nececery.

  • @menosay1912
    @menosay1912 3 года назад

    Dancing Mad from FFVI. A 4 movement 17 minute extravaganza that accompanies the last bosses.

  • @nesoukkefka1741
    @nesoukkefka1741 3 года назад

    The way the singer was singing in the second half of the song was a rap, yep a Rap in a Uematsu song, I think this is the only time he did it, and it sounds very good.
    Uematsu does so amazing song it's hard to pick a favorite.

  • @Linthare
    @Linthare 3 года назад

    Favourite Uematsu composition? Wow. That really doesn't make it easy.
    I'm going to have to go with the reimagined version of 'J-E-N-O-V-A' called JENOVA Quickening from FF7 Remake.
    It has 3 stages to it and just builds up from this haunting yet melodic rhythm, then it picks up more tempo, more percussion, more choir - then it holds, waits buidls suspense... then finally the original theme kicks in with gusto and an accompanying heavy beat, oh man, shivers. Everytime.

  • @bahumut01
    @bahumut01 3 года назад

    I love this game, still play it

  • @Sekainoowaride
    @Sekainoowaride 2 года назад +1

    If you liked this one...."Awakening the Chaos" from BlazBlue is noice~

  • @diamondrust4719
    @diamondrust4719 3 года назад +2

    Haven't thought about that game in very long time, but I still love the music from it. Game was kinda meh, but the music was on point. Had one of the few regular battle themes that I genuinely never got tired of hearing.

  • @crowolf3862
    @crowolf3862 3 года назад

    Oh wow. I’d only heard the band version before. I didn’t know the rap had a taiko intermission

  • @blackfield1355
    @blackfield1355 2 года назад

    Original lyrics is in Japanese
    Here's translation:
    Feeling, believing through eternity
    A heart that will not die nor fade
    Twisted and distorted it overflows
    Clouding redder, ever darker
    Far beyond, it continues to live
    A body trembling in sense of loss
    Until only the sound of defeat
    Remains to be crushed between its teeth
    Enduring the marks of fleeting time
    Ever unbearable as they accrue
    That there was never an answer
    Has long become so clear to you
    Faith in what drops remained in my hands bore foolish atonement, pointless condolence
    Surely only to pass me by, all of it gone, nothing to remain
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    Not even knowing that is their fate, unable to grasp that is the end
    Sensing death and seeing it near, running lost to scramble ahead
    Sensing life and seeing it near, living so hard to arrive at death
    Scared, cold, tired, and torrid; this heart, this body, all of it
    Digging, screaming, bludgeoning, leaping, crushing away into dust
    Something is left inside of me even though it should not be
    In a place they could not enter yet that is where they remain
    Where I should be seeing nothing my eyes catch impossible sight
    I believed something could last and so resulted this illusion
    It draws away and fades so fast, the lingering silence terrifies
    What's left is a flowing wound that grows, stabbing deeper into me
    It hurts in ways I don't understand to degrees I cannot take
    I've clawed until my nails are bare; my fingers split and pooling blood
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    Not even knowing that is their fate, unable to grasp that is the end
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    I'm sure I've dodged the thought as well, refusing to see how it ends
    Grasp in bloody embrace

    • @blackfield1355
      @blackfield1355 2 года назад

      And about second part where Male vocalist kicks in.
      This final boss theme where main antagonist is an immortal sorcerer so this second part is more or less spell chanting

  • @consumablecorner150
    @consumablecorner150 2 года назад +1

    Those who get Lost Further.

