I'm just so sick of sci-fi settings already. This generation seems to be the decade of boring, empty games about spaceships and I haven't felt enthusiastic about anything that's been revealed in that genre so far.
Not even Starfield??? lol
Honestly, I think it's just about execution. You can be as imaginative as you want in any setting. Like One Piece is supposed to be Earth right? But you have entire kingdoms of tiny fairies, sky islands, candy lands, and all types of crazy stuff.
If you can't be imaginative in space, then it's not going to be a good game lol.
I think one thing that holds the setting from being more unique is the idea of humanity's future in space is a foregone conclusion. Writers tend to apply today's problems in a projected future setting. The more we learn about space and the universe, the more endless and unapproachable it feels IMO. Earth has so much canvas for storytelling as is, and we just go from planet to planet like everything revolves around human conflict, so that's all you find a gazillion miles into space.