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hovershiplogos · 1 month

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Okay, so there's actually not much for me to talk about for the bonus section, but there's also one more section I need to talk about:

The hacking section! You can access the lot of things here, like cheats, weapons to drop into your savefile, you can also view some images of guns, maps, cars and characters, which reveal some interesting tidbits (which for some damn reason I cannot view, so the following screenshots are from other people's videos on youtube:

Some interesting notes here regarding ages, heights and so on! Also I just realised that I was actually pretty okay on some of the Agent identifications after all! Also that age gap between Neo and Trinity :p

Also, Sparks is listed as 5'9 ft here, but I tend to think of him as his actor's height: 6'3 ft, because if you see him next to the others in the film, he's BIG.

If you play around with the hacking, you can have two conversations with some characters: first off being Trinity!

There you go, nothing to say here!

And the next person, and the end of this hacking section is....

My boooooooy!!

So, you go to type in the EMP command, and...

I'll remember this Sparks >:3 He'll play you a message from Neo, telling you to follow the white rabbit. Also the fact that Sparks says he'll do the cooking, and uses emoticons? Funny!

The gift he talks about is unlocking multiplayer mode, which you can play against your friends as characters such as Niobe, Ghost, Trinity, Neo and...

This is a special kind of ridiculous and I love it!

Remember I promised revenge on Sparks for his little prank?

Good luck playing the game, Sparks! XD

Fun fact, if you change over the costume files for either Niobe or Ghost, you can play as any character that's listed in the actor folder for Enter the Matrix: including Neo, Trinity or Morpheus.

In Sparks' case, it also highlights how tall Sparks is compared to the other two:

She's so small!

Okay, that's all for my bonus ramblings for Enter the Matrix, thank you for hanging in with me! :) Have a few screenshots from when I was installing the game onto my PC, enjoy!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Yes, that's right, it's Enter the Matrix. Because it's criminal that for a blog named for the little ship that could, I've haven't actually done a deep dive on the game itself! So I'm going to fix that!

I'm also going to play through as both Niobe and Ghost, as depending on who you're playing, the missions play out slightly different, and the cutscene dialogue varies as well. Also, not going to do like a blow by blow kinda thing. Only going to comment on things that caught my interest, or seem rather amusing to me. If you want a little more context, I suggest checking out the couple of playthroughs/cut scene compilations on youtube.

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

Also interesting to note is that according to this cutscene, Sparks has been operating on board the Logos for 3 years. Now, a standard US navy tour of duty (and I'm going with Navy rather than Army as Zion's army is referred to as a Navy fleet) is between 2-3 years. Not really going anywhere with this, but it's interesting to note.

Niobe is a 'my way or the highway' kinda person. No wonder it didn't work between her and Morpheus. It's also telling that Ghost has known Niobe for long enough to know that this is what she's like. I wonder if Ghost is the glue in this ship dynamic? As in, he knew Niobe and Sparks separately before they knew each other, if that makes sense?

And it's the little hovership that could, the little lightning bug of the fleet! Those red lights on the ship look like they're the same as the ones on the sentinels. I wonder if a bulb blows or something they scavenge one from a deactivated squiddie as a replacement?

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

Also, as I remarked earlier, the fact that Niobe is willing to risk going in without support , especially given what she says about Thaddeus not using the drops unless he had no choice? And now they're all dead? They definitely need to get that package before the agents do.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

Once again, Niobe is rolling her eyes behind the sunnies. This is what she has to put up with. Also, I would love to think that one time Sparks pranked Ghost by running some program that sent his guns soaring upward.

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

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Alrighty, it's time for the last section of the game. I'm only going to show Niobe's section of gameplay, as both sides play out the same.

I mean, we knew he was going to show up at some point!

That is far too many agents, especially creepy ones that say they are the beginning of the end! Niobe books it and manages to escape into a half built skyscraper.

If you're very good at fighting here, you can kick the Smith clone that spawns on this scaffolding off to his death!

After outrunning the Smith clones, she uses the fire extinguisher to obscure herself in the chemicals, and from Smith when she jumps out at the other end!

No one is having a great time here, Niobe is being chased by Agents, Sparks keeps having to find her, you can slowly feel the frustration building here. You spend all of Chinatown running away from the Smith clones, hoping that the journey tracker doesn't run you into a corner where the Smiths can dogpile on you (which happened to me a few times, damn that useless thing!). trying to make it to an exit point at a phone booth, only for the cops to blow it up, so you then have to trek all the way to a church across town!

And of course, you escape just at the last minute, and hey, one more fmv cutscene before the end!

This is a man at the end of his rope, and I love that the camping sentinels is what seems to be the final straw for him!

Interesting that Niobe picks up what the Sentinels are up to fairly quickly. And after Ghost orders for the ships guns to come online RIGHT NOW, we get this hilarious complaint from Sparks:

Soon, Sparks. Soon.

And it's time for the final section of the game: the hovercraft sections!

I wish this section controlled better personally, you have to outrun the sentinels, which mean you have to go full speed to avoid them, but you can't turn very well, so you end up bumping to walls, and there's pipes inter-sectioning the tunnels as well, which you can either avoid, or crash into. Which is fine on easy, but I imagine on hard is a pain in the butt!

Do this for long enough, and the sentinels will eventually sic the tow-bomb on you!

You can't, you have to wait until Ghost shoots it out to escape!

Unfortunately, the resulting explosion grounds the ship, and there's a little graphical glitch where the windshield does not apply to Ghost.

Niobe has the EMP armed in ready, and waits until they're all in range before blowing it, which is smart, but Sparks is currently watching the sentinel clawing at him through the ceiling and, well!

This little pull back through the ship gives us a bit of a layout of the ship, that little door seen before Sparks leads to the cockpit!

The last FMV of the game is just Ghost and Niobe sitting in the dark.

Ghost is wondering if they will be found by the others. Which we know they are, but there is a fanfic that explored the possibility that the Logos was never found (which I think was called 'Deep Freeze'?), which was great, and I'm sad it never updated!

