Years later I went back and rewatched DS9 and it was then that I realized these differences were actually the shows strengths. I believe the best aspects of DS9 are the character developments as well as the story writing. Because the location and character differences between DS9 and TNG it allowed for stories that would never have worked in TNG. TNG is set inside the Federation which depicts this perfect human future where crime, poverty, and disease are pretty much gone. Compare that to DS9 which is set in an alien space station with many non-human races which allowed for "darker" plots and characters developments such as cheating, stealing, murder, betrayal, war, etc.
As for the cast, you have the leader in the form of Benjamin Sisko. Sisko is a big departure from Picard (and not just because he's black). Sisko is a widower and a father. We also discover quickly that he is a religious icon to the Bajorans. I think Sisko's character took a few years to get going. But in later seasons you see the depth of his character and the acting ability of Avery Brooks. There are even episodes where Sisko makes very un-Federation decisions such as lying, cheating, and even being a party to murder.
Kira Nerys is second in command and a Bajoran. She grew up a terrorist fighting for her freedom. She has some violent tendencies just like Worf (which is a trait I didn't care for), but unlike Worf they don't bother me in her character. I think it's because Kira is trying to change her ways and forget her past. On DS9 Kira kind of represents the "religious" aspect, which is another departure from TNG. TNG was all about cold hard technology, a future where religion is seemingly gone. But with Kira and the Bajorans they bring an religious element to the show which is nice to see.
Jadzia Dax is the science officer on DS9. Dax is kind of the voice of reason, knowledge, and experience. She is a non-human species and has the memories of multiple previous lifetimes. This is used to write good episodes, but unfortunately sometimes they wrote so rather bland episodes based around this. As a result, my feelings about her character are definitely mixed. I never did understand why she left the show with one season left. Did she choose to leave or was she written out?
Julian Bashir is the young and very eager doctor on the show. He is one of my more favorite characters, especially in later seasons when it's revealed he was genetically altered as a child (which is illegal in the Federation). So Bashir's whole character is a contradiction in the "perfect" TNG Federation. But his "super-human" abilities make for some great story lines.
Miles O'Brien is a supporting character they brought over from TNG. I was so glad they did this as his character is so likable. He represents the "everyday man." He's married with a family. Another big distinction is he's not an enlisted officer in Starfleet. They did a lot of great stories around O'Brien, many of which seemed to be to his detriment - such as being accused of a crime he didn't commit, forced to endure prison time for a different crime, and being hunted down and attempted to be killed for no good reason. The characters of O'Brien and Bashir had a great onscreen rapport.
Odo is the stations shape-shifting security officer. I think he was mainly written into the show to showcase the recently created CGI ability to morph characters and shapes. At the time this was groundbreaking and had only been seen in big-budget films such as T2. I liked Odo's character as one who likes order and is puzzled by social interactions. I guess you could say he's a fastidious introvert - something I can totally understand.
Being added to the show halfway through, Worf is the second character to be brought to the show from TNG. I didn't care for Worf in TNG, but his character is a little more likable in DS9. I think it's less that his character is likable, and more than the introduction of his character made possible additional stores such as the war with the Klingons.
Quark is the station's Ferengi bartender. Quark epitomizes everything the Federation is not; lying, cheating, stealing, gambling, drinking, sex, manipulation, extortion, etc. But his character is so much fun on the show. The constant cat and mouse game between him and Odo is fun and even serves to lighten the mood of the show. Odd that is takes such a "dark" character to lighten the mood and bring humor to an otherwise dark show.
Jake is Sisko's son and one of those characters that didn't get as much screen time as he deserved. He did have the ongoing friendship with Nog (a Ferengi) which served to show that even in this less than ideal location people could overcome their differences and befriend others. I liked that the writers took Jake in a different direction - it was expected the son of a Starfleet captain would himself join Starfleet, but he didn't.
Ezri Dax was written in to take the place of Jadzia after she left the show. Even though she was only on the show for 1 season, it felt like a large number of the last season's episodes revolved around her. This included love affairs with both Bashir and Worf. Ezri was not a favorite of mine. I found her character to be a little whiny at times.
The last character I want to talk about is Elim Garak. I guess you could say I literally saved the best for last as Garak is easily my favorite character in DS9. Technically Garak is not a main cast member but a supporting cast member - although he's probably in at least half of all DS9 episodes. Garak is the ultimate mysterious character. He's a ex-spy which means by nature he doesn't want to discuss his past. So you learn bits and pieces about his character over the 7 years of the show. He has some of the best lines such as "lying is a skill like any other - and if you want to maintain a level of excellence you have to practice constantly."
Of course, no analysis of DS9 would be complete without mentioning the war with the Dominion. The Dominion was introduced at the end of season 2 and became the single largest ongoing plot in the show. The Dominion is one of the most well-crafted foes in any show. The main antagonist is actually 3 different species of aliens. The Dominion is portrayed as technically superior to the Federation which puts the Federation is a uphill battle to the very end. These episodes are griping and powerful and one of DS9's best attributes.
Another big change with DS9 was the introduction of large plot lines spanning multiple episodes. In TNG no plot line spanned more than 2 consecutive episodes. But with DS9 they wrote plots that spanned 10 or more episodes - making the war with the Dominion possible. Yes this is more common nowadays (e.g. Lost, 24, and Prison Break), but back in the 90s few TV shows did this. Broadcasters were afraid that by having such long plot lines that unless people started watching at the very beginning they wouldn't choose to start watching a series in the middle for fear of being lost and confused.
With everything I loved about DS9, there were a few things I didn't care for. Later on they introduced the character "Vic Fontaine." He's a holographic singer/performer set in the 1950s/60s. Ugh, these episodes are so boring. And any of the episodes where they visit the parallel universe are bland. But other than those two exceptions, DS9 has really good writing.
My favorites DS9 episodes are "Paradise," "The Wire," "Civil Defense," "Improbable Cause" / "The Die is Cast," "The Visitor," "Statistical Probabilities," and all of the Dominion story arc episodes.
So that's my rundown of DS9. Easily one of my favorite shows, just a hair below TNG on my all-time favorite shows list. If you're a Star Trek fan and you've never seen DS9, or if you didn't care for it and stopped watching, I encourage you to give it another try.
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