We can have this debate about the prequels now. Cause the Prequels sucked. And they didn't suck because of the general story they were trying to tell. They sucked for so many reasons.
I'll start with some simple ones.
Padme Episode 1 vs. 2
Obi Episode vs. 2
anakin episdoe 1 vs. 2
And therein lies the biggest issue. In episode 1, Obi Wan is supposed to be about 25, Padme about 14 and Anakin about 9. That doesn't come off on screen. And there is a reason why. Natalie Portman is a youthful looking actress which is why at nearly 18 she looks very young still, but the issue is Jake Lloyd looks very much 8 years old. And then you recast him with someone the same age as Natalie Portman it's incredibly Jarring. THat's why only Anakin looks to age 10 years, because he's the only one who does age 10 years. Natalie portman and Ewan McGregor only aged a year or 2. and they did well with McGregor, but it's easier to age a man with no facial hair and a rat tail than a woman. Essentially the aging of Padme came with her wearing scantily clad clothing.
So therein lies the issue with Episode 1, the fact that it exists. If they wanted it to work, they had to recast Anakin and Padme.
Also it creates another issue. Who's the main character of the prequels? Who's the driver? Who's the catalyst? It's hard to get an answer because you can argue everything away. Closest Answer is Obi Wan, but he's left out entirely of the Anakin/Padme affair which draws so much screen time. . Second could be Anakin, but he's not in the first Act of the Phantom Menace at all. Third could be R2 but he's not even used until they escape from Naboo, aka basically the same amount of time as Anakin. Final choice is Jar Jar, but after the backlash against him and the gungans forced Lucas to change that plot so he was left out of a lot of the next 2 films.
Also why the **** does R2 have rocket boosters? Like there's no reason for that to be included. And now you have to explain why he can't fly in the OT and instead awkwardly falls a few times when jets would have helped. That alone is one of the main reason the prequels sucked. Add in the fact that droids are a billion times more complex in the prequels for seemingly no reason to dumb them down. The shields, so on so forth. So much of what he chose to do because he could because of the tech evolution, don't make sense in the bigger picture. If the Separatists could afford to put blaster proof bubbles on a handful of droids, couldn't the Empire do it to some of their important ST leaders.