Cue a cut to the some of the scenes of Revolutions, a little teaser before the trailer at the end of the credits:

And that's it! That's the end of Enter the Matrix! Thank you for sticking with me this long, hope you enjoyed this replay/rewatch! I recommend playing the game for yourself, or watching a playthrough of it or watching the cutscenes if you're a Matrix fan, as it does add a bit of background to the other two films, and come on, you shouldn't miss out on getting to know the Logos trio!

Thanks again all, I actually have a bonus post to come out, once I fix some stuff, but hopefully it will come out soon! See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

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Okay, sorry for the delay, we're getting close to the end now!

It should be spelt as Woo-Ping Avenue, as this is a reference to Yuen Woo-Ping, the fight coordinator for all three films.

This was a great little fight, and it is possible to fail it. Should you do so, he says something along the lines of 'You're not the one we're looking for', you get jacked out and sent to the final levels of the game. If you do beat him, he gives his little apology about not knowing someone until you fight them, and then takes you to see the Oracle.

We get two different scenes with the Oracle for each character, and interestingly enough, when the Merovingian terminated her old shell (as she put it), it took a few of her memories with it. She remembers Niobe, but doesn't initially remember Ghost, but does remember what she told him.

I'll start with Niobe, then circle back to Ghost, because the endgame for both of them is similar enough that I don't feel I need to go through both their sections.

Niobe asks if the Oracle wants her to believe that she is who she says she is, and the Oracle responds with this little truth. And it's true, no one can make Niobe do anything she doesn't want to do.

It's odd seeing Matrix! Niobe without her sunglasses. Niobe asks the Oracle what happened, Oracle gives her the whole thing with the Merovingian, and also lets Niobe know that Neo is alive.

But oddly enough, that didn't happen until he tried to stop the sentinels. Maybe it was a delayed effect? Who knows?

Nice little bit of foreshadowing for Revolutions, wonder if the Oracle knew that the Hell in this case would be Club Hel? Now that I come to think of it, I suspect she did.

Which in this case, means giving up something very dear to her: The Logos. The more I think about it, the Logos is very much hers. It's a symbol of her our autonomy as a Captain, where she is in charge, and no one else can tell her what to do (which is maybe a side perk of being in a relationship with Lock, having a certain amount of autonomy?). To give that up is to give up her personal freedom, something very dear to her.

(It's also a bit like asking a petrolhead to give up their favourite car...)

In a sense, yes. Niobe's world, as well as the world of the current Zion and the Matrix will end if Neo doesn't stop Smith, if the machine army isn't stopped. From it, a different world altogether will be born, but it will not be the same.

Which is true. If Niobe didn't get back to Zion in time, set off the EMP to stop the current army of machines within the dock, and buy some time for Neo to reach the machine city, there may not have been much for Neo to save.

And boy, yes she did. In the end, she sure did.

Okay, that's the end of Niobe's little meeting with the Oracle. Let's see how Ghost fares:

I love it, using philosophy to verify the Oracle's identity. That bit of wisdom comes from Williams James, as it turns out.

This whole exchange with the Oracle is bittersweet, we get a lot more depth into Ghost's character (particularly his relationship with Trinity), and I personally recommend watching this cutscene in particular, as my rambling here does not do it any justice.

See, look at that little sad smile. This is also something that the Oracle remembers, because upon being asked, Ghost said that he felt freed by that answer.

Freed from expectation. Given what we know about what Trinity was told about the man she loved being the One, I have to wonder if she told Ghost about that prophecy before he saw the Oracle. I think the prophecy of the One would've been very common knowledge in Zion, and maybe before he got his answer from the Oracle, was in a bit of quandry. On one hand, he loved Trinity, but I don't think he wanted the heavy responsibility of being the One. To get that answer from the Oracle, that he may not be the One, but Trinity would never return his love in the same way? Freeing, but at the same time, heartbreaking.

Okay, so now, the Oracles gives Ghost a more straight forward on what happened to her shell: Namely that Rama Kandra traded the termination code to the Merovingian in exchange for Sati's life.

I wonder if this was a plot point that was planned for the Matrix Online?

The Oracle tells Ghost that she was there to prepare him for the frontlines of what's about to come:

After this bit of conversation, the Seraph comes to end their little meeting, and we get a last little look at Ghost's character:

Despite everything, Ghost is well and truly at peace with his lot in life. Which is sad, in it's own way. I just want to give the poor man a hug after this replay of the game!

Honestly, I hope it was too.

Okay, that's it for the Oracle. The next section should be the last one, so see you then for the finale!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

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Alrighty, it's my favourite level of the game! The nuclear power plant, let's goooo!

Aaaand the gang's all here! And the return of Morpheus' fancy as fuck chairs that I actually kinda want.

And we get to hear someone else's take of the events unfolding. With this bit of dialogue, I can see why Roland got tapped to take over from Commander Locke in the Matrix Online. Not sure how canon that is now, but hey!

And back to Smith, who looks as though he's done away with all of Bane's personal effects and is just biding his time. If I were any of his crewmates, and I saw his behavior change to this? So many alarm bells would be ringing!

And now, back to Niobe and Ghost, after they go over the plan once more, and remark, hey, dying ain't so bad (Sparks does not agree), I love Ghost's last remark on this. It makes perfect sense for his character though.

This level plays out mostly the same for both Niobe and Ghost, with their paths differing towards the end. They both sneak around part of the reactor that's under construction, take out the guards and lights in order to make their way further in.

Fun fact, the music that plays in the background for most of this level is a remix of the theme that plays when the Nebuchadnezzar docks in Zion in Reloaded, which fits this level quite nicely!

This little cutscene where Niobe shows off the sniper rifle she just acquired is so goofy, I love it!

Yes, because it's a NUCLEAR POWER PLANT! OF course it will be crawling with guards!

Oh hey, we get to see this scene in game form, remember from Reloaded? Not quite the same, and I wish they'd actually used the FMV here, but hey *shrugs*.

Also sneaky Ghost. Niobe sneaks in the same way in her story, but Ghost just sidling past these doors seems a lot more comical, and I love it!

And it's my favourite weapon ever, the not-actually a weapon but we're going to misuse it to great effect!

