The re-release and Special Editions of the Original Trilogy raised the bar very high for everyone only a few years before Ep 1 came out. The OT was all about action and iconic moments and explosions. Stuff Lucas wrote when he was in his 20s and made as a younger adult.

Then Episode 1 shows up after years of anticipation and it's about a child with some very child-focused moments (because Lucas did make this a more kid-friendly movie because of his kids and being in his 50s). So it just feels very jerky and segmented, with mixed focus about establishing a big plot and then....what, blood flukes cause The Force? Jar Jar was too distracting, and most of the acting was very wooden except for a few good moments for Portman, Neeson and MacGregor. Product tie-ins were on par with Stranger Things - everywhere and everything. I see more parallels to the movie Hook in Ep. 1 than I do with other Star Wars IP at this point. It's like a highly-produced stylized caricature of itself.

Fans were in shock a bit because it wasn't a particularly amazing movie, and when making comparisons that were inevitable, other than visual likeness, it just felt a universe away (no pun intended).

And it's basic story-centered aspects. This guy did a series of videos where he made basic changes to the Prequel Trilogy, and yeah, he's right. His concept is a better story.

Important note - this guy 100% called 50% robo-Darth Maul years before Dave Filioni did it in Clone Wars.

By that point, it was too late. Fan hate set the tone and Ep. 2 was years away to balance things out. And Ep. 2 isn't terrible IMO, it just didn't capture anyone. I actually like Ep 3. because it starts to bring in more starfighter action and some fun moments with a serious end.

Watching all 3 movies in a row completely negates all of the feels at the time, the huge lull between movies, and the comparison to the OT as the standard.