I managed to get the new video out within March, but a lot later than I had originally hoped and anticipated. While I am glad to finally have gotten it done – and quite frankly, am a lot happier with it than I expected to be – I am still disappointed in the amount of time it took.

Of course, there are a multitude of reasons, including the need to go back and rerecord some footage. I discovered later that I had somehow accidentally permanently deleted the entire first video file, which included all of Samus’ adventure up to the first save station in Agon Wastes. Video editing was delayed until I could record this footage and then convert the files.

What perhaps delayed the video at least half a week, if not an entire week, was learning I needed to record a very specific part of Metroid: Prime. For most of the video any footage from the original Prime is recycled from the footage I had used for my Metroid: Other M analysis. Unfortunately, in this playthrough I had actually directly backtracked to the Gravity Suit. I had recalled that the Crashed Frigate was the next stop and so went precisely where I needed to. This meant I was unable to illustrate my point that the game forces new players into a dead-end rather than directing them where they need to go.

There’s a bit of meta humor there, as this further adds evidence that the game works better when you already know where to go rather than following the path provided. It doesn’t prove it, but the game itself gives no indication beyond the Hint System where the player should go.

While these setbacks certainly hurt, the effort to increase the amount of written content on my blog also had a major impact. Being more interested in watching anime for a time also had a bit of an influence, though that might be more attributable to my mental state. I’ve been a bit of an emotional and psychological roller coaster throughout March. At points I was feeling great, at others I was feeling miserable and motivation for an intimidating task such as editing video footage seemed Herculean and impossible.

These factors should hopefully hold no issue with my next video. I do not honestly foresee myself switching to DaVinci Resolve, if I’m going to be frank. It struggles to operate properly on my machine and my friend has taken my desktop to try and properly configure and improve upon its upgrades. So I shall likely stick with Windows Movie Maker 6.

This is also due to an acceptance that my channel will never truly be big. I cannot do anything to really expand it in a fashion that I can have a sizeable audience. YouTube has increased their requirements to become partnered while simultaneously offering no assistance to those that aren’t partnered to be discovered. I don’t know how others ever found the audiences they have, but if it was going to happen to me it would have already. I’m going to exist in the most obscure corners of the service unassisted.

Which is fine. As many of you may read tomorrow, I’ve been putting a lot of thought and energy into a much smaller but still ambitious goals regarding my faith. To this end, I wish to continue making videos as a hobby. If it means sticking to lower quality equipment and software, so be it. I know I have enough polish and am good enough at editing to make a video that’s enjoyable.

I may never be the best at what I do, but I’m good at it. That’s satisfying enough for me.

As such, I enter April with plans to record maybe one or two more sessions of Fire Emblem Warriors, but am otherwise ready to begin scripting now. I will also be shifting some game systems around, hooking up my PS4 so that I might record on my laptop. Aside from wanting to make a video on Iconoclasts still, I’m also eager to replay Tomb Raider and its sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider. I’ve wanted to do a video on the latter since I finished it, and so this will give me the perfect opportunity to record ample footage and perhaps work on that one next.

Of course, the list of videos I wish to make keep on increasing. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Halo: Combat Evolved, Final Fantasy X, I Am Setsuna, Bioshock: Infinite, Tokyo Mirage Sessions... enough to be overwhelming. At the same time, it gives me confidence to continue with my channel even if I cannot manage four videos this year.

So for now, RamblePak64 will most certainly have a future.