This is apparently a chloro bromo methane launcher, according to Sparks. I suspect the idiot who left it lying around is shortly about to be fired. But yes, that gas is indeed a thing, and it is a component of some extinguishers. In this case (I believe, this is just after a google check to check that gas is real, and some guesswork), the launcher propels a canister filled with the gas into an area that fire fighters can't reach to put out with contemporary extinguishers. Once the canister explodes, the gas robs the fire around it of oxygen, putting it out.

Try not to look so pleased with this unintended side effect Sparks. Mind you, this was the look on teenage me's face as well at this stage, realising what power I had. Or not, because there's only 6 canisters to it. You have to run through the transformer field to get through to the control room, and the generators/turbines. Strangely enough, there's a weird sound effect dissonance here. There's clearly gravel in the field itself, you can hear the footsteps in it quite clearly, but then when you move onto the metal flooring, there's no footstep sound. It's very odd.

Now, so this is what their plan is: plant bombs everywhere, including the interior of the nuclear core (which Sparks states is protected by 3 foot thick steel, so the bomb needs to be inside the core in order to have any effect) and the control room in order to disrupt power long enough for Neo to reach the Source.

Except...they could have achieved this differently. They could've taken out the transformers in the transformer field, if they took out enough of those, I believe that would mean it couldn't transmit any energy outside of the plant, and it would be out of commission for longer while they rebuilt everything. They also could've taken out all the turbines as well, without the turbines they could've fired up the reactor all they wanted, but without some way to turn the steam coming off the atomic fission created by the reactive materials into usable power, they'd be shit out of luck. And again, they'd have to wait to be rebuilt before getting power back online.

But since this is the Matrix, they're going to be as dramatic as they can!

Which is true, if Trinity hadn't gone in to finish the job that Soren's crew was working on, Neo would've been screwed.

Okay, so after all that, Sparks walks Ghost through how to majorly screw up a reactor, big time (see, that's something else they could've tampered with, the control rods! Take them out, the reaction can't be safely maintained, and the reactor gets shut down in order to fix the issue), while Niobe goes for a brisk stroll inside the reactor with the plutonium. Apparently, Sparks uses predictive analytics to figure out the scenarios here.

And of course, complications happen:

Niobe barely escapes from this agent (who I've given up on identifying, it's too hard to tell!)

And our first look at the inside of the ship in the game view, oddly enough Niobe's pants look more green than everyone elses. But anyway. Niobe, despite the radiation not being real, is still suffering from it's effects. How does Sparks counteract this, and help her out? A good old hefty dose of adrenaline! Which manifests as unlimited focus gameplay wise, which is handy because now we need to outrun the agents, and some explosions!

It's a good thing that radiation isn't real, or there'd be some trouble otherwise! (In the guise of some mutated Smith clones, perhaps?)

Back in the real world, Niobe and Ghost begin to pat themselves on the back for pulling off a grand stunt like this...except Sparks has some baaaad news for them.

This is a pretty chilling cutaway, i think that might be Malachi in the foreground. At least this solves the mystery of how Bane survived, he did the same trick he does with the Logos later on and hides in the battery room.

From bad to worse, I'm glad we get to see how everyone else is reacting to the events we don't really get to see in the films. The films focus on the path of the One, and what he can do. Whereas in the game, we get to see the events outside of his control.

I love it, as soon as he says he can't find where Neo and co have gone, the phone rings! Talk about timing!

Sparks, you little shit. But I mean that in a nice way, it's a nice little tension reliever, even if it does mean Niobe has to physically yank his headset off him in order to get a straight answer.

And no musical sting accompanying this scene this time!

Alrighty, we're nearly done with Enter the Matrix, only a few levels to go! See you next time, where it's our turn to face off against Seraph. See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

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Onwards we go!

I often wonder what the Oracle did for Seraph to inspire this kind of loyalty. Despite the fact that the Oracle is played by Mary Alice, I feel like this takes place before her meeting with Neo in Reloaded, and they just get the chance to shoot this scene with Gloria Foster before she passed away. Also, considering that Seraph has only come back to her now, maybe this means that Rama Kandra has already been to see her and she's just getting some extra protection in case the Merovingian tries anything funny.

I love the choreography of this fight sign, Seraph's kung fu against Ballard's more boxing style. (Which makes sense given that Ballard's actor, Roy Jones Jr, is a very well known boxer).

The next scene is more talk between the Oracle and Seraph, regarding the unfolding events of the sequel films, including a cutaway to Bane being assimilated by Smith (Alas, poor Bane, how little we knew you!). The Oracle makes note of there being so many factors at play, so many choices, and so much fear. And we cut to one example of all three:

Jason proceeds to tell Niobe about his plan, and why she's not going. He initially states it's because the ship's EMP is too weak to be effective (which may very well be the case), but privately it's because he doesn't want her in harms way because he loves her. Just like Neo and Trinity.

Neo also asked Trinity to stay out of the Matrix, even if he didn't elaborate too much on the reason. Trinity at least listened to Neo without too much complaint, and only went into the Matrix when it became clear that she needed to be in there to help Neo get to the source.

Jason, on the other hand, made the call to protect Niobe without her permission, or even asking her thoughts on it, which understandably Niobe is pissed about. And then she went on to defy him by volunteering to find the Neb.

Another parallel with Neo/Trinity. Except while Jason does love Niobe, it's not a healthy relationship, and it's failing. It's tragic, really.

Which is true, if it hadn't been for all the supporting characters helping Neo along the way, Trinity especially, Neo would not have gotten as far as he did.

And as the Oracle states: If one fails, all fail. (Sorta).

And here we have the team post-meeting. Ghost looks just as done with everything as Sparks is. They're still going to follow her, to hell if necessary, but man they wish she would stop going!

I love that Ghost looks to Sparks first, almost anticipating that he's going to say something, but he doesn't get the chance to make a smart remark. But the arm fold says it all.

Famous last words! And now, onto the last driving section of the game, and the one that is actually playable.

Dun dun dun, here come the agents. Jackson (I think), and Thompson? Although the Agents in the chase scene in the film are Johnson and Thompson, so looks like I mixed up the Agents. Whoops!

Eventually, they give up chasing Niobe and Ghost, and return back to chasing the Keymaker.

Speaking of exiles:

See that fire on the bridge ahead? Yeah, now that's good continuity!

That bad, huh? Because of course the middle of a highway chase is the perfect time to ask someone for their stuff!!

