I don't have terribly much to say; core gameplay is the exact same as the last which is what made that game so enjoyable to play despite its design shortcomings. I feel like the bosses in this game are worse than the original, and a few levels can be kind of annoying (first elec, second elec and ice) but this is still MMZ, it's still great. I really enjoy the form system in this game, it's definitely better than both parts systems in 3 and 4, letting you choose what you want to focus on in the moment (my main is active, switching to rise for bosses while energy and x get used on occasion) which adds a bit more to the gameplay.

This game is probably the one you should start with if you want to get into MMZ, even ignoring plot reasons.