I read through all of these while also getting stuff done here at work ( XD ) so it took me a bit, but I mostly concur with you here.
Copying OW made sense to a point as while GW2 did well and is my most played game ever, OW did blow up big for awhile, although it was falling apart even before we found out that Blizzard have a terrible culture. I've said for years that even before Activision got involved that Blizzard wasn't that good of a company and not to treat them like they can do no wrong, but I had no idea they were as bad as we now know. I uninstalled all their stuff back in '19 over the Blitzchung affair, and was barely playing any of their games even before that. OW's monetization with it's loot boxes is awful and GW and GW2 do MUCH better jobs at random packs that feel rewarding unlike OW's.
I always thought the Imp's selection animation in BfN was to mock D.Va, as Imp and mech came before D.Va did as GW2 launched in February of 2016 and OW was in May. D.Va was a personal favorite in my time in OW, but Imp is more fun.
There was a point in OW where there were no character limits in the main (non ranked) play modes. Fighting a team of multiple Torbjorn's with a Mercy (when she used to revive her whole team) was a nightmare, so was playing against multiple D.Va's taking turns to detonate their mechs.
For ratings, I'd give GW an 8, GW2 a 9 and BfN a 7. If GW2 fixed the remaining bugs and balance issues, got rid of hackers, and made a few other small changes (like bulk buying sticker packs), it could reach a 10.
People love PvZ and I wish they'd handle the games better. Heroes is actually really fun but it's mostly abandoned and I haven't played in quite a while. PvZ2 is good but the monetization has been awful for a long time and there are cheaters in arena so I stopped playing. The original is still wonderful and the shooters are all fun, although for different reasons. PvZ3 looks like they may well have fixed things and I'm looking forward to playing it. Now they need the same thing for GW3.
I've been more forgiving of BfN than a lot of our veterans as again, I remember how GW2 had many detractors and how it launched in a bad state, but quickly became a true gem and one of my favorite games of all time, if not my favorite. That being said, as others have pointed out, BfN feels like change for changes sake with more problems of its own than it resolves from the previous game and many changes that I don't like.
It's odd that EA changed what should have been GW3 so much, they tend to go the safer route and only make incremental changes, rather than trying to rewrite so much. I feel that a GW3 can and should make some changes that make the game better, but changing just to change gave us a game that feels more unfinished than GW does when compared to GW2.
In that YouTuber video you posted, which has been talked about and shared before, what pretty much all GW YouTubers wanted was GW3; more of a good thing with some needed changes like balancing. That's what pretty much all of us wanted from what I've seen.
There are some that prefer BfN, or like me, don't hate it, but the majority are obviously not happy with it and despite some cool ideas, it didn't work out that well; it has a lot of half-realized and implemented ideas that could have been great. I had thought at first that once things were ironed out that BfN could have replaced GW2 for me, but that didn't happen as I felt the tedious grind of getting max rank, no reason to go back to the free roam zones, still so many bugs that kick you from PvP matches at random, mess up your scoped in aim, the worst hit registration of all 3 games (it is an issue in GW2 for sure, and in GW, but BfN's is downright awful at times), and other huge issues, that even though GW2 could use a bug/balance patch, BfN is still worse in this regard.
I love BfN's upgrade system idea, but it lacks in practice. They needed to make more interesting upgrades, rein in the ones that are too powerful, buff or replace the weak ones, and as you point out, make them more obvious with visual and audio cues, as well as unique icons so they can be told apart. Too many share the same icon and aren't so obvious. For just one example; Dolphin Blasting doesn't give you any visual or audio change to your weapon at all, so it makes the upgrade less interesting.
I've watched a lot of videos and read comments on variants and while I love them, I thought that BfN could have done better with more characters instead as they could all have unique abilities, looks, sounds, and so on, but we didn't get enough new ones. I really didn't get how much a large chunk of our community absolutely loves variants to the point that that alone made them leave. I feel that variants need to return for GW3 now, but they could still use the upgrade system from BfN on top of that as well. The upgrades in GW were just random and some (looking at you Super Commando) are just too good. GW2's is better but they shouldn't all have the same value, so BfN could have really made this so good had they developed it further.
The Gnome Bomb change is great; no more picking up the bomb accidentally.
The Suburbination change is very bad as the behind team gets nothing. I've come back and won after being behind in these matches before, but as you point out, I couldn't have done that in the same situation in BfN. This change is very bad and needs to be reverted.
TT maps are too narrow, too reliant on Sprinting (which shouldn't exist), and lack teleporters which I miss. Tourist Trap Island is my least favorite TT map as its too simple and not a fan of pushing the carts as they get very campy in any TT map where they exist, and the final minigame is boring. I like Preserve Pastures and Peachy District the most in BfN.
I like GW maps the most overall, but GW2 has some great ones too. GW maps would work better now as it wouldn't just be soldiers and peashooters on the roofs anymore (a serious issue in GW), but they need to tweak Wall-nut Hills final point to avoid cheesing it as zombies.
The art style in BfN doesn't bother me much, barring exceptions like Rose, but it's an odd mix of the characters being more cartoony than ever, but the world looks more real (just look at the vehicles and buildings in the 3 games to see what I mean). I'd rather return to GW2 or GW1 style with some quality improvements.
Ops are not that good in BfN. Phase 3 could have really helped, but what we have is messy, too easy, and unsatisfying.
The economy in BfN is its greatest failing. I have like 9 million coins right now and since I'm at max rank and have everything, they are worthless and that's a bad feeling. Throw on the rainbow star situation as well and that Feastivus Pack (which I did buy), and you have an awful system that feels bad and unrewarding.
I have suggested a system of having us pay different amounts to get the consumables we want, so that their power is reflected in their cost and some have to be unlocked from free roam regions. The timer system in BfN would have worked had we had more options. GW2 lacked enough consumables even if added a couple new ones that weren't in GW but lost others, BFN's choice for these was woefully inadequate. I really don't mind not being spammed with Outhouse Zombies like you get in GW and GW2, but I also hate having no choices left at all. GW3 could address both of these by using my idea of directly buying/earning them with cost based on power, or other systems that improve upon the current games, but they need to address this.
I prefer GW2's HUD the most, but none are bad, and BfN has nice QoL improvements like the overheat indicators.
GW3 needs to return to a more GW2 formula but not throwing BfN away completely.
Overhealing needs to go along with sprinting. We also need damage drop off back, pretty much every hero shooter besides BfN has it, saving no drop off as a special sniper or power ability. Characters need to have different movement speeds.
Things like the TAG system for 80s and the boss hunts in GW2 need to be explained better.
I actually prefer the half health revives and self regen in GW over what we have in GW2 or BfN. Full reviving chains of Scientists and Sunflowers is a pain. I also like how BfN made it so you could help revive and get bonus XP. The reduced health on revive or self regen is also a way to attract healers to play.
GW3 can and should be a thing, but they have got to handle it better than BfN. With PvZ3 looking so much better, my hope for a new shooter has increased, but until I see actual news on it, I can't my hopes up. It could be a glorious thing if done well though.