ReMix:Tales of Phantasia "Magical Forest Medley" 4:21

Next up we've got an atmospheric classical/new age forest medley arrangement of Tales of Phantasia from Rebecca E. Tripp, featuring harp, chromatic percussion, and some nice & subtle avian FX:

"This is my first "Tales of" series cover. Tales of Phantasia had some amazing music! The three forest themes are so incredibly lovely... I just had to make them into a single suite. The themes are "Unicorn's Forest," "Mystic Forest," and "Treant Forest." The original composers of the series are Motoi Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura. I'm rather happy with the way this one turned out."

I love the space this mix creates; really does feel like wandering into the woods in the early morning & being surrounded by life, in all its forms. Rebecca actually requested that we post her FF7 ReMix first, because she wasn't sure this would pass and she no longer had the project files if changes were needed. Judges DID have some issues, mostly surrounding balance (overall quiet levels, birds perhaps too prominent, etc.), transitions, and interpretation, but the consensus was that the strengths outweighed the weaknesses. DarkeSword writes:

"Dead ringer for a modern remake of Tales of Phantasia. The Sakuraba is strong with this one. The harp is a bit mechanical, which is not so great when it's such a prominent sound in the beginning. There's a hardpanned shaker in the right that's distracting too. Overall though it's nice. Don't see any big issues that haven't already been mentioned. I like it."

It's always good to see more Phantasia - I dug Kuro's vocaloid ReMix from late last year, and now Rebecca has unified the forest themes in a pleasant arrangement which, while her newer pieces are a bit more interpretive & polished, still achieves a similar effect and transports the listener to a magical environment. Liontamer adds:

"Arrangement-wise, I was impressed with how expansive her takes on these themes were in the adaptation to new age. Dynamically, there could have been more contrast overall, but the deliberate pacing that has worked for her in past tracks like her "Final Fantasy Forest Medley" works in exactly the same way here."

Agreed; queen of the forest medley, Rebecca continues to weave musical tapestries, and I'm glad we can give this one some deserved attention!