Keep in mind that by the end of 'Rogue One', we knew as much about those characters as we did of Luke, Leia, Hand & Chewie by the end of ANH. Part of the adventure is in getting to know new characters. You don't need to already be invested in the protagonists for a story to work, or else how can ANY story get started?
Something 'Rogue One' did was show the general movie audiences that the Skywalker Saga isn't the story of the galaxy, it's the story of the Skywalkers. And while they intersect with a lot of events, there's still a lot going on tangentially and in parallel to that story. Like for example: the entirety of the Clone Wars. It's a footnote in the saga itself, and yet it's still a rich font of storytelling. As is the forming of the Rebel Alliance, the Galactic Civil war itself (like the Clone Wars, only every so slightly glimpsed at in the OT), the post war years, and of course The High Republic.
This is all thanks to the way Lucas first developed the franchise. If one reads the various drafts he went through for the first movie, you'll see the plot, narrative and main characters all change drastically. It's because he didn't have a particular story to tell, he was developing the world first and seeing what kind of story he could tell inside it.
Oh, I understand. My thing was I got caught up with these characters names that watching the movie I was understanding what the mission was but I guess a little confused on the specifics. I think watching it a second time will be worth it just to see what I missed the first time but also I have this much grander narrative to help understand the story better. I mean of the 5 films that was released after the prequel trilogy, Rogue One was my second favorite, behind Solo.
I get the feeling this is the year of Star Wars for me, in terms of rewatching all the films. I don't have an issue with that.
