I thought it was exemplary.
The demo convinced me just enough to get it. The beginning is pretty bland, the problem being the bare squad you start out with. But, it took quite a turn for me once I got past the small hump and got to see all the game had to offer. More characters with different weapons, different weights for different Boilers, and plethora of sub-weapons gave a lot of options. I was especially a fan of the Fire Emblem characters I got from the amiibo (all but Lucina. Someday...). Setting up what units to use and what equipment they should get for different situations was pretty interesting.
I like planning ahead and getting the jump on enemies. Like in one mission: the goal is to get to the end while keeping the enemy away from it. A certain scientist character's main weapon is bait that all enemies get attracted to, turning their attention towards it, and having them all go for it on their next turn. It was satisfying just picking them all off with explosives and made getting all the collectibles a cakewalk.
A few things annoyed me, like enemies' overwatch being WAY too all-seeing at points. Also wasn't a fan of shots just outright missing when the reticle is right on top of them, the hitboxes being made meticulously accurate to their model's. That made the tiniest spaces where shots could miss and I am flipping infuriated every time it happens.
I believe it didn't do well because of Nintendo's marketing. Being completely honest with ourselves here, Nintendo left this game out to dry. It got nowhere near the marketing push that Splatoon had, heck, even being overshadowed my Majora's Mask 3D and Xenoblade 3D at the time. It's also just a really weird game. It's a shame too, I thought it was something special.
