I bought this after not loving Ryza thigh-gap situation plus all the changes sounded like negatives to me. But I have bought all the console Atelier games so I had to try it for myself.
At 15 hours played, I am loving it!
The new battle system is fresh, and layered, and just fun. I don't miss the strict turn based after seeing this in action.
Graphics are the best yet and it's generally a very pleasant looking game. It feels "comfy" which is the highest compliment I can pay the Atelier games as that's what I love about them.
The music is as good as usual or even better. The series generally has A+ OSTs and this one is no different
Alchemy is reeeeeally different, ditching the grid Tetris thing for a node-based system where you unlock nodes that add things like trait slots, quality, new effects, or even transform something into a whole new item. After messing around with it over a dozen hours, I can happily report that they have once again created a whole new alchemy system while at the same time making it deep enough and FUN :)
I really am shocked at my level of love for this game. This is the fresh injection the series has desperately needed for some time.
Oh and you get a Hideout as a base this time around that you can apparently decorate and customize the inside and outside and add new facilities as the game goes on, so you have the most personalized "base" yet.
The only negative is the character designs. I love a lot of the clothes, and faces/hair etc. but the pandering in this game is at least as much as previous games if not more. I know they probably do this for sales, but for me, the game would be better if all of that was way toned down.
If you have played Atelier before and love it, I easily, heavily recommend Atelier Ryza.
If you are new to the series but interested in it, this is a GREAT starting place.
The series is my ultimate comfort food and they have overhauled almost every aspect of the series here, and done it with great success. I hope sales of this are great and we continue to get new games. Maybe one day we can even get English VA back in the game =)