I'm not really into die-hard competitive play (mostly I just like to play with siblings and friends), so even though I love the series, several of the complaints in the OP really don't affect me. What does affect me is the breadth of content; characters, levels, music, trophies, etc...which this entry definitely doesn't skimp out on. Smash Bros. has always been more of celebration of Nintendo's legacy in my eyes, and so the fact that they added this much new content, including characters, songs, and stages from lesser known games like Fire Emblem and Xenoblade, already puts this title miles above the previous three entries IMO.
The only potential complaint I really have so far is that there are a lot of carryover stages from Brawl, but since I haven't unlocked everything yet, I can't really speak to that. Single player story mode isn't something I really look for in a fighting game, and I can honestly say I never bothered going back to Subspace Emissary after completing it once. I enjoyed the Adventure Mode in Melee, but it definitely isn't something I expected out of the new entry.
Regardless of my own opinion though...I can't help but feel like 'abomination' might be hyperbole. I have a tough time seeing this game rated anything below a 7.5 due to its content and presentation alone; 'abomination' implies sub-5 scores in my book..
NNID: Zephyr25 / PSN: Zephyr--25 / Switch: SW-4450-3680-7334
