The Epic Final Fantasy Medleys of Marc Papeghin

I tend to get pretty enthusiastic about new covers of classic game music, but there's no overstating the brilliant work of France's Marc Papeghin.

Though he traditionally focused on french horn in his earlier videos, Marc has grown to incorporate a wider variety of instruments like trumpet, trombone, drums, guitar, and keyboards -- and that's just him alone! His last couple of arrangements bring in several other collaborators, and the result is just jaw-dropping.

Here are a few of my favourites:



Final Fantasy VI



This is the first of his videos I ever stumbled upon, but it wasn't til several months later that I remembered to check back to see if there were more videos like this on his channel. Let that be a lesson: always check!
Here we have Marc on his own, playing every part himself. No techno remixes or chiptune reinterpretations here -- just some really good, straight-forward performances on live instruments.



Final Fantasy V



Wow! Final Fantasy V has never been one of my favourite games, and in my opinion it has one of the overall weakest soundtracks in the series. In this arrangement, Papeghin brings in nine guest performers who contribute to a more varied and full sound than the game ever received in the past. Not only do they bring out the best of each piece and allow this game's music to surpass the clumsy instrumentation of the original SNES game, but they actually do so without touching the overplayed fan favourite Battle on the Big Bridge. I have a new appreciation for this soundtrack, now!

Final Fantasy VIII



Thirteen additional musicians join Marc Papeghin to dedicate their talents to nearly 20 minutes of gorgeous music from one of my favourite games of all time -- and this is only billed as "Part 1." The video was uploaded a little over a month ago, so hopefully Part 2 is on its way soon!

Aside from these great collections, Marc also has a really well done medley of Final Fantasy IX, and an older, french horn-only rendition of Final Fantasy VII.

If you enjoyed these Final Fantasy medleys (and why the heck shouldn't you!?), please hop over to Marc Papeghin's YouTube channel or his website Marc Papeghin's French Horn Extravaganza.