Its hard to answer simply. I was affected by it but that might be more a pandemic effect than anything. I did not know much about the story in advance. I remember when it happened and associated it with other examples of clumsy overreach of the Clinton admin. A shadowy Janet Reno is in one scene... I remembered that iconic photo of a mustachioed federal agent taking a terrified child out of his mother's arms. Elian Gonzalez?
Personally this was one of the darker covid days for me. When I finished this series I felt acute panic. Government sucks and they are coming for mah freedoms. As you mention I did feel some sympathy for the Branch Davidians - without learning much of substance about them.
I watched it in part because I like Michael Shannon and also John Leguisamo. And I think the acting was decent overall. The actor who played Koresh and David Thibideau surviving member (who wrote one of the books it is based on ) was good. Julia Garner was excellent and think (based on this "The Americans" and "Ozark") she plays complex characters really well.
I felt like the production and direction were schizoid - and at the end I learned this was based on two books one written by an FBI negotiator (Shannon) the other a surviving member. The narrative is critical of the ATF and the FBI. The former as thuggish gang the latter as so driven by politics and weak leadership as to be ineffective. The rationale for the ATF involvement is never articulated beyond a idea that the Branch Davidians had guns. The FBI - child endangerment/ poligamy?
The story arc starts with the Ruby Ridge event which has questionable ties to the Waco siege. It just emphasizes the overreach of the feds theme. The narrative swings between the two points of view and culminates when they cross paths at a hearing regarding the events at Waco.
When I was young I played Bob Dylan's "Hurricaine" so many time that my father got a transcript of the actual case (he is a lawyer)and told me to read it to see what I thought. I probably just went back to reading Eldridge Cleaver or whatever 60s stuff I was obsessed with at the time. Koresh's character in "Waco" could have been written by Bob Dylan as it has a similar fuzzy hagiography.
It would have been stronger if it delved into SDA and some of the ideas behind Koresh. There is an interesting character, one of K's lieutenants, who was SDA and a PhD in theology. It would have been productive to flesh out the ideas. There are scenes where folks talk about how brilliant K is but its all tell with no show...
Only two people walk away from the rubble unscathed and they tell the story from opposing sides of the drama. And it falls flat.