(for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: Redundancy Review: Day 1, “A New Beginning” – Rosalia Rambles)
Good morning fighters and attackers, welcome to Day 476 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
It is currently 10:36pm in the UK as I am writing this, as the majority of my day has been taken up by playing Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, or doing errands outside of the flat to recover from playing Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. In all likelihood, I will spend even more time tomorrow playing Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve outside of some morning errands to make sure dinner is ready in a prompt fashion so I can dedicate even more time to playing Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve.
I have been remembering to take screenshots where I can so there will be a bumper review coming once I have done what I want to do in the game before delivering my final thoughts, but even as I fight against my mid-tier rig not getting on with Unreal Engine 5, there has been very little to spoil my experience of getting to take to the skies once more.
There is a certain adrenaline that comes from playing fighter jet games for me, one that makes me feel so supremely powerful weaving between enemies before unleashing salvoes of rockets, missiles, and whatever advanced weaponry the game wants to throw in for shits and giggles. That said, there was a part of me that was worried that my PC would not be able to handle it at all and I would be out the money I spent on the game, but all those worries have dissolved now that I am fifteen missions in and fully engrossed in some of the most unemployed behaviour I have exhibited in a long time.
And this is not even including the port of Ace Combat Zero that comes alongside the fact I pre-ordered, which I am so looking forward to playing on my PC both for relieving good memories and for actually being able to grab screenshots to review the game properly and redeem my old review from over half a decade ago.
I still want to write today though, and I especially want to do a VTuesday because of Vexpo hype still persisting even two weeks after it finished, and I want to shout out Kai Kurayomi once more. Usually when it comes to male VTubers I tend to not really vibe with them for one reason or another unless they have a niche outside of VTubing itself, like how Wunder Riku I know more for composing for VTubers rather than his own VTuber activities, but Kai has managed to firmly route his way into my heart through his Vexpo opening concert set, his personality shining through on the Youtube shorts I have been recommended, and the fact that when I went to his channel to go subscribe I was presented with this masterpiece as the one main video currently on his channel outside of a waiting room for his new cover.
First things first, as with any mention of Linkin Park, but more so with this song, we have to take a moment to remember Chester Bennington. An amazing talent, taken from us far too soon due to a battle we could never see. Rest in Peace, wherever you may be.
One More Light is an especially poignant song to mention that on, given it is a song about how suicide can come out of nowhere, the ripples it causes in the aftermath, and the power of caring for anyone’s light even when framed against the sea of millions in flicker of existence.
Linkin Park covers always fascinate me regardless of their source, because I can often feel the emotions that Chester imbued into the music passing on to whoever is covering it, and how their experience informs the emotion of their own voice. Kai’s voice is absolutely beautiful in this cover, and I can feel a similar emotion of someone who has been through a lot of shit in their life, but wants to keep the light going for whoever may see it.
Considering how varied their setlist was at Vexpo, I would be extremely excited to see more covers from them to see how they handle different songs. More Linkin Park to see what kind of emotion they would put into something like “Numb”, or perhaps something from my emo band of choice, Three Days Grace, I would adore to see someone like him take on “Life Starts Now”.
Music is the main way I interact with the VTuber scene, and finding someone as talented as Kai has made me extremely happy and excited to see what comes next in his career.
Cheeky thumbnail courtesy of Kai’s twitter account here:
I have no idea whether or not what I wrote is good enough, but it is now 11:19pm and I really need to get this out and try get some sleep. Thank you for reading today’s edition of the Redundancy Review. Wherever you are, know that the light you shine right now is treasured, and I want to see it continue, even in the darkest nights.
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