As someone who played the VN first, there's too much undeserved hate for this adaptation.
First of all, for everyone complaining this doesn't include Extra or Unlimited, the name of this anime is Muv Luv Alternative, not Muv Luv. It clearly indicates it's an adaptation of just Alternative. Yes, it sucks for anime only people, but Extra would be received terribly nowadays so they have no good choice.
Then there's everyone complaining about the fact the anime doesn't cover the whole story, but that's common in most adaptations yet people don't endlessly complain when the source is an LN.
As for the anime itself, it's rushed, especially in the beginning, and the art quality outside of the mechs is pretty bad, but they did an amazing job on the mech parts and the story in the second half of this season is well done.
It's worth watching as a VN fan to see the story fully animated. If you haven't played it, I recommend the VN first.