Just recently finished it. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. However, it certainly does have its issues.
*SPOILERS* for the rest of the post, just to cover bases, and in case any one cares.
The story wasn't as terrible to me as I've been hearing from every one in the world. Samus does have some cringe worthy dialogue, and the scene before Ridley is pretty dumb, but these things didn't bother me enough to make it not enjoyable. Maybe I was just braced for the worst. Anyway, seeing more of Adam's character, seeing Metroid II and Super Metroid's endings in 3d, the Ridley plot line, the deleter plot line, the MB thing, Anthony, all these elements were pretty cool. The story may not have been some great epic, but it kept me wanting to find out what's next. Although, the Metroid thing seemed almost ripped out of Fusion, but even that was handled a little differently.
The combat was really satisfying for me, overall. Not perfect by any means though. It did feel like all I had to do in several cases was just spam dodge->charge shot until it was dead. It all felt really good though, even if it was just that. And it wasn't always. A lot of the fights changed it up, or at least made you do things a little differently. There was occasionally a challenge too, which is appreciated. I couldn't imagine trying hard mode.
Boss fights in particular were really cool. Ridley especially was a fun battle. The two fire bosses were neat, purple bug thing was cool, etc. Most of all I liked seeing some old bosses make a come back. The (first) last boss even was pretty cool, despite my frustration in not realizing when to start charging.
Something that did disappoint me was the items. The entire game goes by, and the only original-ish item I got was the diffusion beam (Seeker missile thing was in a Prime, right?) Even that was just a beam version of Fusions missiles. Also, the way they handled suits was fairly disappointing to me. I could barely tell the difference with Varia, and Gravity was just an aura.
Half the fun of the suits for me was the aesthetic. Prime handled those really well, which is kinda odd considering that it was mostly first person. (Speaking of aesthetics, I thought the graphics were mostly pretty great. Some environments did look bland though.)
Another thing I'd like to make mention of is the progression. First of all, authorization doesn't work well. From a plot perspective, it's a bit strained, but whatever, that's fine. But as far as game structure, it annoys me. I hated killing a ridiculous boss and then getting nothing for it. If anything, I'd get the item before fighting, which was sort of cool I guess. It was cool for the plasma beam, and all the other instances I didn't feel like it worked that well. Beyond that though, just the way the level design is some what irked me too. Each room, in a self-contained way, worked well, but the whole game felt like I was going from navigation room to navigation room, just grinding through hallways and rooms to go in a straight line towards my goal. It felt utterly tiresome at parts. I guess they need to keep me on a certain path, so as to present the story properly, but ugh. Feels so forced, especially in a series where freedom is often of significant importance.
Fusion was the same way though, and Fusion was good. And Other M is good. Both of them lead you along their own path (though more so with MOM). Both get more out of cinematics and set pieces than exploration though, really. Tbh, I'd really like to see another game in the mom style after it's all said and done, just so long as we also get a traditional Metroid soon. This game seemed like it attempted to bridge the gap between Prime and classic Metroid, and in some ways it worked. However, in some ways it feels less like a Metroid game than either. Plot-wise, I feel like it did well helping to connect Super and Fusion.
