Atelier Ryza is a great anime:

As expected and hoped, Ryza lives up to its Escha legacy.  Now we have two seasons of Atelier anime to enjoy in my top anime rankings.  I have no problem with all the scenes designed just to show off how attractive Ryza is.  There's nothing wrong with looking at a pretty girl.  But the series also shows off an attractive, colorful, exotic world.  It's fun exploring it too.  And on top of that, I like how Ryza interacts with the people around her.  She tries her best to help others and even puts herself in danger for their sake, but she also tries her best to please herself and doesn't get bogged down in the wishes of others.  She has found a middle way through life.

Fewer and fewer of my top anime remain at the bottom level '12 eps.'  (26 now to be precise) The Atelier series has now broken that barrier too.

Meanwhile I'm awash in mesmerizingly good music as I listen to my perfected, proportional music hall of fame.  The 5-star tier is played about 1/2 the time on shuffle, the 4-star tier 1/4 of the time, the 3-star 1/8, and the 1 and 2-star tiers combined make up the other 1/8 of the time.  In this way I get to listen to all my great music, but the better music the preponderance of the time.  Like Ryza I've found a good middle path -- everything in moderation.  I'm so addicted to this new music hall of fame I can't be bothered to play Final Fantasy 16 (or Star Ocean 6).

It's a shame about FF 16, it has great graphics, but the characters aren't relatable and the plot is too dark.  It feels like a sadist's wet dream, but for people with normal feelings it's just been body blow after body blow.  Who is this game designed to appeal to?  In addition the combat isn't fun, just frustrating.  I'd much rather play a turn-based rpg like Octopath.  Also unlike Octopath, the music is completely forgettable.  I bought the game so I'll put in the time to beat it sooner or later, but for now the music listening and Sword of Truth series wins out.

I have so much love and respect for video games recently -- FF7 Remake, Xenoblade 3, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Fire Emblem Engage -- these games are better than anything that's come out before.  But not all recent video games are like those games.  In fact, most recent video games, even the promising ones I purchase, are barely worth playing.  There's an enormous, unbridgeable gap between the truly great games and all the rest.  I guess it was an illusion to think video games could replace anime as a main hobby, it can't even beat listening to music. . .