General RPGs' AMVs 14

Yup, another one of these things. I know, I know, no one but me likes them. Well, the people who made these videos put real time and effort into their work, and someone ought to appreciate that, so you'll just have to abide until next rant for something more substantial.


FALLOUT

Fallout 3, 4, and New Vegas: Electric, by Lacryna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gxludF5r98
The music used is Electric Worry, by Clutch. It’s not an amazing AMV, but it’s punchy and fun to watch, a good example of a song that captures an aspect of a game that’s been used appropriately. The action and attitude of the Fallout series works well with the music, and that’s all there is to it--it’s good.


FINAL FANTASY

Final Fantasy 7: Tales of Fantasy VII, by ZackFairZakkusuFea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUZcmV6S8_U
The music used is Karma, by BUMP OF CHICKEN, which is the opening song for Tales of the Abyss. I’m not sure if this really counts as an AMV so much as it does a fan animation, but it’s cool, so I’m sharing it anyway. This is basically a near identical recreation of the opening anime video to Tales of the Abyss, except using characters, concepts, and plot elements from Final Fantasy 7, instead. It’s all hand-drawn art that looks great, and it’s really cool how close it is to the source video (you can find it here if you want to compare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yzTJYM4p-s). Very fun, well-made piece of fan work, this.

Final Fantasy 10: The Sound of Silence, by DiDiChii: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G3UaX_Dz1k
The music used is a cover of The Sound of Silence, by Simon and Garfunkel. The cover itself is done by Disturbed. The nature of Final Fantasy 10’s story lends itself well to a quiet, slow, and powerful song such as The Sound of Silence, and this AMV does well to capitalize on that, emphasizing the more somber, quiet, and so often tragic moments and characters of the game. The video raises its visuals’ intensity as the song does, but, like the song, never loses its poignancy. Powerful stuff.


FIRE EMBLEM

Fire Emblem 14: Demons, by WolfBeil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVpB75D1d1A
The music used is Demons, by Imagine Dragons. There’s not much to say about this, besides that it is a simple, well-done AMV which matches the game’s scenes up very appropriately to the lyrics of the song. Very nice job here.

Fire Emblem 14: Who Am I Living For?, by Shinta Kakumei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG1Cvfrumyc
The music used is Who Am I Living For?, by...Katy Perry? Wait, that can’t be right. When did Katy Perry start making music that didn’t suck? Why wasn’t I informed that the end times had begun?

This is...well, it’s just an excellent AMV. Seriously, top-notch. It was really hard for me to choose the FF10 Sound of Silence AMV above as today's best video over this one. The song’s lyrics and ideas match to Fire Emblem 14 perfectly, allowing this video to tell the story of Corrin’s dilemma of her/his warring families and emphasize how much she/he loves them, to the echoing question of “Who am I living for?” The tone of the song ends up working surprisingly well with the visuals of FE14, too, which I would not have expected...yet the style that FE14 has of often (more often than you’d probably notice, in fact) switching between real time and slow motion makes it mesh very well with the slow throb of the song’s tempo. Really, it’s almost like Katy Perry wrote this song with FE14 in mind, it matches so well, or at least, it seems to after watching this quality AMV. This is a skillfully executed AMV that doesn’t settle for simply being a good tribute to the game, as most AMVs do, but rather uses its song to help tell a portion of the game’s story. Really great stuff!


KINGDOM HEARTS

Kingdom Hearts 2 + 365/2 Days: My Name, by La Habana Inc.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rciYhPBHdE
The music used is My Name, by Shinedown. This AMV explores Roxas through the song, and it works darned well, the lyrics coordinating with his character as naturally as the footage is matched to the melody and changes. The simple effects used here and there are effective and never distracting, and ultimately, everything lines up to create a really good character-dedicated music video.

Kingdom Hearts Series: Call to Arms, by NekoKitkat25hug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsH9aI5Lixo
The music used is Vox Populi, by 30 Seconds to Mars. Fucking 30 Seconds to Mars again? At least it’s not This is War this time. This is a straightforward, well-made AMV that enjoyably recalls the KH series to us in a fun way. The pace of the song is matched well with the cinematography, and I like the overall package of this. I think it probably will mean a little more to me once I finally get around to playing that KH Birth by Sleep game, but even without knowing all the over complicated drama of Aqua and her friends, I still find this a solid AMV.

Kingdom Hearts Series: Maps, by Alexxis5954: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ3EsTZCP_o
The music used is Maps, by Maroon 5. Can’t say I think much of the song, but the AMV that’s been made out of is pretty darned good. There’s not a lot that really jumps out at me about it to speak of here, it just works well. The lyrics are pretty good at telling a story of Sora and Kairi seeking each other, and the video is well coordinated with both the song’s lyrics and its overall tune and changes. This is just your textbook case of a good, well-made AMV.