As for me, yesterday I finished my SAO Season 1 re-watch.
I really liked it, maybe even more so than the first time I watched it when it came out. I definitely felt less harsh towards the Alfheim portion as well. And the ending was just so sweet.
It does have problems though. I hate that Asuna was relegated to Damsel status in Part 2. I hate the Deus Ex Machina. It's a bit lazy.
If you look through modern reviews, people are really harsh towards SAO though. And I notice a lot of people really blame it for the current Isekai trend (because they're stupid and forget .hack existed lol.)
Really I feel like a lot of the hate is undeserved. SAO definitely catapulted Isekai as a genre, but that really shouldn't be a mark against SAO itself. It's beautifully animated, with an amazing OST, and it does some things other Isekai still don't do to this day and that is talking about the psychological aspects of it.
Anyway I'm glad I re-watched it. I teared up a lot. Somehow it's a really nostalgic series for me. I think it's because it's one of the last series I watched as it aired. Right around the end of 2012 is when I stopped following anime in general and kinda just got stuck watching old stuff or just occasionally trying something out based a lot of recommendations.
In fact, I think the currently running FGO: Babylonia is the first anime I'm watching as it airs since SAO all the way back in 2012.