Prequels are substance without excitement. Sequels are excitement with (less) substance. OT is a balance of both.
This is honestly one of the best (and succinct) descriptions of the polarized critique and praise that the ST and PT has received that I’ve seen, and it also explains really well why both are liked by different types of SW fans. F.ex. it’s interesting how EU fans tend to gravitate towards the PT because despite the flaws in film-making, Lucas did make some pretty interesting lore. On the other hand, people who prefer just the movies don’t care much extended about lore and just want to be entertained. And the ST certainly entertains, and has a much higher quality of writing, acting, effects, etc. It’s also funny to see Hollywood simply reversing their tactic when one method didn’t work, instead of trying to analyse the pros and cons. ‘Just do the complete opposite and hope it works’ seems to be the mantra of modern franchise film-making.