Tales of Xillia

I purchased the Limited Edition of the game (not the $100 one with the huge plastic figurine) but the one with the art book and Music CD... and I'm somewhat puzzled. I really like "Splendid Sword Dance" (it kind of reminds me of "A Motion of Finishing Blow" from VP2) even though I don't feel it as good as my listening habits suggest... but is this the game's main battle theme? The footage I watched mainly played "Clenched Fist" which is also on this disc but to be honest that sounds much more like a boss theme than a regular battle theme. Can anyone give me a more straightforward idea on how these are used?

Additionally, while I don't have access to the entire soundtrack the rest of the tracks really come off to me as bland. Does anyone else feel this way? Is this a problem with the entire score or just because I have a small sample? I know some people say that his work load is a little too heavy and I was wondering if anyone though this was the result of that.

Dark Souls 2

Okay, call me curious but I was kind of stunned when I heard Sakuraba was doing this score when they were talking about the collector's edition on the in-store channel at Gamestop... but after reading a review over at Game Music Online (don't really care for that name for some reason...) and hearing no one talk about the music despite how much talk I've read about the game is this as bad as I've read? The game world doesn't seem like it would play to Motoi's strengths... but I've been wrong before.

Xilllia has different battle themes depending on if you play as Jude or Milla as your main character.

As for DS2....well the original DS is one of my more well liked Sakuraba works where DS2 is just flat out meh.

Dark Souls II has some beautiful tracks. It also has some recycled tracks. The real problem is that the game itself was just not up to par. If I would have enjoyed the game more, I bet I would have enjoyed the music more. I do actually think the soundtrack is worth getting. The real problem appears to be that many of the tracks were cut, which is what I think annoying most people.

Tales games often have a lot of different battles themes depending on where in the game you are, what's your progress and who you use. Also Tales music is always has been on the simplicit and short side with regard to Sakuraba's compositions (due to much lower music budget compared to his other works), and going by the Zestiria track this doesn't appear to change anytime soon. Tales games never used any live instruments (aside Shiina's Legendia), something I think would actually vastly improve the impression of the simplicit style (comparing to the "wall of sounds" Sakuraba usually tends to get lambasted for).

Dark Souls 2's music is a huge step down from its direct precessor. Dark Souls 1 had the most lush music production of a Sakuraba work since Star Ocean 3, really beautiful use of live choirs and dissonance. Dark Souls 2 on the other hand is synthesizer only. Its soundtrack is also a travesty, most tracks are cut short and don't even reach the looping point. There are plenty nice tracks still (e.g. love the character creation theme, not on the soundtrack as usual, the last battle theme, etc.). Edit: Should note that Yuka Kitamura contributed a sigificant part of the soundtrack, so it's not a solo work.