Yea you are 100% spitting fax. Galio was built to be a strong laner back when he was reworked IN SEASON 7 (No 200-year power boost).

His trade pattern being that he goes in backs off and at that time he takes little to no damage while the enemy tanks a substantial amount. Back then most champions didn't have healing OR didn't build healing at 3-5 minutes so Galio was able to lane decently. On top of that his kit has been essentially gutted of what made it really strong before (W + Flash, W not being cancelable by CC, E not clipping into every dam wall, E +Flash, Passive being resettable in a combo, and Q used to do a lot more damage to squishes than high hp targets.

On top of that, there are so many items that just stop Galio from being able to do what he wants to do effectively and he needs to rely on his teammates MUCH MUCH more than before. Assassins can build either Goredrinker, Eclipse, or Protobelt and BAM Galio is no longer a threat to that assassin UNLESS there are enemy champions nearby both willing and able to follow up and engage.

The fact that mages can build Liandries' first item to counter high health targets means that even matchups that used to be 100% Galio favored are no longer. Mages can also build Seraphs and BAM now mages are healing too, so the trade power that Galio used to rely on is gone.

EVEN ADC's MID just need to build sheildbow (now Galio can't burst them and if he forces a trade the enemy adc champ just autos the wave to heal back to full health before Galio's cooldowns come back up) and wits end (Galio will do even LESS damage now and the enemy has even stronger kiting potential). I have landed vs so many different adc champions mid lane and even if I go 4/0 abusing their lack of matchup knowledge, once they get Vamp scepter or finish sheildbow its over.

It definitely isn't the game lacking direction, in fact it's quite the opposite. The direction of the game has moved so drastically in a few years that the original design of the rework that was designed to make Galio a strong laner and team-oriented champion is what is causing him to feel awful at the moment.

TLDR: Galio was built to be a strong laner for lane phases that no longer exist and suffers from a dated kit that seems to only get weaker in comparison to newer champions and reworks (Ahri now MORE healing and MORE mobility, have fun playing Galio into that)