And hey, it's Morpheus! And yes, you can see them properly fighting the whole time you're chasing them! Again, the continuity of this level is spot on!

And of course, we rescue Morpheus, and the Neo rescues him and the Keymaker yada yada. There was supposed to be a scene after this where Niobe and Ghost get cornered by a bunch of agents, and Neo saves them, but it was dummied out. Bummer!

Once again, Ghost is thinking he does not get paid enough for this. Also, either Ghost is still plugged in, or Sparks put that headjack away reeeeeally quickly! Or it's just hanging behind the chair because Sparks needed to get this off his chest NOW. Which means Ghost woke up and immediately had an irate Sparks in his face.

I mean, from his perspective he had a valid point. Neo can do anything, why does Morpheus need Niobe and Ghost so badly? It doesn't look great. Although how much of this is genuine concern or him just wanting to get the hell out of there and save his own skin is up for debate.

Don't worry buddy, I'm listening, you go right ahead :)

Maybe not the smartest thing to say to your colleagues/friends here. I don't know whether he was trying to lighten the mood here in a weird sort of way, or trying to guilt trip them. Either way, it didn't work.

Or just trying to provoke a response from them in general? Sparks has always been described as a coward who would do anything to save his own skin, so this is no surprise. I do think there is more to him though, he does care, it's just the cowardly aspects come to the forefront first and foremost.

I get the feeling that Ghost already knows they're going in to help, he's trying to make it easier for Niobe to not feel bad about dragging them back into the field.

Okay, that's it for today! Might need to take a break, as I still need to play the next level (which is one of the my favourite levels in the game), but will try and update tomorrow night as well! See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

Text

Alrighty, this is mostly cutscene heavy, so bear with me! Here we go!

But before I do, I only just realised this but with the two Persephone kiss scenes, Ghost is the only one out of the three (Niobe, Neo and himself) that does the kiss in one go. Niobe's was apparently so bad that Persephone wished she'd shot out her kneecaps instead.

Now that is the face of a happy man, he's gotten the rest of the team out, now he can rest!

And Ghost can finally have his long overdue nap!

Considering the time frame of the film, the Neb can't have been too far behind them, maybe an hour, tops? I wonder if there was a queue to get back into Zion, since everyone was called home. I'll focus on Niobe's trip home, then Ghost's. Sparks unsurprisingly doesn't get a cutscene showing what his home is like (those cutscenes are for playable characters only!), but can guess laundry of some sort will be involved.

Unfortunately, despite Niobe's best intentions, the commander issue decided to come to her:

You don't even need dialogue here to know exactly what she's thinking.

Also, I love any glimpse into the apartments here, how they've adapted to post apocalyptic cave life, etc etc

Trust me, the commander would've liked that.

See!

Aww, poor Jason. Niobe has completely checked out of this conversation, and he just wants an answer as to why Morpheus keeps doing this shit. And well, maybe after a while, your line of logic might turn to 'is it because I'm dating his ex?' too.

Priorities, Niobe has them, and they do not include either Morpheus or Jason.

Look at his face, he adores her and it's just not reciprocated in the same way. After rewatching this scene, as well as the Persephone kiss scene, I just feel really bad for Jason, and I'm fairly certain their relationship hit rock bottom pretty quickly once the truce was called. I hope he had a long, happy life with someone who loved him. He needs it.

Okay, now let's see how Ghost is getting on:

Finally getting 40 winks! Also, if this is his bedroom I have some words for him. I'm also inclined to believe that he flats with someone (maybe Sparks?). Also, interesting set up with the computer, you just impale yourself on the headjack, and off you go! I honestly hope he has some pillows, and that's not how he sleeps!

Also, I love the little piles of books he has!

The face of someone who is here to cause trouble.

I've never had siblings, so I can't comment, but from what I've seen, this seems to be peak sibling behaviour. And of course, I'm sure that garden had a koi pond at one point, before Trin tossed him into one too many times!

Wow, okay Ghost, wow. I don't think you needed to cajole her, I think she was ready to tussle with you!

Also, Trin is also wearing a leather version of a kung-fu vest, as you do!

And cue fight! It doesn't matter if you win or lose, although if you lose Ghost states he's happy to be her punching bag any day.

Yet Ghost kinda likes it. Although I suspect if it had been anyone else to wreck the shit out of his garden, he'd be less than pleased. Also, here we learn that Ghost also believes that Neo is the One, and will succeed, in his own way.

I mean, that much is true.

Awkward, but not in the way that this would suggest.

And now, for one of my favourite bits of dialogue. after suggesting that Ghost needs a girlfriend, Ghost simply states he's dedicated to a higher purpose: Onanism. Go look that up.

Well, he's not wrong! Also, if Sparks ever heard that, I'm sure he'd be laughing his ass off. Who would've thought Ghost had it in him.

Trinity thanks him for talking with her, and walks out. But look at this face here, that is the face of a man who is both longing for his love, and resigned to the fact that he'll never have her. And yes, this is his adopted sibling. Yeeeeeah, both sad, and a little bit sus. But mostly sad. This is sad boy hours after all! First with Jason, now with Ghost.

That's all for tonight, next time will be more cutscene heavy again, but we also get to see Niobe and Ghost's section of the Highway chase from Reloaded. See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

Text

Aaand we're back! Please forgive me for this update, I'm a little loopy from lack of sleep :'D

And the Logos crew gets to know about this place before Neo does! Wonder if they told him about it before he meets with Seraph in Reloaded. Also, considering they've just spent the past half an hour or so running around in a sewer, they're looking pretty clean!

The keymaker must have been imprisoned for a very long time, considering when we see this room again in Reloaded, every hook has keys on it!

But of course, this little meeting is spoiled by these two clowns, these two are called Cain, and Abel. Yes, after that Cain and Abel, minus the brotherly hatred and fratricide.

They mention here that they left the keymaker out on purpose, just so they could get this key. But here's the kicker, why did they want the One's key? We see even later on that the Merovingian doesn't fuck around with this key, or wants to use it. So why do these two want it? Also, as the keymaker says, once it's used, it cannot be used again. But as we can see later, it can be remade. I guess there can only be one copy of the key on the server?

