Tales Music

[Dimentionalist]

I personally found Rebirth and Abyss as the worst. There were so few tracks I liked compared to the others...

[AHPD]

Legendia. The voiced Tomorrow will be shined are the best!

[Dopple]

I vote Legendia.  I have a few comments in reply to some other people's comments...

Symphonia: I agree that some music is... blah.  Talk about Sylvarant is used on many occasions and I can't say I'm a big fan of it.  I also think I'll go insane if I have to listen to "Search a Seal" another time.  Most of the other music, however, is very well done.  Like a Glint of Light is, for me, an unforgettable battle theme, as well as the godly Fatalize.  The synthesizer can get a bit repetitive by using the same types of sounds over and over, but the beautiful melodies let the synthesizer get away with it.

Rebirth: I actually think this is a pretty good soundtrack...  I like how its style is completely different from the rest of the series.  A lot of brass instruments are used in many tracks, which sort of unifies all the different themes used in the games.  Battle Organization is surprisingly happy for a battle theme, but I love it!  Okay, it's got its weak points...  I really dislike several of the tracks (the one where you fight the spirits, and I find "With Shaorune" flying theme to be insanely annoying).  Some tracks are just plain... odd... (Kyogen... is that supposed to be BGM?)  Most dungeon themes are just blah.  However, there are tracks that stand out as really well composed.  It's too bad the Milhaust battle theme (The edge of an oath) is only used twice...

Legendia: WOW.  This is probably the first soundtrack I liked before playing the game.  Huge change here, using the orchestra for so many tracks, rather than a synthesizer.  I absolutely loved how some of the tracks borrowed motives and themes from other tracks but they were different enough to be considered more than just a remix.  It's definitely got its own style, which makes it stand out as something more than just an ordinary soundtrack.  I'd think you'd have to somewhat appreciate classical music before you get into this kind of soundtrack.

[Cyllya]

What is it with the lack of love for Abyss' music here?

A couple of ToA tracks were cool (I think they were all by Motoo Fujiwara? Actually, I liked the minigame music too), but most of them were just sort of there.

Similar deal for ToL. I liked the ones with vocals, didn't care for the rest.

[LJkAze]

Best in my opinion
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Phantasia
Tales of Eternia
Tales of Destiny 2

Decent in my opinion
Tales of Symphonia PS2
Tales of Symphonia GC
Tales of Destiny

Worst in my opinon
Tales of Legendia
Tales of Rebirth

[Catriona]

Similar deal for ToL. I liked the ones with vocals, didn't care for the rest.

I agree. I never played ToL but I was drawn to its music when I heard it playing on the flash page on the Namco website. I downloaded some other tracks but they weren't enough to hold my interest for very long. The vocal songs definitely stood out more.

In general, Phantasia had a wider range of tracks that I really liked. The other games I played or whose tracks I listened to like Rebirth, Destiny I and Eternia had some nice tunes, but on the wide-scale, Phantasia did it for me.

[Leroy]

Having just given Destiny II/Eternia another go I'd have to say that's probably my favorite of the Sakuraba/Tamura soundtracks. There's still a LOT of blandness but there are much more enjoyable tracks to me than the rest of the series. Celestia's map theme is so awesome, it reminds me of Uematsu's SNES work for some reason. The battle themes are good (the Celestia boss theme is great!) and I really like the underwater theme too. I love the Glimmer Spire theme but we all know we can't credit Sakuraba or Tamura for that one. *wink, wink*