Sumio Mondo
Member
This is something Square/Sakimoto nailed with FFXII. The music of the field was not interrupted by battle, which contrasts pretty starkly with Xenoblade (a game people often consider a similar-playing title). Sakimoto (and co) composed themes that cover the full spectrum of required sentiment...you have your bombastic adventurey parts, the danger/combat, quiet/thoughtfulness/contemplation, etc. Stuff like the Giza Plains, Phon Coast, Ozmone Plains, etc. are really masterful in how they hold up over hundreds of hours of play.
Pretty much. The sound design all over for FFXII was top notch. No battle transitions at all definitely helped in this case, though. Don't get why Xenoblade really needed battle themes when it could just play the beautiful field/dungeon themes instead.
.Hack's way of doing it was cool too, ambient field/dungeon themes that get more pumped up when you're fighting enemies.