So, of course, they're going to split up. Ghost is going to make like ET and call home, and Niobe is going after the key.

Hello creepy! The vampires have finally shown up, we may not have got Nosferatu in the sewers, but we at least got Toreadors (I think). Also, what the hell did this guy (who of course is named Vlad) want with Niobe. From what we see, he ties her up, puts a bunch of candlesticks around her, and doses her with some sort of hallucinogenic.

Yup, I'm not kidding. Sparks must've been doing a double take at her biometrics at this point.

'Is she high? How the hell did that happen???'

But thankfully, she wriggles her hand around enough to knock over a candlestick, grab a candle, and burn off her restraints, go Niobe go!

So, now to go beat Vlad for this non consensual whatever this was. And after some non-kink beating up of the bad guy, he runs away, saying he has other business. But this is what his parting words actually are:

Yuuuup.

Anyway, let's check in on Ghost, see if he's faring any better.

Property damage yay! For no reason, Ghost decides to demolish a chair, and carry around one of it's limbs as a warning to the other fancy chairs in this joint. Which is handy, because guess what Ghost is going to be going up against?

No, it's not vampires, it's werewolves! Which a bit of wood should be ineffective against, but hey, it disrupts their code for whatever reason, so we're not going to question it. Also, fun fact, whenever they're killed, the sound they make is not dissimilar to the goblin eating noises from D20's Fantasy High.

Ghost spends the rest of the Chateau levels fighting werewolves in all different rooms in the house, tracking mud and sewer water, destroying any items in glass cases he finds, and generally having a good time while he tries to get a signal.

Back to Niobe!

Don't get any ideas, Vlad. Also, Merv and Pers are sleeping in seperate rooms, interesting (or not really). This time, we get to properly finish him off, so now we can go rifle around the Merovingian's office.

Sparks: With you two, it's like herding cats, I swear to god!

But it gets worse!

Ghost somehow has been kidnapped, (the opposite happens in Ghost's side, where Niobe is once again the damsel in distress). And apparently, this mansion is so powerful that no one can figure out the schematics so that we can go find them in the cellar. But hey, we have a lead, the library, so let's go look there!

But hey look, a movie theatre, in case the Merovingian's henchmen get bored.

Yeah, it's this scene.

I go with Ghost's version of this level as canon, mostly because the implications of his kiss/feelings for Trinity inspiring Persephone to do the same shit to Neo to try and get that same feeling again? Really interesting!

Later on, Niobe's going to look back at this memory, tell it to Freya, and they're both going to laugh over it.

Ghost, on the other hand, looks absolutely gutted having to do that. Having Persephone bring up unrequited love just feels like sticking the knife in. It's been a long night and Ghost just wants a nap, leave the poor man alone!

oooooOOOOOOOooooooh! Although we kinda knew this already, so it's not that 'ooooo' worthy, but hey!

One more boss-ish battle putting down Cujo before we pick up our partner.

And so it begins, again, we never really know why these two wanted the key in the first place? Did they do it under Persephone's orders, her way of stirring up trouble and pissing off the Merovingian? Or did they really want to try and get to the source? I guess we'll never know.

Y'know what is really funny, and odd. The fact that your partner's arms have jiggle physics. Yes, they waggle when you walk. I have to gif it at some point because it needs to be shared with the world!

And of course it's not that easy, because the nitwits are back. But I love that the prisoners will hold them back, and you have to knock them into the cages in order to get away.

And because continuity would be broken otherwise, the keymaker gets captured again. Sucks for him, but he does give us a key to get out of here.

And of course, we can't have the Merovingian section wrap up without an appearance from these two! Which leads into the VEHICLE SECTION I HATED THE MOST AS A TEEN, which has since been usurped by Ghost's aquaduct section, just due to the sheer amount of tries it took. But there's still one more driving section to go.

Ghost's section is much worse in regards to driving, at least as Niobe you can try and get away from the gun toting twins in their cadilliac, with Ghost, all you can do it hope that you can shoot out the vehicles beside you in a such a way as to slow them down. And it sucks :T

Anyway, that's it for now! Next post will be heavy on the cutscenes, as we're home sweet home! See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

Text

Alrighty, lots of fun stuff here! This mission plays out exactly the same whether you're Niobe or Ghost, with some minor dialogue differences.

So, first of all is the crew of the Caduceus rolling up on their bikes. I can't tell who's at the door, but I can see Ballard and Malachi in this screenshot, and I know that Bane is juuuust out of frame here.

Now, used to think this was Roland, but I don't think it is anymore. Whoever's crew this is, I don't think it's one of the main ones. That being said, I love that they're turning up in a boat. Perfect for a sewer. Perfect entrance 10/10.

I love this cheeky nod to the Neb's entrance in Reloaded, they know damn well what they're like. I wonder if anyone was placing bets on how late they'd be? Also, on the left, furthermost is Wurm, then Corrupt. Corrupt turns up later in this level without his overcoat, revealing that his suit is kinda goldy yellow.

Excuse me Niobe? And you complain about Morpheus having a dramatic entrance??

Okay, I think I pointed them out in the Reloaded rewatch as well, but once more won't hurt! Left to right: Captain Roland (of the Mjolnar/Hammer), Captain Tirant (Of the Novalis), Bane, Captain Ballard and Malachi of the Caduceus.

Nice of Soren to thank Niobe in person now that they're all together. Either it's genuine or brown-nosing, who knows? Going with the former, as Soren seems like that kind of nice guy who pitches in and always looks out for his team. Just a real pity what happened to him in the end :(

Ballard and Roland are both nervous about everyone being in the same place at the same time. Makes them easy pickings for the agents (as the level proves). Although, I wonder why they hhad the meeting here, and didn't just haul everyone back to Zion and tell them there? Would've been less dangerous. (Also, that's Colt, Roland's first mate at the left, just fyi)

I think every operator in the fleet was uttering something to this effect at this point. I mean, lots of SWAT, and the three agents as well as Smith (which I don't think is what Sparks is panicking about right now, even Link just said the code got all weird in the film, so a bit of weird code is probably not high on his concern list).

