General RPGs' AMVs 19

Another year, another look at a good handful of high-quality AMVs!  Let’s see what we have this year.



FIRE EMBLEM

Fire Emblem 16: Everything Black, by Dilatory
The music used is Everything Black, by Unlike Pluto.  Great scene selection, spot-on timing, an interesting mix of game to music that brings new meaning to the song...this is already a great AMV even before you count in the excellent use of Fire Emblem 16’s own audio.  Everything Black is a great song for its adaptability to the front or background of the sound landscape, and Dilatory takes advantage of this with deft, pleasing precision, letting the music take its place in the foreground when it needs to, and then letting the sound effects of FE16’s scenes cut through it to help bring its beat to life.  It’s a far too rare occasion for an AMV creator to have the courage and/or innovation to let the game’s own audio be part of the work, and for them to accomplish this so well.  Superb AMV, here.

Fire Emblem 16: Heritors of Arcadia, by SBG Lucina
The music used is Heritors of Arcadia, from Fire Emblem 15.   I don’t usually count it when an AMV uses the game’s own music, but I guess music from a different game is fair even if it’s from the same series.  SBG Lucina’s displayed a good bit of skill with this video for pairing scenes of the game to the lyrics, and the game itself to the song.  I haven’t played Fire Emblem 15 yet, so I can’t speak from a knowledgeable position, but I can’t help but suspect that SBG Lucina has proven, with this work, that Heritors of Arcadia is a more emotionally and narratively fit song for Fire Emblem 16 than it is for the FE it was created for.

Fire Emblem 16: Nemesis, by LaTeddyNecto
The music used is Viper, by Brand X Music.  This is awesome.  There is nothing more than can or should be said.  Elaborating would only be circling this fact, ineptly fixing needless other terms onto a truth that stands by itself.  Awesome.


HORIZON

Horizon 0 Dawn: Brave, by Matthew Fritsche
The music used is Pearl, by Kari Sigurosson.  This is another of those tribute-style AMVs, primarily focused on Aloy and her story through the events of Horizon 0 Dawn.  It’s grand, moving, personal, and edited well, bringing together the gentle quiet and high fury of both game and music to skillfully tell Aloy’s story to us and laud both her and the work as a whole.  Solid stuff!


THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

The Legend of Zelda Series: Get Evil with Ganondorf, by LaTeddyNecto
The music used is Let’s Groove, by Earth, Wind, & Fire.  This?  This, my friends, is perfection, and we are all blessed to be alive to see it.

The Legend of Zelda Series: Kriptonita, by Toretilo
The music used is Kryptonite, by 3 Doors Down.  Well, it may be a bit arrogant for Toretilo to claim in the title that this is the best TLoZ AMV, but there’s no denying that this is a pretty awesome one.  From the opening with the Majora’s Mask forms playing instruments appropriate to the song right through to the finish, this AMV does a great job of matching its visuals to the tone (and lyrics, when they come in) of the music, and serves as a fun, endearing, and well-constructed tribute to the series as a whole.  You gotta respect it for the breadth of its scope alone--sure, the video focuses primarily on more aesthetically pleasing and mainstream installments in the series, but it makes it a point to include the older and more obscure ones, too, and makes sure they’re just as relevant and well-placed as all the rest of the clips.  I mean, my goddess, they’ve got the infamous Japanese commercial in there, even!  I also like that it serves not only as a tribute to the series as a whole, but also to the bond between Link and Zelda, too.  I wouldn’t call this the greatest TLoZ AMV I’ve ever seen, but I think it’s at least got a good shot at being the best tribute AMV to the series, and either way, it’s a darned fine piece of work.


MASS EFFECT

Mass Effect 2 + 3: Bonds, by Jedi21366 and/or CT-N7
The music used is Dead Island, by Giles Lamb.  I know, it’s another tribute piece for Mass Effect, but damn it, it’s just a game where this kind of music video works, and works well.  Heartfelt, solemn, reminiscent, Bonds is exactly what you know it’ll be: a great AMV exploring and lauding the connections of Shepard and his comrades, that signature element of Mass Effect that more than anything else makes it unique and wonderful, and reminding the watcher of just how great a story it was.*


THE WITCHER

The Witcher 3: Stand My Ground, by Maestro GMV
The music used is Stand My Ground, by Within Temptation.  In spite of having some typography AMV elements, this video is a solid work, 1 of those good, basic AMVs that brings together a fun, cool sampling of the game to a song whose style and lyrics enhance it.  Good stuff.










* Besides the ending.  Which was horrible.  And should always, always be corrected.