I am a longtime fan of the game, so I'll admit I'm somewhat biased, but I truly do think this show is pretty good and worth a shot. I think having the Disney name tied to it turns a lot of people off, and that's definitely understandable. Still, Disney Japan is it's own thing entirely, and TWST is very much a passion project of the creator (Yana Toboso) and it shows. The pacing is handled well, not too slow for a first season so you can understand the world and really get into what's good about the series before too long. I definitely can seehow the excess of characters introduced in the first episode and included in the post credits scenes can be a turn-off for anime onlys. It 100% feels like fanservice for established fans (which I'm enjoying), but doesn't really benefit the story of S1. I think it would have been much more palatable if they stuck to introducing only the Heartslabyul members and the housewardens and allowed the rest to join the story more organically over time, but I digress. The performances have been great regardless, and I'm having a blast.

Regarding the animation, I've seen a lot of people referring to it as bad, which is confusing to me. You can definitely see which scenes are more or less of a priority for the budget, but that's pretty typical for anime, and they really kill it when it counts, such as in battle scenes. The backgrounds and character designs are consistently stunning, and it's just a treat to look at regardless of how much movement is happening on screen. Even when there's less it's never clunky. It truly does feel to me as if a lot of people put a lot of care and love into creating this show, and that they wanted to do the best they could. I imagine the animation quality will only improve with subsequent seasons, and I look forward to it. (Though the way they introduced the Great Seven did not work, should've all been stylized like the Queen of Hearts at least.)

If you don't know anything about TWST and are debating checking it out, I really recommend giving it a shot. It's a fun watch and the story that will unfold as it continues only gets better.