And it's our first look at the Neb crew for the game! And just to refresh, from left to right again: Captain Kali (of the Brahma), Captain Soren, Captain Ajax (of the Icarus), Captain Morpheus (of the we're so cool and oh so very late to this meeting), Captain Ice (who is absolutely stunning and I wish we saw more of her), and Captain Niobe.

Everyone then proceeds to exit stage right, pursued by a bear.

We get some great shots of everyone running away too!

And out of these three, I think we only have to rescue Ballard in the end. Soren and Roland both book it and are not seen for the rest of the game outside of cutscenes.

Neither Niobe or Ghost are as lucky, as they both take a trip down a sewer pipe and get spat out unceremoniously the other side. The more this playthrough goes on, the worse I feel for Ghost. The poor man cannot catch a break!

I know this is meant towards us, the player, but ingame it just sounds so condescending towards Niobe or Ghost. Don't patronise me Ballard!

It's funny, for all of his talk of 'let's not be risky with this', he's risking both their asses to send them back in to save people. Mind you, I suspect that amongst the fleet, there are a few good friendships among them, and Sparks seems like the type to get along with most people. So when his friends (some of which could be longtime friends) are in danger, he has no qualms about sending the others back in to help. Because as he says, it's really bad, and there are a lot of injured people there.

Also of note, Niobe and Ghost jack out, expecting safety, only to be met with weapons, they're not telling him they're going back in, Sparks is the one making the call.

Also of note is Ghost's initial reaction:

Cannot. Catch. A Break. Cue Ghost humming 'Show me the way to go home' for the entirety of this mission.

Also cue a long suffering sign from Ghost.

I spent waaay too much time trying to figure out how to get up there. It got to the point where I'm sure Ice was probably thinking 'THIS WAY YOU DUMBASS'. Also look, see, Corrupt ditched the overcoat!

A better look at Ice and Corrupt in game.

After playing Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, I was half expecting to see Nosferatu down here. Seems like their kind of joint.

Final look at Bane (before he gets possessed), Malachi and Ballard before they haul ass out of here. Which, I almost forgot, Ballard jacks out initially! So, like Niobe and Ghost, he went back in to help rescue the others.

Which begs one very simple question: WHERE DID THE NEB CREW GO??? DID THEY JUST DECIDE TO PEACE OUT AND NOT HELP OUT?? JUST FIGURED 'EH, NEO'S HANDLING THE AGENTS AND FUCKING BOOKING IT?? NO WONDER YOU'RE NOT VERY POPULAR MORPHEUS!

And deus ex keymaker, right on time to save their asses! I can only imagine what was going through Sparks' head when he saw this. His two team mates stuck in a dead end, agent bearing down on them, he must've been freaking the fuck out! But hey, all's well that ends well?

Might take a little while for me to get the next part of this out, still need to play it, and I have to juggle work. But I'll do my best!

See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

Text

Okay, so now for Ghost's section of the airport.

For now, at any rate. I feel bad for the airport staff in this mission, they don't even want to be here, they know this is well above their paygrade, but nope, the powers that be say that they need to stay!

Yup, they sure are.

AND IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I HATED THIS SECTION AS A TEENAGER, THIS FUCKING HELICOPTER BOSS BATTLE RIGHT HERE. I've forgotten how many times I died to this thing, and this thing has a mini gun, you can't regenerate health, and there's waves of enemies. DAMN THIS THING.

And hey! More of Soren and his crew. Team dad Soren is not letting anyone take his crew if he can help it. No hesitation, they all went in after Axel. One thing that strikes me is that everyone seems to view Axel as a young kid? That's how it comes across to me though.

This is a cool little trick, certainly cements Ghost as the best sharpshooter in the fleet. But I WISH THIS DIDN'T LEAD INTO ANOTHER HELICOPTER SHOOTOUT SECTION THAT KILLED ME MULTIPLE TIMES. ARGH

And yet again, Ghost gets unceremoniously thrown from someone, but this time he takes out Binary with him! OUCH

Yup, so where's a great vantage point to see where to steal a new pair of wheels? Yup, the fiery inferno we just escaped from. Really guys??

This is great, Ghost is watching Niobe chase after the plane, and drive up into it to rescue Axel, and this is all he has to say! Not anything encouraging, just hmmmmm.

Hmmmmmmm.

Which is pretty clever, but unfortunately, this is ANOTHER CAR CHASE SEQUENCE, AND ONE I GET PARTICULARLY ANGRY TOWARDS SPARKS ON. BECAUSE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY HE DOES NOT SHUT UP WITH THE OBVIOUS ADVICE. DON'T LOSE THE PLANE HE SAYS, LIKE I WAS GOING TO, HE SAYS, AS I SKID AROUND IN THIS STUPID COP CAR THAT MAKES THE TRACTION ON THE VEHICLES IN CYBERPUNK 2077 ACTUALLY LOOK DECENT. FUCK THIS VEHICLE HANDLING I SWEAR TO GOD!!

Seriously, this was me towards Sparks on my third run through of this section:

Okay, now with that bit of rage out of my system, Axel wakes up in the agent's car, fastens his seat belt and takes the wheel from the agent, crashing the car and sending the agent out the windshield.

Not bad for a damsel in distress. Okay, so we catch both Axel and Niobe, and now it's time for a cutscene!

Yeah, because if it had been the Neb, you would've been shit outta luck, I think. And it's sweet as well that they went out of their way to help, gotta love that team spirit!

As soon as Axel has been jacked out by Jaxx (and presumably had his crew hug the stuffing out of him), Sparks is ready with the call to get Ghost out. Sure, he might be a pain in the ass, but right now he's a fast pain in the ass.

Oh look who it is, it's the trainman, happily spoiling the whole multiple iterations thing to all and sundry!

Just like us. But seriously, what a baffling conversation this must've been from Niobe's point of view. Random guy wanders out, states Zion lasted 72 hours last time, last time of what, and then he fucks off back to Limbo. I mean, I can only imagine what she told the others when she got out. "You guys, I just had the weirdest conversation..."

Also, given what she knew at that point, and this weird cryptic information, I have to wonder whether she got curious about it as well. Maybe it was on her mind throughout the sequels as well. I'd like to think that once Morpheus told her what Neo told them about the multiple iterations of Zion thing, that finally makes sense to her.

