Learner Driver Rinkou Ashelia Tries a Chinese Driving Sim, Then Asks Chat to Help Pick a Car

PHASE CONNECT — Rinkou Ashelia of Phase Connect spent a stream of about 97 minutes playing a Chinese driving simulator, then turned the second half into an open question to chat about which car a new driver should look at. She is a learner driver and said she has roughly three months before her test.

She opened the game by announcing that she expected it to run about 10 minutes, long enough to pass a driving test. She then found that the game was actually in Chinese, a language she said she does not speak. Her first drive was a mix of missed turn signals, a brake she could not find at first and a mirror that did not work. She argued with herself over the speed limit, overtook slow traffic on dotted lines, and ended up on a tight driving course she said was nothing like real driving, especially on a keyboard and mouse. The only sound in the game, she noted, was birdsong, so she played a song of her own over it. She also said she would like a steering wheel for her desk so she could play driving games properly.

“I’m legitimately actually goated, man. I told you I’m a great driver.” — Rinkou Ashelia, shortly after her first turns in the game

Partway through she asked chat whether she would pass a real test, and chat answered with ones and twos. She then talked about her real lessons: she finds parking hard because she struggles to judge the space around her car, she gets overwhelmed by the mirrors on right turns and merges, and her goal for the week was to park well and make a trip to the grocery store.

From there the stream became a car consultation. Shown a sporty Honda Civic, she said she liked the look of its rear, and chat pointed her to the Toyota Corolla hatchback. She called it “so cute” and said she would probably go for an older model. Viewers also gave her rules of thumb on mileage, and she repeated back a target of under about 70,000 miles. She stressed that she is not buying a car soon and has no license yet.

She closed by raiding another streamer and laying out the week ahead: a run of Final Fantasy streams starting from about 4 p.m. and going late, built around a new Final Fantasy release arriving Thursday that she plans to play from the beginning, with Final Fantasy XIV on Wednesday. She said her plans for the following week were still unsettled because of FanFest and Halloween.