I feel they really lost steam post time skip. The most interesting parts of the story haven't been driven by them or even include them, such as the Reverie. Punk Hazard to Wano was Law instigating and planning the story, and in the background Blackbeard is being cunning and causing mayhem to disrupt the Navy and Pirate balance, while Dragon and Shanks are actively trying to topple the World Government or find the Ancient Weapons/Void History or One Piece.

Luffy, despite being the hero and now suddenly the equivalent of the destined chosen one and supposedly the only one who can do anything in the long run, really isn't actively involved in what should be the critical elements of the story by this stage, such as the Void Century, toppling the Government, learning about the Ancient Weapons and Imu etc. He isn't even interested in it, which yeah, okay, "it's in his character" but 1000 chapters of him just bumbling his way to the top without an active interest in the world or plans to change it really isn't interesting anymore, and it's fairly insulting knowing that characters with actual goals are going to do all the leg work only for Luffy to sweep in and steal the win. Mark my words, Dragon and Shanks and Blackbeard will do most of the damage to the current regime and shaping the world by actually planning to do this and chasing after the interesting parts of the story, but Luffy will conveniently jump in at the end and get the kudos once they inevitably fail because that's what he always does.