General RPGs' AMVs 2

Well, by now you guys have probably figured out that I am quite partial to a truly excellent AMV, given that every time I find one I feel is really great, I do a whole long rant on it. Of course, one does not often find a fantastic RPG AMV whilst browsing the internet...in fact, given the number I've found that are so great that I deem them worthy of personally keeping and subsequently ranting about, I'd say, quite seriously, that your chances of finding a great RPG AMV are about 100 to 1. I mean, that really seems to be the ratio I've experienced.*

Still, even if a truly skillful, exceptional AMV is extremely rare, that's not to say that there aren't a good few AMVs out there that are, if not great, at least decent, sometimes even good. I'm sure has hell not going to spend 2 - 4 weeks writing out an analytical rant for each of them,** but hey, just because they're not amazing, that doesn't mean they don't deserve some note for at least being competent, right? Just the ability to rise above flat mediocrity with RPG AMVs is uncommon enough that it ought to have some recognition. Hence, here is a list of 13 RPG AMVs that are at least pretty good, and worth a watch, organized by game. Why 13? Because it's enough to give you a good handful but not enough to overwhelm you, and because superstitions are for wusses.

And hey, by the way, if you watch one of these and like it, be responsible and give it a Thumbs-Up, or even leave a positive comment. It distresses me how few views and feedback quite a few of these AMVs have, considering that there was clearly some decent effort put into quite a few of them.



CHRONO

Chrono Cross: Plastic Blue, by xXOverXStudiosXx: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8SCU9ybSjQ
The music used is Blue, by The Birthday Massacre. Can't say I'm a fan of the music in any capacity, but ah well. The visual nature of this AMV is very impressive, using tints and visual effects up the wazoo to create a music video that nearly perfectly portrays the surreal, turbulent emotions and twists of the music. This is done so well that I was very tempted to keep this AMV in my personal collection as one of the very best ones out there--but in the end, I opted not to, because while Chrono cross's videos work well enough for the song, I feel like you could have taken a great many games' FMVs and gotten an equal result with the same amount of visual effects. In essence, there's not much to this AMV that ties it more strongly to the game it uses than would tie it to any other game whose visuals it could have chosen instead. Nonetheless, a pretty impressive offering.

Chrono Trigger: Chronology Anthology, by Parasite02: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU9O_3VEtTs
The music used is Book of Days, by Enya. This is a pretty good tribute video, with the music and scenes being well-coordinated. There's a lot of neat visual artistry, too, although there are times when it gets excessive and distracting.

Chrono Trigger: This War is Ours, by Smndo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xgIG2wCWzo
The music used is This War is Ours, by Escape the Fate. Lots of visual effects thrown in here, and most are pretty well-used, although there are several times during this video during which I wish things would slow down and be less rapid and confusing. However, putting that (and the, er, less than perfect English used in the video) aside, this is a really neat AMV, using the song to its full extent at several times (particularly at the part starting at 1:15) and including visuals not only from the FMV anime cutscenes, but also from official art, AND the pixellated gameplay itself--and always effectively. I'm often annoyed with the fact that AMVs are as a general rule afraid to include video of actual gameplay for any RPG made before the Playstation 2 era, because if you use it effectively in the right doses, as this AMV does, it enhances your work without being distracting. This is especially handy with a game like CT, whose FMV offerings are distinctly limited to work with.


DRAGON AGE

Dragon Age 1: In Paradisum, by Darkozl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLt8EhtotNI
The music used is Requiem for a Tower, by Clint Mansell. This AMV is an enjoyable tribute to the game, and uses speeches from the game well with the song's prominent build-up. That's all, really, I can't say much more about it--it's just pretty darn good.


FALLOUT

Fallout 3: My World, by FalseEmperor13: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYhoWv39qIs
The music is My World, by Brand New Sin. You may remember FalseEmperor13 from one of my earlier AMV rants, Fallout 3: If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children will be Next. This AMV isn't excellent like that one, but it's a pretty solid offering, using the heavy, action-oriented tune and lyrics well with the game's visuals to illustrate the idea of a world that's forsaken anyone who wants to live decently in it. The AMV also uses Tenpenny and Dukov from the game to embody the lyrics referring to the one who gets what they want from the world, which is a nicely appropriate connection.


