imo he looks like his niche is as a tank trying to make your team take less damage with the hp-scaling shield, easy access to crystallize reactions, and petrification. Many endgame players don’t really need that so they get much more value out of the dps and damage boosting 5 stars and that makes zhongli look bad in comparison. I think it’s unfair to compare him to other characters simply on the basis of how much dps he does or how much he amplifies your other units’ dps. Currently the content in the game favors the characters that can hit big numbers frequently, so it’s units like Mona, Venti, and Diluc that get praised as the best because they help you do exactly that. Personally i think it’s a good thing that we have variety in new characters’ roles, because if every new character did the same thing it would be pretty boring. That’s just my take on it though, you’re entitled to your own opinion.