General RPGs' AMVs 3

Well folks, I said I was gonna occasionally share 13 good RPG AMVs with you intermittently, and dammit, I meant it. So here's another handful of RPG AMVs that, if not amazing, are still solidly good, which is still pretty damn rare in the world of RPG AMVs.

And as before, if you think any of these are decent, by all means, please do give the video a Thumbs Up, or better still, leave a positive comment. A lot of the good RPG AMVs get very little recognition.



FALLOUT

Fallout 3: Droid Love, by ArkanaYragael: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl1msshbAyg
The music used is Droid Love, by Space Ritual. This is a strong mood-creating AMV, pairing the slow, ethereal, displaced sound of the music to the Capital Wasteland of Fallout 3. The result is very haunting and entrancing. Unfortunately, the second half of the AMV is not nearly as good as the first, with its scene selection simply not fitting the music as well as the first half's did--otherwise, I'd have probably kept this video as a personal favorite. Still, it's worth checking out.

Fallout 3: This is War, by Joylock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACEFHN-TmwU
The music used is This is War, by 30 Seconds to Mars. 30 Seconds to Mars is kind of like the new Linkin Park in the world of AMVs--everybody and their grandmother uses their most popular music for making music videos, and almost all of those music videos suck. Really, the only difference between the 2 groups is that Linkin Park actually has some semblance of talent. Joylock, the same skilled AMV-maker who gave us Fallout 3: Land of Confusion (which I did a full-on review of a while back), has beaten incredible odds, however, and actually delivered us the first good 30 Seconds to Mars AMV ever. Although he uses the game editor to set up a lot of situations that wouldn't normally have occurred, the video's thematic from start to finish, and pretty much every part of it relates to the lyrics and tune of the song (which even, somehow, seems less lousy while you watch and listen--amazing what a good AMV can do to one's perceptions). I particularly like the fact that some of the video's relations to the song are subtle and clever--when the song talks of the "victim," Joylock doesn't show us any one individual or group of people like he does for the rest of the roles the song lists off, but rather shows an image of the DC ruins, which is neatly symbolic. Great AMV, this one.


FINAL FANTASY

Final Fantasy 8: Squall's Mind Says "Hello," by MisterEvenro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XSGYCc1DIw
The music used is Hello, by Evanescence. The timing on matching events in the video to the song is nice in this AMV, as is the way the video works with the music's tone and its lyrics. The video also often uses actual game footage effectively with the song, which, so long as it's done properly, is always a nice change in a Final Fantasy AMV, since most of them just reuse the exact same 20 minutes of FMV footage in different ways over and over again. It has a very nice, poignant ending, too. All in all, this AMV is a lovely package; really, the only thing keeping it just below deserving a rant all on its own is the fact that there are some parts of the in-game footage that aren't used effectively enough, and seem kind of like filler. But overall, this AMV is very, very good.

Final Fantasy 9: Gravity of Love, by Dreamer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT3yHrpdIX8
05/27/17 UPDATE: A Youtube user named S (there was seriously no one who had already claimed that!?) has made an updated version of this--it's the same AMV as Dramer's, but with the higher quality visuals from the FF9 PC rerelease. It looks faithful to the original to me, so you might want to check it out instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RARvY_gvaAU
The music used is Gravity of Love, by Enigma. I have to admit to really liking this song, so maybe I'm somewhat biased for AMVs that use it, but I do think this game is a great compliment to it. Several lyrics match up to the selected scenes, the heavy, ethereal charm of the tune is a lovely companion to the powerful and magical beauty of FF9, and the scenes act and change in concert with the music. Good stuff!

Final Fantasy 9: Requiem for a Dream, by Mivmax62260: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86mW8021m9c
The music used is Requiem for a Tower, by Clint Mansell. This song matches the action-related parts of the game very well to the powerful, building music. There's really not much to say here, other than that the song and the game mesh well, and that the pacing of the scene section is well-done.


GRANDIA

Grandia 1: Passion, by Tamagotschi95: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3dRaH9uGEI
The music used is the orchestral version of Passion, from the Kingdom Hearts 2 soundtrack. This tribute to Grandia 1 is impressively compiled, using the music's grand feeling to work with the visuals and faithfully portray the atmosphere of epic adventure that Grandia 1 so embodies. Finding ANY Grandia 1 AMV is difficult, given that it was one of those Playstation 1 RPGs that used a significant portion of its limited FMV towards illustration of legends rather than of actual plot events, so finding a solid video like this is a pleasurable rarity.


THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: Mad World, by TheDreamingSongbird: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiDkIQKfIxc
The music used is Mad World, by Gary Joules. While there are some scenes where the connection between song and video is tenuous, and overall I can't say that the song particularly embodies any overall feeling or theme of the game, the visuals are generally a nice match to the quiet, displaced emotion of this song, and several scenes also coordinate well to the lyrics.


MASS EFFECT

Mass Effect 1 and 2: Geno|3boost's Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Genol3oost
This isn't actually a single AMV, but a large collection of semi-AMV tributes to the Mass Effect series. The large majority of them are made quite well. They pretty much always get the emotion and message they intent to convey across effectively, through use of effective mood background music, video selection, and use of the game's voice work.

Mass Effect 2: I'll Stand by You, by Almajademe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgOpMLu5CrI
The music used is I'll Stand by You, by Pretenders. Okay, I have no idea how it's possible given that this song is, to me, the prime example of a song of so much overblown, self-important mush that it comes across as funny to me rather than emotional...but this tribute to the character Thane and his potential relationship with Female Shepard is actually pretty good. Thane's personal story seems to work pretty well with the song, somehow, and the clips chosen to accompany the song are usually selected well and are serious enough to work with the tune yet real enough to tone down the song's excessively dramatic qualities. It doesn't always work and some parts just don't hold up, but overall, it's a decent AMV, and that's hard to believe given the song.

Mass Effect 2: Tank!, by Solidfalcon77: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajVqeUX6MYQ
The music used is Tank!, from the anime Cowboy Bebop. This one is just plain clever, fun, and entertaining, combining the opening song to Cowboy Bebop with scenes from a fellow sci-fi classic that work surprisingly well with the Cowboy Bebop theme. Add in a lot of masterful visual effects to mimic the classic anime's actual opening, and you have a work that is just plain cool.


SHADOW HEARTS

Shadow Hearts Series: E.T., by Zexion678: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivJ4ssumi-0
The music used is E.T., by Katy Perry. Oh, barf, Katy Perry. Ugh. Just typing the name makes my fingers feel unclean. Buuuut, despite how much I hate that self-important sensationalist slut, this is really a very well-made AMV. The editing and timing of the video's scenes and effects are nigh perfect, and the scenes are very skillfully connected to the feel of the music and its lyrics--showing SH1 + 2's Yuri's and SH3's Shania's demonic forms when the song talks of extraterrestrials, showing SH3's Lady's cursed kiss when the song talks of poison kisses, and so on. This skill put into making the video and music work together in this AMV is top-notch; I'm almost tempted to keep it for my personal collection, in spite of it being a mix of Katy Perry and 50% Shadow Hearts 3 video. The only thing keeping me from that is the fact that this video, for all its merits, doesn't seem to have too strong of a purpose or idea behind it, which is pretty essential for me. Nonetheless, this is really quite excellently created.


SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4: Aerials, by Lossdinen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbnLaDgl8bo
The music used is Aerials, by System of a Down. I should note that this AMV only uses a portion of the whole song, but while this was a problem with a Legend of Zelda AMV in my last rant, here it earns no demerits, because unlike the last time I mentioned this issue, the portion of Aerials used in this AMV has been masterfully edited out, so that the AMV's start and finish feel like whole--if you didn't already know this music was only a part of a bigger song, you could easily believe that this was it in its entirety. Anyway, SMTP4 has very limited FMVs to work with, and many of them are chaotic and confusing, so creating any kind of linear story in an AMV is difficult. One can, however, do well with a more visual, artsy approach, and Lossdinen does this well, using the heavy, darker tone of the song in conjunction with the darker nature of the game well. Some scenes work quite well with the lyrics, too, which is a nice bonus. This AMV is dark, moody, tense, and yet has underlying urgency, which matches both the music and the overall feel of the game's plot very well.


THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU

The World Ends with You: Left-Handed Lovers, by Coloraoi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnU7rt9TB1s
The music used is Please Don't Go, by Barcelona. I wouldn't have thought that this game would garner many AMVs, given its cut scenes' style, but it apparently has quite a few. This one matches the music's tone to the game's videos very well, and pulls the viewer in with its solemn, touching feeling. It has its flaws--notably that it's short, and shorter still when you consider how much of the video's time is taken up with game voice acting instead of actual music video--but overall, I think it's pretty good.