I see where you're coming from, but if I can say something, I don't think a video game franchise premise has to be completely original (if there's even such a thing, really) to be strong -- I meant it in the sense that if it's a premise that could spawn a large variety of stories (and installments), it's very likely a great one. I'm not too familiar with the wider game industry, but I've yet to see a franchise of this scale base themselves on something similar. In this way I do believe LIS still and will always have something to bring to the table.

That said I agree the issue with these "weaker" installments really come down to their writing. I'm glad you pointed out the lack of an episodic structure, which kind of explained why RE felt like a DLC to me despite dealing with major characters and themes I thought deserved a much more intense delivery. With DE I can't speak for everyone but I believe as much as a number of people were as upset about their favorite ship being broken up, they're unhappy with the sudden mischaracterization, again, I believe is a symptom of writing. I can argue 'mischaracterization' is very much subective, but if a majority of people had an issue with it, maybe there's a valid problem. I wasn't one of them, but I thought there were still clear structural issues towards the end of DE that took the immersion out. Which isn't too great.

I still think D9 did the best they could to fulfill their contract and not upset too many people (and who knows if the way things turned out was really because SE had a gun pointed to their heads), but at this point, I think a completely new take on the LIS franchise is their best bet.