The Tales series is a Namco-Bandai franchise.
And yes, later Tales games are quite fun as well (although, I'm only really familiar with Tales of Symphonia and am planning on getting Tales of the Abyss in the near future), and even surpass Phantasia if only because they're more advanced. But Tales of Phantasia is a great game for its time.
I also have to thank it for giving birth to Star Ocean...