I think the film has some fundamental issues such as weak script, villain, and cgi. These issue are present regardless of how you compare it to DoFP and will impact your enjoyment.
As far as the film not being as emotionally charged as DoFP, the filmmakers still missed the mark in making an action heavy film. The action scenes still felt few and far apart. The choreography, wire work, and cgi were weak. I preferred the action scenes in DoFP and it had everything else that was missing in Apocalypse.
The film also kept weaknesses from previous films such as underdeveloped characters but shed all of their strengths.
Agreed on all points.
DOFP didn't have a great script but it had a "hook" (stop Mystique to save dire future), an emotional core (Xavier and his relationships with Wolverine, Mystique and Magneto), and a simple point A to point B story.
Apocalypse on the other hand doesn't have a hook, I mean yeah he is released from slumber, but only really becomes a danger when he "hacks" Cerebro which is what like 40 minutes in? There needed to be urgency from the very beginning (which is what DOFP had). Even in the prologue he is shown as weak and old and betrayed, we get no sense of his supposed omnipotence.
And the story is all over the place with dangling plot threads that are clumsily connected afterwards. There was no need for Moira in this movie, at all.
They tried giving the emotional core to multiple characters, but Cyclops isn't really relevant after his helicopter talk with Jean, Quicksilver doesn't bother revealing the truth to Magneto, Magneto's arc was on good track until he was easily forgiven for killing many people, oh brother. I guess Jean worked? But, just like the story, it was all over the place.
And that's not to mention the lackluster action - this is supposedly an epic movie but simply in terms of locations, in terms of action there's nothing big until the final fight which is a CGI and choreography mess. Apocalypse invades the mansion with his four horsemen and no battles ensued - only a repeat of the Quicksilver scene from DOFP, 'cause they needed to take something that worked before to counter everything that isn't working, which is why I guess they also brought back Alkali Lake and added a Wolverine cameo.