What were the ones you tried that you didn’t like, or what things did you not like about them? SAO starts off pretty interesting, but if you aren’t really a fan of anime in general, it’s probably not the best show to pick up overall. Some of the common criticisms people tend to associate with popular anime (i.e. unnecessary fanservice, male-centric gender/relationship portrayals, hyper-dramatized scenes/plotlines, etc) definitely come into play sooner or later with SAO. I think there is some overlap appeal with FMA, but FMA does some things pretty well that SAO does not. Stuff like keeping a single strong storyline moving forward, tying several character stories together in an interesting way, giving proper attention to developing a wide cast of characters–things that appeal to wider audiences in ways that SAO doesn’t necessarily.
Like I said, SAO starts off really promising, and it certainly has its appeal, but if you go in expecting something like FMA, it will probably end up being disappointing. That said, SAO can be really good at what it does set out to do, and if you are enjoying it for now, you might as well keep watching. There will be a pretty clear dividing point where the show switches gears that should be obvious enough when you get to it, and it’s fully possible to enjoy the show up to that point even if you don’t like it that much after. Of course, it’s also fully possible to enjoy the whole thing, and a lot of people do.
My favourite that I’ve been watching lately is Chihayafuru. I watched the first season a while back and recently started on the second season, and I’m remembering how much I enjoyed it.