Anyway, next section is where we'll catch up to the event of Reloaded, starting with the captain's meeting, and ending up in everyone's favourite kind of video game level: the sewers. See you there!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

Text

Aaaand we're back! I had to redo the car chase section as Ghost. I figured since I was only shooting, it would be a bit more of a smoother section.

SPOILER ALERT, it WASN'T. Niobe drove all over the road like a maniac, spinning off into walls, leaping off any bump in the road. If the cops weren't already chasing us, they would've been called shortly due to her maniac driving.

Also, I want to apologise to Sparks, we were waiting for a bridge to go down rather than a boom gate being lifted. Sorry buddy!

Alright, so back to check in:

As it turns out, the reason the airport is so empty is due to an emergency evacuation. Which explains the lack of people inside, but not outside. Where's the assembly area? Where are all angry people yelling about missing their flights due to an emergency evac?

Well, at least we know what the time is. Given that they would've had to travel a bit to get to Zion broadcast level, then come back, I'm willing to bet this is 6pm the next day. One thing that I wish translated better in screenshots is the reflective highlights on Niobe's coat. It's really, really nice!

More shameless plugging, this time from Nvidia! (Which is what my GPU is, so it's a nice coincidence).

That's a wise choice, random airport workers! There's one point in this that you have to go find the control room, shoo the worker out, turn the belts on, and run all the way back to belt 10 (which you need to hop on to get to the next level), only for the belts to turn off. o back we go, only to find the guy that you initially kicked out running back out of the booth, saying he won't do it again! Frustrating bit of back tracking, but in hindsight, the fact that this one airport worker, instead of fleeing, decided to fuck with you, and sound not-that apologetic as he runs away? HILARIOUS

I respect your hustle good sir. Well played.

Again, not sure which agent this is, but I'm leaning towards Jackson once again!

Our first look at Axel, and again, it strikes me as a really big coincidence (which it is, given the time gap) that Axel has red hair. Also, it's a neat little bit of dialogue when the agent switches out of whichever meat suit he's in, the guy he was possessing is sorta looking around go 'huh?' 'how did I get here?'.

And I love that Niobe gives chase after the cop car in the mobile stairway! Zero hesitation, and she actually kinda does catch up to them!

And hey look, it's Vector! Aside from Axel, Niobe really only gets to interact with Vector. But hey!

And of course, how does Niobe finally catch up? By driving a car onto the plane, squishing the agent against a wall! And then as the back of the plane is still open, she has to kick her way out of the car via the windscreen before the car rolls it's way out of the plane. Why not just put the hand brake on though? Rule of cool!

Sparks, his health is at 1%. THAT IS NOT WHAT QUANTIFIES AS OKAY!

And of course, team mom Niobe gets Axel's parachute on first before getting hers on. Grave mistake, as the Agent comes back!

We do get to see Niobe do the Morpheus 'come at me' hand gesture. But sadly, her hand gesture gets over shadowed by....

Yeah, he flips the double bird at the agent, then falls out of the plane! NICE

I love that the way to get rid of the agent here is simply to shove his ass out the back of the plane as well!

I love that Niobe tried to figure out where Ghost can pick her up once she lands as well, but she quickly gives up because how can you figure it out from this height?

Yikes!

Oh hell yeah we were!

I'll do Ghost's section of the airport, as well as the ending cutscene next post, as I have STRONG feelings about his side of it.

See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

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As much as I love this game, I will be the first to say that the driving sections...

ARE GODAWFUL PIECES OF SHIT. GOOD LORD HOW MANY HOURS DID I SPEND ON THEM?? GHOST, YOU NEED TO WEAR YOUR GODDAMN SEATBELT!!

Especially when the arrow is misleading as hell, and Sparks' says 'BEAR RIGHT' 1 sec before the turn so you inevitably spin out trying to make the turn, then spend the next two minutes driving around waiting for him to lift the boom gate!

And this isn't even the worst one!!!

And now, with that complaint out of the way:

Niobe is a hell of a driver if she's able to get the car partially on the wall to drive down this narrow as hell alleyway, and not lose the driver side mirror?! That's pretty sick!

See Ghost, this is why you wear your selt belt! Poor Ghost, he is not having a great night!

And to top it off, the exit is up a ladder and on the roof, poor baby. I love that he's the one to complain about it. Ghost isn't near as above it all as I remember.

And the first agent to turn up in the game. I think this is ...Jackson?? I'm not sure, the new generation look a little similar, and I'm not really familiar with the agents. To top it off, I can't find any indication of who it is online. If you know which agent this is, a heads up would be awesome!

You would think Sparks would've warned them that an agent was right behind the door! Also, how the hell did an agent get up there so damn quickly??

Essentially, this section is a big love letter to Trinity's roof chase from the first film, and yes, if you're not fast enough, the agent will catch up. I stopped to take out a few pursuing cops, and whoop, there he was right behind me!

Okay, once the roof chase is done, which plays out the same between Niobe and Ghost, back to the cutscenes:

Slightly awkward team photo here, Niobe rubbing her jaw from having a door shoved in her face, Ghost nursing his sore ribs from vehicular damage, and Sparks with his tongue out in concentration as he puts things away.

I kinda love that their injuries all carry over in a phantom-pain kinda way. I mean, they don't, but hey, that's what pain killers are for!

Which is what you mean by that, right 'Dr Feelgood'? Right??!!

But nope, we got discs to watch, plot to move forward with, so off we go!

I have no idea what this guy's name is, he's never named, all we know is that he's a lieutenant, and he's Lock's 2iC. That's it. If someone knows this chap's name, again I'd love to know!

This right here is my favourite bit of speculative dialogue! You wanna know why? Thaddeus here gives us a time, and date. So, 18:03, pretty easy, means Final Flight of the Osiris took place in the evening, with this communique starting at 6pm. I'd give them maybe less than an hour until the ship explodes? But anyway, it's the date that I'm interested in. 12-14. No year, because as Morpheus states in the first film, no one really knows, so it doesn't matter too much, but we have month and day. Which is in American formatting because a: this was created/written by Americans, and b: there's only 12 months in a year.

So, the Osiris and it's crew went down swinging at let's say 7pm on the 14th of December. Now, we don't know how many days went by between the ship going missing, and when the post office raid took place, and the sequels took place over 4 - 5 days, maybe?

