One of the most uncompelling aspects of the PT, imo, is the love story between Anakin and Padme. It goes along with what most of you guys are saying - I guess GL is trying to be non-formulaic. As far as I can tell from watching (until the last 2 minutes) they have about as much chemistry as...well, two persons with no chemistry. The relationship that we see through Ep.II is so pitiful...
As far as the other characters are concerned, I dont find any of them to be as accesible as OT characters. In Ep.I the relationship between Obi-wan and Qui-Gonn was pretty good, and honestly I enjoyed many aspects of that movie(though overall I though it bland at best). In Ep.II - it all just seems so mechanical. The master-pupil relationship is nothing like Obi-wan and Luke, nor Yoda and Luke. The most "genuwine" emotion we get is from young Boba...*barf*

And I really must agree that in the OT even the droids and aliens were accesible. I think the C3-P0 dynamic that develops with the different characters is wonderful.