I've never played a Tales Of game, but in all honesty I can say Metroid is among my favourite series of games, for the sheer amount of depth it has, the exceptional music, etc. It easily stands up with Zelda- if anything it's just Zelda in the future. <3 Metroid Prime and N64/GBA Zelda.
If I can recommend a game better than Zelda, I'd have to say Pokemon or Metal Gear Solid, all three series have had disappointing new installments, so knocking the newest games off from each series, Pokemon R/B/Y/G/S/C/R/S/E and MGS 1, 2, and 3 are all awesome. I'm not sure about the original Metal Gear games.
I say we turn this topic into our favourite games we think are better than Zelda.