The gameplay is probably the best from what I have played in the series. I always thought combat was too slow in past games and it always felt like a second thought. However, the combat in Ryza feels like a modern take of the ATB system from classic Final Fantasy games. So it never felt boring or a huge chore to do. The alchemy system, while at first overly complicated to take in at once, in the end, it's a neat way to unlock more recipes and make them stronger. I really like the new addition of going to these different mini-worlds throughout alchemy bottles to help you get a certain material way easier. I also do like there's a stronger focus with character builds and stats with the three main types of builds, attacker, defender, and supporter (I am a sucker for character building in RPGs).

However my biggest complaint is the story, characters and pacing are super inconsistent. The overall story is decent and I do appreciate they making an attempt for a more story-focused Atelier game, however, what throws me off is at first the game want to make you believe there isn't much to it, it just some friends looking for a way to end their summer boredom by picking up new things and getting away from their parents. You know something chill and laid back. End of the game the story felt very Final Fantasy Esque with stuff like different worlds, saving their town from great evil, etc. Honestly, I wouldn't have much of a problem with this if the game was much more upfront with the story from the start instead of pretending it going to be very character focus like the other Atelier games with no grand plot. So the change was just jarring, even if they tried hard to not throw everything at you at once.

Speaking of character focus, there's a huge lack of it and the development feels very wonky. There were plenty of opportunities to cover the themes of the characters' issues around them and how they can grow but sadly, the majority of it is just brushed over or pushed to the side for the story. At the end of the day, I feel like many of the characters haven't really developed. In fact, I say only Klaudia and Bos only receive any noteworthy development. Adding on to my inconsistency issue, I feel like Ryza's personality was all over the place, so it was hard to tell if she really developed (and I kinda think she has gotten too good with alchemy too fast but that is just a reoccurring issue within the series).

Other things are the side quests aren't too bad, you get to learn the villagers more as you do more of their quests, even if some of them were impossible to do until much later in the game and some of them are tedious to do. I found a lot of alchemy tools such as cloning, the garden, and weapon buffing have been unlocked way too late in the game. It would be nice to have nearly all of them within the first 1/3 of the game. The game aesthetics is very charming like some fairytale story and the character designs are pretty as expected from an Atelier game (except Lila), the art style is vibrant and I really enjoy the soundtrack the most out of all of the Atelier games I have played.

Overall, Ryza is a decent game, especially for a newcomer that got baited in with the "thicc thighs" and the gameplay and aesthetic are overall good. However, it tries to do both this coming of age, slow-paced, character-focused, self plot similar to the previous Atelier games and this grand, epic, adventure you see in many other JRPGs, and in the end, I feel like they dropped the ball of the former for the latter. If the game was like another 20-30 hours longer (I have done the majority of what the game has to offer within 44 hours), then maybe Atelier Ryza could do both in a much more natural and organic way.