To me the biggest divergence is that the new star wars are solely made for money by Disney studio and not the singular vision of one man.
The three new films are not Lucasfilms even if Disney can now slap that label on them because they purchased the trademark to it.
Lucas directed 4 out of the six original movies.
He is not writing or directing anything on these new movies nor will he have any say in their editing or be behind the B camera on set like on Jedi.
This is not the sequel trilogy Lucas would have given us in 2005 had he decided to continue on, nor is it any of the other attempts at having it made.