It's a better-than-average simulation of Dolby Digital or Dolby Atmos. Better than tv speakers or a sound bar. But the proper configuration has the two speakers positioned 6-8' in front of you near the TV. The sound won't magically wrap around your head and appear to "surround" you.
You also need an Apple TV and decent wifi. It's a completely wireless sound system (wifi, not bluetooth) so it can be temperamental if you have weak signal, interference, etc.
There is likely a problem with your audio configuration. What you describe is a symptom of having your sound system configured for 5.1 Dolby Digital (or higher) and not having a center channel speaker.
Lack of rigid standards for HDMI CEC means things can be a little janky from one device to another. You may have to dig into every setting and experiment. I know my tv has an option labeled something like “fast startup”.
If the Apple TV wakes (light on) when you click the remote, it’s running. Need to figure out why it’s taking the tv so long to respond to input. Switching to IR is probably not the answer. As long as your tv is less than 5 years old and not some bargain basement brand, HDMI CEC should work.
Reseller pricing
Look under privacy settings and make sure your watch history is not paused
Most people don’t want to spend $.99 for a game for their iPhone or iPad. I have trouble seeing people willingly pay $60-70 for an AAA game on Apple TV. No enough to justify the added development costs. And if there aren’t buyers willing to pay console prices, developers would be crazy to pull that business away from consoles.
Are you using HomePods as your audio output?
The Apple TV will work. But some of your streaming subscriptions may not.
If you own a copy of Star Wars, which has an internal ID code of 1234567890, it's rather simple for iTunes to recognize if you're purchasing a bundle which also includes title 1234567890.
Now if Fox / Disney de-lists the version of Star Wars coded with 1234567890 and releases a new version with the ID 9876543210, there is nothing to connect the two. They are entirely separate entities.
Apple COULD create a way of connecting them. It doesn't seem technologically impossible. But also not something that would be in high demand, thus not a high priority. It's also something that would rely heavily on the studios to maintain since they're the ones who make these decisions about removing one version of a film and releasing a new one.
If you’re paying for something you haven’t enjoyed in “months”, that’s kind of a you problem.