Systemd has it's downsides. The real downside is that you have so much complex code running as root. most other complaints can be dealt with.
Binary logfiles: You're not supposed to keep important log files on the local machine. Send them to your central logging facility where they are stored in a database. If the machine is still running, you can use the appropriate tools to look at the binary log files for debug. All your logging, stats and alerting should be centralized anyway.
Doesn't feel unixy: Get with the times. It's scriptable and tweakable more than ever. Just get used to the way it works.
Solution looking for a problem: Just not true, see the benefits.
Systemd is one of the options to solve some problems that have been pestering unix for a long time.
Dependency in services: Systemd can restart all dependencies on a service in the right sequence if you have to meddle with one part of a stack
long startup times: Systemd has the possibility to start up things in parallel. No long waits for earlier systems that your service doesn't depend on. Mostly useful for mobile users, but HA systems benefit too due to shorter maintenance downtime
Location/circumstances specific profiles: Depending on where you are and what kind of facilities you have available, your system can "adapt" by changing power profiles, network connectivity, firewalling and whatnot. Primary benefits are for mobile users, but servers changing load depending on things like overheating, having to run on UPS power and such are also quite useful.
Systemd isn't the only project that wants to work this way. Upstart is another one that at least wants to deal with the startup concurrency and dependency problems of classical init. Sun (Oracle) Solaris SMF is also a good example of this line of thinking.
While you can have doubts about the amount of complex code and forks to 3rd party code done by systemd while running as root, I don't think it's useful to complain that someone moved your cheese and took away the init scripts you used to use in the old days. Once you figure out how to work with the new tools, you'll find it's way more tweakable and controllable than classical init. If in the end you choose for init or a different alternative, that's up to you, but at least investigate and educate yourself, before you start complaining with arguments that just aren't true.