  • @spiderdude2099
    @spiderdude2099 2 года назад

    For anyone curious, here is a translation of the Japanese spoken word section in the middle. Pretty creepy stuff tbh:
    Feeling, believing through eternity
    A heart that will not die nor fade
    Twisted and distorted it overflows
    Clouding redder, ever darker
    Far beyond, it continues to live
    A body trembling in sense of loss
    Until only the sound of defeat
    Remains to be crushed between its teeth
    Enduring the marks of fleeting time
    Ever unbearable as they accrue
    That there was never an answer
    Has long become so clear to you
    Faith in what drops remained in my hands bore foolish atonement, pointless condolence
    Surely only to pass me by, all of it gone, nothing to remain
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    Not even knowing that is their fate, unable to grasp that is the end
    Sensing death and seeing it near, running lost to scramble ahead
    Sensing life and seeing it near, living so hard to arrive at death
    Scared, cold, tired, and torrid; this heart, this body, all of it
    Digging, screaming, bludgeoning, leaping, crushing away into dust
    Something is left inside of me even though it should not be
    In a place they could not enter yet that is where they remain
    Where I should be seeing nothing my eyes catch impossible sight
    I believed something could last and so resulted this illusion
    It draws away and fades so fast, the lingering silence terrifies
    What's left is a flowing wound that grows, stabbing deeper into me
    It hurts in ways I don't understand to degrees I cannot take
    I've clawed until my nails are bare; my fingers split and pooling blood
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    Not even knowing that is their fate, unable to grasp that is the end
    All is born from the void, in the end to be consumed by black
    I'm sure I've dodged the thought as well, refusing to see how it ends
    Grasp in bloody embrace

  • @ЛюбомирИлиев-о2ф
    @ЛюбомирИлиев-о2ф 3 года назад +1

    Day 1 of requesting Pentakill - Lost chapter, Lightbringer (acoustic) and Edge of Night.

  • @DTNNooby
    @DTNNooby 2 года назад +1

    LOL the guitar scratching at the start sounds like a real shit guitarist or something out of context

  • @kaizerlith7070
    @kaizerlith7070 3 года назад

    I love this song and game though I never got to beat it as the 360 I was using broke and I never got another Xbox to complete it.
    Silly side note I used to play this game called Audio Surf and would use this song a lot as it made for a very fun but hard track in the game.

    • @jvdach4652
      @jvdach4652 3 года назад

      And I believe lost odyssey was never released digital, so hard lick getting it in modern console.

    • @chocobofangirl
      @chocobofangirl 3 года назад

      @@jvdach4652 no don't worry! You still can't get it on PC but they fixed the problem with not being able to buy multi cd digital Games years ago (five according to the article I'm reading), so you can get it on console. I still need it on PC tho argh but the dev isn't interested in remastering anything ever (says the time is better spent on new stuff).

  • @SupraZelda666
    @SupraZelda666 11 месяцев назад +2

    LOST OD is better than FF7 for me. OST and game.

  • @thenonexistinghero
    @thenonexistinghero 3 года назад +3

    This game's basically the real FFXI. I think the final boss & villain are rather subpar, but outside of that the writing, story and music are superb. The combat balance is great as well and the dungeon design isn't half bad (nothing great, but above-average overal). The atmosphere of the game is pretty damn unique though and the opening of the game is still among the most epic ones ever of any JRPG. It's hard to decide which has a stronger opening, Lost Oyddesey or Xenoblade 1.

  • @astropie7488
    @astropie7488 3 года назад

    😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

  • @confitao
    @confitao 3 года назад +1

    Now you understand why Soken considers Uematsu his mentor.

  • @rinnnnnnnnnnrinRinOnishi
    @rinnnnnnnnnnrinRinOnishi 3 года назад +2

    god this ost is incredible, TOO BAD ITS TRAPPED ON THE XBOX 360

    • @YouTubeCensors
      @YouTubeCensors 2 года назад

      It's backwards compatible so Xbox ones , Xbox series.
      No excuses unless you never play on Xbox consoles at all.
      360 is only if you want to suffer bad load times in 2022 and beyond

  • @danielalexandru5415
    @danielalexandru5415 3 года назад

    Nice track but really curious whether that scratching in the beginning did anything for anyone... I was just confused and squinting for the entire 15-20 seconds it was there 🤔... Same deal for the weird lyrics... Feel like they just distract needlessly from the instruments

  • @Vallarax
    @Vallarax 3 года назад +23

    Before I got entirely hooked on XIV I used to say Lost Odyssey was my favourite (technically not) Final Fantasy, such fantastic writing and music along with the classic gameplay systems, perhaps not my top pick from the OST considering how relaxing and sombre a lot of the zone themes tend to be, but a worthwhile reaction.

    • @Antis14CZ
      @Antis14CZ 2 года назад +2

      I'm kinda torn on Lost Odyssey. At times, it can be overly melodramatic, the battle system was kinda weird and clunky, but it also gave us some great tunes, the biggest magic staff I've ever seen, and the best combo of mother and son I've seen in a long while.
      Oh and the short stories are pretty much the best thing ever.