So, timeline depending, what I'm saying is that you could count the Matrix sequels as holiday movies given this timeline. I'm just saying you could!

Sparks says it best: Holy Shit. Because oh yeah, while the reactions are very understated for the most part in the films, this understated shock is an appropriate reaction to learning that there is a big ass army lurking over the horizon ready to destroy everything you hold dear, your life included.

Sparks, I don't think it's a smart idea to call your boss by his embarrassing nickname to his face. I gotta wonder, who gave him that nickname in the first place. Also, I love that as soon as Niobe hears who's calling, she shooes Sparks away.

While they're both professionals on this call, Lock's little plea to Niobe to be careful does show that he loves her. I feel bad for Lock, I get the feeling that he loves her more than Niobe loves him.

Little bit of exposition dialogue for our sakes, but I think that the other reason Ghost says this is to drive home how bad this is, to recall the whole fleet back home, circling the wagons style. If it's happened before, it's not in his living memory.

Well, now that you've said that Ghost, everything! Meanwhile back in the real world, Sparks got very nervous all of a sudden and he doesn't know why.

I know this is due to technical limitations (probably), and I don't know about you guys, but I have never seen an airport so empty. Even at night, especially for what I imagine would be the main airport for the city, and it would be a big city, right?? This isn't a little airport in NZ that doesn't have flights coming in at all hours, this is a major airport! Am I overthinking this? I'm overthinking this, aren't I? But hey, no fighting anyone for the phones!

Because of course Morpheus' cover would be related to dreams. Also, red orchids symbolise strength, courage, and love. Nothing too special there. Maybe red roses were too on the nose?

This, I think is Ice's cover? Although the voice doesn't sound quite right, so it could be Kali's? For some reason I remember this being Ice, though.

Of course, thanks to Ghost jinxing things earlier, this recall does not go as smoothly as they wanted, now that some other hapless red pill who apparently really loved Kingdom Hearts 2 (yes, I know this came out before then, just let me have this joke okay?) got kidnapped, and his crew came to get him. Which is bad luck for Niobe and Ghost as that makes making all the calls that much harder. Unless Soren's was the last one they called. In which case, all good!

I love this, of course blame the extra security on your other team mate, because she's the only suspicious one here! It's not like you jinxed things or anything!

Also, I love that when Ghost wishes her good luck, her response is that she's due for some.

Anyway, next time, we'll go check in our bags, and go through security in order to pick up Axel from his departing flight. See you next time!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks #yes I know that's a lame parting line ssssssh!

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

Text

It's time to go postal~!

This scene doesn't change between either Niobe or Ghost. Interesting that the cops don't know what they're looking for, which leads to the great mental image of the cops just going through everyone's mail trying to find this macguffin. This is also the only time we see this outfit from Niobe as well.

Sparks sounds a lot more exasperated in Ghost's version of this cutscene, he's a lot less formal around Ghost than he is Niobe. At least they're both smart enough to try taking that elevator on the off chance that it was still going.

Forgot that Powerade was one of the Matrix's sponsors back in the day? Shiny didn't want you to forget, and yes, you can actually press the action buttons and get bottles of powerade, as a neat little touch.

Another neat touch is that there's a lot of stuff in the environment that you can fuck around with. I have fond memories of going around this level and making it my mission to mess up everything on the bookshelves in the post office. Teenage me thought it was good fun for the team to do this. Adult me would hate this because I'd have to tidy it up.

I love how unbothered the post office workers are at Niobe just wandering around in the offices. It's above their paygrade and there's too much to do so they're going to leave her be.

You can read the code and see what's going on at any time. You're mission control Sparks, how the hell did you not see them?? Also Ghost/Niobe smacking the button in an 'OH SHIT OH SHIT GO BACK' kinda way? Not nearly as funny as the cops being surprised at them coming out of the elevator! So essentially, everyone got caught with their pants down here.

Oddly enough, only Niobe gets told that the tear gas is toxic, and to stay above it. Poor Ghost just gets told to stay above the gas and get out of there. Also, Niobe is the only one to remark on how hard to breath it is. It's interesting the little differences in each playthrough, I'll try and point them out as best as I can.

I love this sequence, you can almost hear a barely constrained 'I swear to god' throughout version of the cutscene. Granted, at least he had a solution ready to go, almost like he thought 'this is a great time to fuck around with her'.

'Just act invisible, he says. It'll be fine, he says. I'm going to strangle him when I get back I swear to god!'

Interestly enough, he doesn't mess with Ghost, but he does goes into the building schematics and rambles on a bit about it before Ghost cuts him off.

Also of note is that both Niobe and Ghost take slightly different routes through the post office. Niobe gets into the room via the conveyer belt, while Ghost has to go to the control room, get the elevator going again, and then backtrack to the elevator in the lobby to get to the same room. Interestingly enough, Niobe will also visit the control room later on.

I also like that whoever you're not controlling is actually doing stuff to help out in the background.

This whole sequence is a homage to the first film's lobby shoot out scene, right down to the destruction of the marble columns.

The gist of this scene doesn't really change between either Niobe or Ghost, between whoever you're not in control of setting fire to the place, and then either one of them complaining about having to backtrack to the second floor.

Also, hee hoo fire go brrrrrrr!

Sparks is way more confident that this will work with Ghost as opposed to Niobe. Ghost, on the other hand, is a lot less psyched over jumping out of a 2nd story window, he sounds almost nervous!

I'll admit, the fact that he had to check there was a truck coming, and figure out the perfect timing for either Niobe or Ghost to jump and bounce off this thing to escape the post office, and not screw that up is pretty impressive!

Also, Niobe neatly bounces off the truck and does this perfect four point superhero landing on the road, whereas Ghost...

Boing roll roll roll THUD! Poor Ghost, that was not the most graceful landing, and it's not over yet! But we'll get into that next time, Ill skip the car chase, but might make fun of Sparks' guiding skills (because from memory they were pretty shit) and we'll get into a few other bits as well. See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks #now I need to go play the next section

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hovershiplogos · 1 month

Text

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

#enter the matrix #liveblogging the matrix #niobe #ghost #sparks

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