oof, that's rough. If you don't like the setting, you're going to automatically start off on the wrong food. I LOVE anything Science Fiction and Fantasy, but Science Fiction is probably my favorite genre period, so it's easy for me to get into it. Putting the difficulty to maximum would definitely make the stakes seem higher could work maybe? I used to have to use mods for Skyrim to make combat deadly for everyone, me and npcs. one or two hits was all it took if you weren't paying attention. That would make the game more tactical, but I'm not sure if that's what would help you enjoy it though.
Yeah I don't think raising the difficulty level would be the answer. Essentially, the problem is that I know physics and engineering well enough (too well actually) that having people take kinetic or directed energy weapon hits to the body and still be walking around, regardless of any armor they have on, is extremely emmersion-breaking. In a fantasy setting, however, where ytou still have the issue of how does a person take a greatsword hit across their face and still live, is easily handled with one simple word: magic. Magic explains anything and everything. There is no equivalent to magic in other settings (that I'm aware of), and that's my problem.
