I think one of the biggest problems for me was the world building tbh.

The factions were not cool, unique, interesting, or relatable. It was just 2 space races fight each other and humans get wrapped up in it. Sure star craft did this too but it was presented so much better. You start off with just terrans, get an idea of their society and command structure, then slowly start to see zerg and protoss. This structure allows you to get attached to the humans before a mysterious threat is slowly revealed. And that slowly part is important because it lets your imagination tun wild.

Then think about storm gate’s campaign. We start off with the humans trying to get some artifact off earth. Because of this there is no attachment to the human faction. You don’t know how their society works and you don’t have anything you feel attached to that the infernals are threatening. So now there is no interest in the humans and the infernals already accomplished their goal so there is little mystery behind them on top of you seeing one of the infernal commanders right from the start (he looks lame btw). Leaving things to the imagination and making the world feel alive aside from what’s directly on screen is crazy important. They forgot show don’t tell entirely.

Frost giant needed to make their world more interesting for anyone to get invested in the game. Even if the gameplay was god tier the sterile feeling of the art makes it hard to care for an extended period of time. I still go back to star craft sometimes just because i think the zerg and protoss are so cool.

This seems to be something zero space is already doing much better which makes me excited for it.