"Direction" was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics. "AbsolutePunk" founder Jason Tate said the Starting Line conceptualized their vision "to its full potential. The music sounds natural while the songs contain enough to be instantly satisfying yet hold back enough to ensure rewarding repeat listens." AllMusic reviewer William Ruhlmann noted that while it retained the pop punk sound of the band's past releases, the album came across as slightly more "sophisticated in certain ways, particularly in rhythmic terms". In a review for "Alternative Press", Jonah Bayer found that while Vasoli lacks "the political prowess of Billie Joe Armstrong or the literary knowledge of Dustin Kensrue", he and the other members "prove they’re more than capable of crafting flawless pop-punk songs that should appeal to anyone with a pulse".