Wit

Ryza is great!! I only played the first one though so take all of this with a grain of salt.

The combat is not at all like Genshin or BOTW. It’s “real time” but actually turn based. Characters will have basic attacks/skills/items, think Pokemon style combat, but each time they use one it starts a real-time cooldown before they can attack again.

The combat is actually quite simple IMO and not too engaging. But that’s good, because what it’s meant to be is a stat check for the items you make.

Speaking of which, the main gemaplay loop isn’t like your average RPG. You go out and gather resources, then you make items with them, then you go defeat enemies with those items to get their drops or unlock areas with better resources, rinse and repeat. But the most fun part of that loop, and the one you’ll spend the most time on, is the crafting aspect.

You know how in the anime Ryza uses the cauldron? That’ll be 70% of your time spent in the game. The anime doesn’t showcase it but the synthesis system is really complex, and very fun when you get into it. Though I personally prefer Atelier Sophie’s over Atelier Ryza’s haha.

If you’re worried about leveling mechanics, grind, etc. - there are levels but they’re largely irrelevant.

Check out stuff by studio orange, they make insanely good 3D animation. I can vouch for Land of the Lustrous personally, but heard good things about Trigun Stampede and Beastars as well.