This is my take.
I liked that the Naboo had a distinctive style to their ships, that isn't reflected in the OT, because Naboo isn't in the OT. One of the primary criticism you give Daigo-Bah is that Tatooine is too central to the whole saga, compared to your initial impressions from 30 years ago, but Naboo is an example of a world that is more or less the opposite. Its shown as an established world, with its own unique, largely ornamental culture, and then isn't revisited in the OT. I like that through the saga the plot takes place on more than 5 planets. I can imagine the outrage if Lucas had chosen to have a battle in AOTC on Hoth, or Padme and Anakin on Dagobah or something similar. Admittedly Lucas put too much into connecting the two trilogies in blatant ways (C3POs creations, etc.), he should have stuck to more subtle references, like using the design similarity between the Radiant VII and the Tantive IV, or the appearance of the Tantive IV in ROTS, etc. But I liked that he gave the oppulent and regal Naboo their own look and feel, and there isn't the need to connect that feel with anything before or after. While showing something fancy just to show it isn't necessary, a design theme can be shown once, and doesn't need to carry through to any other part of the movies. I like the design dead-ends, they show the breadth of the galaxy.
Also doesn't Ben have a line about how the Jedi were the guardians of peace in the galaxy for a thousand generations? That hinted to me that there was a long standing civilization, which should be suitably refined. But then with the coming of the dark times, there should be a breakdown in society, hence the "used" look of the OT.
One point that I haven't seen a ton of discussion on is the timeline of the two trilogies. They felt too close together to me. Prior to seeing TPM I had always felt that Obi-Wan and Anakin should have fought in the clone wars when they were in their 20s-30s, but if Luke and Leia are born at the end of the the clone wars, that means Ben was in his 50s-60s(since Luke and Leia were about 20 in ANH), not really fitting with a title like "Old Ben". I don't remember how old Alec Guiness was during the filming of ANH, but I pictured him to be atleast 70, meaning Vader was probably in the 60 year range (more or less confirmed when the helmet came off). It doesn't work as well for me if Ben is 55 or so when he dies and Vader is in his 40s.