FINAL FANTASY

Final Fantasy 9: Bloody Nails and Broken Hearts, by LeviSouthward: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSDPNs4YGf4
The music used is Bloody Nails and Broken Hearts, by Billy Talent. For a game that is so often paired with calmer, more melodic tunes, this AMV surprises you with how well FF9's impressive visuals can also work with a harsher, faster, more action-oriented song. Several good choices on what clips to match to certain parts and lyrics of the song make it that much better.

Final Fantasy 9: Dragon Boy, by Thistledemon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf-c8EpSKts
The music is Dragon Boy, from the Spirited Away soundtrack. The visual beauty and grandeur of Final Fantasy 9 is a perfect match to the comparable beauty and grandeur of Spirited Away's music, and this song in particular works very nicely to make a tribute to FF9's epic, gorgeous world and adventure. Many good cases of scene selection here, too, that help emphasize the music's qualities. I just wish it didn't end so abruptly, because the AMV winds up feeling incomplete, particularly since the final scenes didn't seem to conclude the video in any particular way.

Final Fantasy 9: She's so High, by Fellow Hoodlum Inc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtJO14xMcVk
The music used is She's so High, by Tal Bachman. This song really works for Dagger as a character, the scene selection to go with the music is usually well-chosen for working with the tune, and how can you not love using Kuja to portray Aphrodite?


THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: Girlfriend, by Amandamaya123: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxHZ7sYkXNA
The music is Girlfriend, by Avril Lavigne. Honestly, this song is annoying as hell to me, but I must say, the scene selection is at several times damn clever, and fun to watch. The expressions and actions in the scenes used often match up extremely well to the (obnoxious) lyrics of the song, and make for a rather fun watch, even if the idea that Link and Midna have any particular romantic chemistry is...fanciful, to put it mildly.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: Hand of Sorrow, by 00peachy00: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSqAXHzHGDo
The music is Hand of Sorrow, by Within Temptation. This AMV uses the artistic and powerful visuals well to match the strong, epic feeling of the music, and there are also several nice visual effects thrown into it that enhance the AMV but never go overboard (which is a common problem with AMVs that add visual effects). The one major flaw to this AMV is that it's simply over too soon; the song cuts out before it's finished, leaving the feeling that there should have been more.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: High School Never Ends, by Amandamaya123: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ia3yHJ4lXk
The music is High School Never Ends, by Bowling for Soup. This one's just clever and amusing overall, using visuals of the game's characters to illustrate the song's lyrics from start to finish. Sometimes the connection's vague, but often it's done very well, and the overall effect is lighthearted and fun.


PARASITE EVE

Parasite Eve 1: Parasite Eve Blinded me with Science, by Fellowhoodlum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLamjcrrbzg
The music is She Blinded me with Science, by Thomas Dolby. It seems strange, but this light-hearted, quirky song winds up working really well with Parasite Eve's disturbing visuals, changing them from creepy and at times gross to entertaining and mad-science-y. But hey, PE1 is a present-day science fiction RPG, so everything really does wind up fitting pretty well with the song, aided by the AMV maker's talent at selecting scenes and transitions that work with the song's tune and lyrics.

Parasite Eve 1: Superstitious Feeling, by ShawnDDude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4roryDASXiY
The music is Superstitious Feeling, by Harlequin. This tribute is really very good, with the music portraying just the right mixture of mystery, tension, and urgency to match the atmosphere of PE1.



And that's it for now. Hope you found at least a few of these enjoyable. Since I only rarely stumble across a truly amazing AMV, expect to see more 13-pack rants like this one about the decent AMVs I happen across in my searches for greatness. Although even decent AMVs can be uncommon, so even these will only happen once in a while.


















* Of course, take out Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy 8, and Final Fantasy 7-related AMVs from that mix, and you're probably down to a 50 to 1 chance.

** That really is how long I usually take to get my AMV rants done. Yes, I do, indeed, sometimes suck to a ridiculous degree.