I have to agree, I find the hate on SCV is unwarranted. I'm old enough to remember when SCIV was the red-headed stepchild that sold its soul to big-money IPs, and I found the sentiment silly back then too.
SCV sped up and streamlined the gameplay, replaced CFs with the CE and BE system, consolidated its story mode to a single continuity, improved its character creator dramatically, divorced customization from stats, and included an aesthetically appropriate guest. These were all in reaction to criticisms weighed against SCIV, and it's very telling that SCVI has built on these instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
On a personal level, SCV was the first time I was able to get dozens of people into the series who just weren't before. Whether you can thank there being a universally new cast for everyone, its brighter color palette compared to IV, or the aforementioned gameplay changes, the game ended up being one of my best investments in the past decade. Would the game had been better if 3/4ths of the story wasn't cut for bad weather and executive meddling? Probably, and there are a number of other minuses that bother me to this day, which I noticed SCVI isn't always fixing. A shame. Regardless, I loved IV, I loved V more, and I'm probably going to like VI even more. We'll see how that plays out for everyone else.
--Forgon